Exploratory fNIRS Assessment of Cortical Activation during a Novel Virtual Reality Object Orientation Memory Task

Decoding neural signatures of visuo-spatial functions can play an important role in guiding human-computer interactions (HCI). Virtual reality (VR) enhances these interactions and offers a new tool for exploring visuo-spatial functions. Studies have shown that cortical areas involving visuo-spatial functions are heavily coordinated with those involving motor activities. As VR gains popularity and practicality, individuals with mobility impairments may begin to rely on it for activities including social interactions, cognitive and physical training. It is important to measure and monitor brain activation evoked during these VR activities to properly guide the HCI technologies. In this work, we introduce a novel VR task which evokes both visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) and motor hemodynamic responses in the brain. The proposed paradigm is an object orientation memory task that requires some degree of motor activity. The task involves memorizing the orientation of a 3D object, and then recalling and recreating that orientation from a rotated version of that 3D object using a handheld controller. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was recorded from seven participants out of whom two were excluded due to substantial motion artifacts and poor optode connections. We performed a generalized linear model (GLM) analysis in which we used a subject specific hemodynamic response function (HRF) to quantify the activations during the proposed task. Our results demonstrated that superior frontal gyrus (SFG) is the most activated during the proposed task and that the activity is consistently lateral across subjects. These findings can contribute to guiding the advent of VR furthering the understanding of visuo-spatial and motor interactions in HCI.