Virtual reality gaming for pain distraction - Investigation of attentional and psychophysiological effects

Virtual reality has been shown to be a powerful method to divert attention away from pain (Malloy & Milling, 2010) and has been used successfully to temporally relieve patients from pain in clinical settings. However, little is known about the underlying attentional processes involved in pain processing in virtual reality. Therefore, as one of the first studies, this project investigates the role of especially cognitive factors influencing distraction from pain. N = 90 healthy participants played the video game Subnautica in two virtual reality conditions (high vs. low cognitive load). To assess the distraction effect, pain thresholds and psychophysiological measures were assessed during play. Additionally, executive functions and self-reported measures on, e.g., presence, simulation sickness and pain-related subjects were assessed. Results suggest that interactive virtual reality games are a potential tool to alter pain processing, regardless of the level of cognitive load.