Green and Pleasant Lands: The Affective and Cerebral Hemodynamic Effects of Presence in Virtual Environments During Exercise.

ABSTRACT: Pleasant exercise experiences increase the likelihood of exercise adherence, and innovative strategies to promote consistently pleasant exercise experiences are needed. In this study we compared a novel nature-based virtual reality environment, a nature-based 360° video, and a control condition to test the hypothesis that greater presence in virtual space would promote positive affective experiences during exercise. Moreover, we assessed prefrontal cerebral hemodynamics using near infrared spectroscopy to explore possible neural underpinnings of dissociative strategies during exercise. Twelve participants (M = 26.2, SD = 7.7 years; M BMI = 25.5, SD = 5.2 kg/m²) completed a maximal aerobic test and three exercise conditions (Control, Virtual Reality [V

SUBMITTER: Jones L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10052422 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature