Affect and prefrontal hemodynamics during exercise under immersive audiovisual stimulation: Improving the experience of exercise for overweight adults

ConclusionCompared to conventionally delivered audiovisual stimulation, using a virtual-reality headset strengthens the dissociative effect, further improving affective responses to exercise at the ventilatory threshold among overweight, low-active adults. Presumably by competing with interoceptive afferents at the level of sensory input, audiovisual stimulation may lessen reliance on cognitive efforts to attenuate declining affect, as indicated by lower right dlPFC activity, particularly among participants disinclined toward high exercise intensity.
Source: Journal of Sport and Health Science - Category: Sports Medicine Source Type: research