ReviewFrontiers in neuroscience2018
Enhancing the Ecological Validity of fMRI Memory Research Using Virtual Reality.
Review in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The method of loci in the context of psychological research: A systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953) · 2025Pooled it
- Use of Immersive Virtual Reality in the Assessment and Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2020Pooled it
- The Spatial Similarity Task: A cross-species approach to spatial memory.Behavior research methods · 2026Article
- The survival processing advantage in memory using virtual reality versus traditional desktop display: Does it make a difference?Memory & cognition · 2026Article
- Spatial contexts with reliable neural representations support reinstatement of subsequently placed objects.Nature human behaviour · 2026Article
- How sturdy is your memory palace? Reliable room representations predict subsequent reinstatement of placed objects.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Contrasting cognitive, behavioral, and physiological responses to breathwork vs. naturalistic stimuli in reflective chamber and VR headset environments.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Inferring Mental States from Brain Data: Ethico-legal Questions about Social Uses of Brain Data.The Hastings Center report · 2025Article
- Decoding Depth of Meditation: Electroencephalography Insights From Expert Vipassana Practitioners.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Revisiting the role of computational neuroimaging in the era of integrative neuroscience.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Review
- Review
- iVR-fNIRS: studying brain functions in a fully immersive virtual environment.Neurophotonics · 2024Review
- Decoding the dynamic perception of risk and speed using naturalistic stimuli: A multivariate, whole-brain analysis.Human brain mapping · 2024Article
- How three-dimensional sketching environments affect spatial thinking: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of virtual reality.PloS one · 2024Article
- Multisensory input modulates memory-guided spatial navigation in humans.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Comparison of behavioral and brain indices of fear renewal during a standard vs. novel immersive reality Pavlovian fear extinction paradigm in healthy adults.Behavioural brain research · 2023Article
- Article
- Monitoring Brain Activity in VR: EEG and Neuroimaging.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2023Article
- Enhancing learning and retention with distinctive virtual reality environments and mental context reinstatement.NPJ science of learning · 2022Article
- Enhanced processing of aversive stimuli on embodied artificial limbs by the human amygdala.Scientific reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a powerful research tool to understand the neural underpinnings of human memory. However, as memory is known to be context-dependent, differences in contexts between naturalistic settings and the MRI scanner environment may potentially confound neuroimaging findings. Virtual reality (VR) provides a unique opportunity to mitigate this issue by allowing memories to be formed and/or retrieved within immersive, navigable, visuospatial contexts. This can enhance the ecological validity of task paradigms, while still ensuring that researchers maintain experimental control over critical aspects of the learning and testing experience. This mini-review surveys the growing body of fMRI studies that have incorporated VR to address critical questions about human memory. These studies have adopted a variety of approaches, including presenting research participants with VR experiences in the scanner, asking participants to retrieve information that they had previously acquired in a VR environment, or identifying neural correlates of behavioral metrics obtained through VR-based tasks performed outside the scanner. Although most such studies to date have focused on spatial or navigational memory, we also discuss the promise of VR in aiding other areas of memory research and facilitating research into clinical disorders.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.