Comparing Brain Cortical Activity in Real and Immersive Virtual Reality Manual Dexterity Tasks

With advances in technology, virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used in various fields, including rehabilitation, motor learning, and neuroscience. Its ability to provide controlled, immersive, and interactive environments makes it a valuable tool for training and assessment. However, despite its growing adoption, limited evidence exists on how cortical activation in VR compares to real-world conditions. Moreover, brain cortical activity during motor tasks, such as manual dexterity tasks, remains underexplored.

This study aims to compare brain cortical activity in real and immersive virtual reality settings during a manual dexterity task. Secondary objectives include:

• Examining the relationship between brain cortical activity and kinematics in both conditions.
• Comparing brain cortical activity between hand-tracking and controller-based interactions.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Virtual Reality; Brain; EEG; Manual Dexterity; fNIRS
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Real-world manual dexterity task; Behavioral: Immersive virtual reality with controllers; Behavioral: Immersive virtual reality with hand-tracking

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 12

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Gauthier Everard, PT, PhD; Phone Number: +32 472 500 158; Email: gauthier.everard@uclouvain.be
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Thérèse Ntabuhashe Bibentyo, Er, PhD student

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Brussels-Capital Region
    • Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium, 1200
      • Neuro Musculo Skeletal Lab
      • Contact: Gauthier Everard, PT, PhD; Phone Number: +32 472 500 158; Email: gauthier.everard@uclouvain.be
      • Principal Investigator: Thierry Lejeune, MD, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Gauthier Everard, PT, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants will be recruited through word-of-mouth within the Belgian population

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age over 18 years old
• Normal-to-corrected vision
• Ability to understand simple instructions

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of seizure
• Recent participation (within the last three months) in a study involving a manual dexterity task in immersive virtual reality
• Neurologic or orthopaedic pathology potentially affecting upper extremity movement

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Intervention / Treatment

Healthy individuals

Behavioral: Real-world manual dexterity task; Participants will perform a manual dexterity task involving the displacement of physical cubes; Behavioral: Immersive virtual reality with controllers; Participants will perform a manual dexterity task in an immersive virtual reality environment, requiring them to move virtual cubes using controllers; Behavioral: Immersive virtual reality with hand-tracking; Participants will perform a manual dexterity task in an immersive virtual reality environment, requiring them to move virtual cubes using the hand-tracking technology

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Brain cortical activity	Measures of brain cortical activity using EEG/fNIRS	Baseline (at rest: before task performance) and Day 1 (during each of the three task performances within the single study session)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Average speed	Mean instant velocity of the upper extremity during task performance	Day 1 (during each of the three task performances within the single study session)
Maximal movement speed	Peak instant velocity of the upper extremity during task performance	Day 1 (during each of the three task performances within the single study session)
Movement smoothness	Spectral arc length of the normalised instant velocity (SPARC) of the upper extremity during task performance	Day 1 (during each of the three task performances within the single study session)
Variation of velocity	Coefficient of variation of the instant velocity of the upper extremity during task performance	Day 1 (during each of the three task performances within the single study session)
Average distance between thumb and other fingers	Mean distance between thumb and other fingers during task performance	Day 1 (during each of the three task performances within the single study session)
Variation of distance between thumb and other fingers	Coefficient of variation of the distance between thumb and other fingers during task performance	Day 1 (during each of the three task performances within the single study session)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc- Université Catholique de Louvain
• Collaborators: Université Catholique de Louvain
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Thierry Lejeune, MD, PhD, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc UCL

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): March 20, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 13, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 20, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 26, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 26, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 20, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: Real vs iVR Manual Dexterity

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No