Human Adaptation, Plasticity and Learning for a New Sensory-Motor World in Virtual Reality

Human perception and action adaptively change depending on everyday experiences of or exposures to sensory information in changing environments. I aimed to know how our perception-action system adapts and changes in modified virtual-reality (VR) environments, and investigated visuo-motor adaptation of position constancy in a VR environment, visual and vestibular postural control after 7-day adaptation to modified sensory stimulation, and learning of event related cortical potential during motor imagery for application to a brain-machine interface. I found that human perception system, perception-action coordination system, and underlying neural system could change to adapt a new environment with considering quantitative sensory-motor relationship, reliability of information, and required learning with real-time feedback. These findings may contribute to develop an adaptive VR system in a future, which can change adaptively and cooperatively with human perceptual adaptation and neural plasticity.

[1]  M. Kitazaki,et al.  Audio-Vocal Monitoring System Revealed by Mu-Rhythm Activity , 2012, Front. Psychology.

[2]  J. Wolpaw,et al.  Mu and Beta Rhythm Topographies During Motor Imagery and Actual Movements , 2004, Brain Topography.

[3]  G. Pfurtscheller,et al.  Motor imagery activates primary sensorimotor area in humans , 1997, Neuroscience Letters.

[4]  Michiteru Kitazaki,et al.  Effects of retinal position on the visuo-motor adaptation of visual stability in a virtual environment , 2013, i-Perception.

[5]  Hans Wallach,et al.  Rapid adaptation in the constancy of visual direction with active and passive rotation , 1965 .

[6]  H. Wallach.  Perceiving a stable environment when one moves. , 1987, Annual review of psychology.

[7]  Niels Birbaumer,et al.  Brain–computer-interface research: Coming of age , 2006, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[8]  J. F. Soechting,et al.  Postural readjustments induced by linear motion of visual scenes , 1977, Experimental Brain Research.

[9]  Michiteru Kitazaki,et al.  Effects of Long-Term Adaptation to Sway-Yoked Visual Motion and Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation on Visual and Vestibular Control of Posture , 2010, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[10]  G. Stratton.  Some preliminary experiments on vision without inversion of the retinal image. , 1896 .

[11]  B L Day,et al.  Galvanic vestibular stimulation: new uses for an old tool , 1999, The Journal of physiology.

[12]  Michiteru Kitazaki,et al.  Visual-motor adaptation to stabilize perceptual world: its generality and specificity , 2005, ICAT '05.

[13]  Michiteru Kitazaki,et al.  Event-related de-synchronization and synchronization (ERD/ERS) of EEG for controlling a brain-computer-interface driving simulator , 2009, VRST '09.