Virtual reality blocks actual pain response

UW researchers have proven that virtual reality can reduce pain-related brain activity by as much as 97 percent.

The findings are detailed in a study released last week by the UW's Virtual Reality Analgesia Research Center.

"The use of virtual reality as a pain-control technique got its start right here at the UW," said Hunter Hoffman, research engineer and member of the human interface technology lab where the study was authored.

According to Hoffman, researchers have known about the subjective effects of virtual reality on pain perception since 2000, but the current study is the first evidence of an objective physical result.

The study showed that virtual -eality therapy reduced pain-related brain activity between 50 percent and 97 percent.

The study used a heating device strapped to the tops of participants' feet to administer 30-second intervals of pain. A magnetic resonance scan was then used to track blood flow related to brain activity. The effects are similar to brain activity observed when a traditional painkiller, such as an opiate, is administered.

Participants were scanned while watching a virtual-reality program called Snow World. In Snow World, patients float down a canyon of snow and ice while they toss snowballs at targets, such as snowmen and igloos.

Surveys conducted during the scans also indicated a 30 percent drop in pain and a 44 percent drop in the amount of time the subjects were thinking about the pain.

Todd Richards, a professor in radiology and contributor in the study, said the study helps scientists understand the brain in terms of perception of reality and pain.

"I think it also helps us in our understanding of consciousness and mind after body in medicine," said Richards.

The National Institute of Health and the Paul G. Allen Foundation funded the study.