Article

The present study investigated the effects of virtual body swapping with mental
rehearsal on pain intensity and body perception disturbance (BPD) in patients
with complex regional pain syndrome. Patients with complex regional pain syndrome
were assigned randomly to three experimental groups: the 'virtual body swapping
with mental rehearsal' (VBS) group (n=13), the 'watching movement only' group
(n=13), and the 'mental rehearsal only' (n=13) group. Then, pretreatment pain
intensity and BPD were compared with post-treatment perceptions. The results
showed that pain intensity did not decrease significantly after treatment in all
of the groups. However, BPD improved significantly after treatment in the VBS
group, but not in the other groups. Therefore, this study is the first to show
the effects of a single session of VBS on BPD. Further studies should apply an
elevated degree of immersion and create a more realistic virtual body.

Langue : ANGLAIS