New VR therapy helps rehabilitate people with schizophrenia

Researchers from Semmelweis University in Budapest VR Assists in the process of rehabilitation for schizophrenic patients.

according to WHOThe disease affects approximately 24 million people worldwide and is associated with significant disability, often affecting all areas of life, including personal, social and occupational functioning.

Scientists have developed the so-called VR-To-MIS This is a therapeutic approach aimed at enhancing the patient’s mentalization (theory of mind) skills, a fundamental component of human cognition and social interaction (“Virtual reality-based mental Intervention Theory).

“Theory of mind is the ability to interpret the feelings, thoughts, and desires of others. Schizophrenics tend to misinterpret these messages. or misunderstand certain gestures, and our method aims to improve these skills.” explained Dr. Lajos Simon, director of the University’s Reality and Emotions Research Group, said:

How does it work?

VR-ToMIS was developed using British software start up vTime, consisting of a total of nine sessions. It begins with an introductory course to familiarize patients with basic concepts such as technology and theory of mind. He then continues with eight 50-minute intervention sessions.

In the first step, patients don VR glasses and immerse themselves in everyday situations ranging from beach walks and blind dates to moving roommates and meeting new colleagues. In all simulated scenarios, the patient interacts with a therapist-controlled avatar. To uncover deficiencies in mentalization during dialogue, therapists use multiple linguistic tools such as metaphors, sarcasm, humor, and double-meaning sentences.

After completing this simulation, the patient participates in a second interactive exercise using another new VR device, the Temporal Disc Controller. They are shown her 3D face on the screen and are asked to move the mouse around it and guess the appropriate emotion that face indicates.

“This is a very useful job because patients can express these feelings even if they don’t have the vocabulary to express them because of their illness,” says assistant lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. said Dr. Edith Bass, co-developer of the program. He told TNW about VR therapy.

After the two simulations, an analytical discussion takes place between the therapist and the patient. This process identifies the behavioral changes needed to make patients more adaptable to practiced situations.

“Before suggesting that these modified behavioral techniques be practiced as homework between sessions, patients were given the opportunity to repeat the simulation to explore how changes in behavior would affect their feelings and thoughts about the situation. I’ll ask you to make sure you give it,” Bass added.

She believes that the overall therapy’s “iterative approach” has contributed greatly to its success.

promising results

The trial phase of the VR-ToMIS method will end in 2022, with 43 patients participating. The researchers observed significant improvements in both cognitive and negative symptoms in the participants. These include coherent thinking, social cognitive impairment, theory of mind, emotional dullness, reduced facial expressions, and apathy.

The feedback from patients has also been very positive. 93.3% of participants found the method interesting and 78% considered it an important part of their rehabilitation.

On the other hand, 77.3% attempted to apply the skills they learned in real-life situations, and 93.3% of them reported that their communication skills subjectively improved even though they did not practice as much. On the other hand, 26.7% of patients found the temporal disc controller task to be a difficult part of the intervention and 13.4% considered it troublesome.

According to Vas, another key part of the method’s success has been “excellent patient compliance rates.”

“Compliance is the biggest obstacle to schizophrenia recovery,” she told TNW. “There were no dropouts from our treatment, so we suspect that VR has a non-specific motivational effect. Of course, the therapist’s approach may be an important factor as well. ”

Although a direct relationship between VR and motivation has not yet been supported by research, “the main factor is the relationship between the empathic attitude of the therapist and the fact that this new technology is very stimulating for the patient.” It’s a balance,” Bass said.

Semmelweis University has already obtained a Hungarian industrial trademark for VR-ToMIS and plans to obtain an international trademark within two years. The next step is to train field experts to use this technique, first in Hungary.