Fear spiders do you?
Well spiders though small in size have large tendencies to freak humans much larger in size. People fear spiders to an extent of obsession that impairs their daily functioning. Scientists might have the solution to this crippling phobia of spiders and other similar phobias in the shape of virtual reality programmes that take their user to a place where he/she can befriend the eight legged freak gradually coming to terms with its existence and thus lessening the unnecessary fear.
Researchers are trying to find ways to lessen the perception of pain in patients who have painful long recovery from severe burn injuries. According to one approach our brain can process a limited number of inputs at one given time thus if we provide our brain with some virtual activity while a painful procedure is being done on the patient the brain will remain distracted towards the virtual world and have very little perception of severe pain. Many studies have been conducted to assess the usefulness of this approach and it seems to work pretty well. Studies conducted at Harbourview Burn center, Seattle, University of Washington, William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston, Texas, University of South Australia, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and elsewhere have shown that this approach can be used in number of scenarios with comparable efficacy and success.
You can read the detail account here on Scientific American.
Well spiders though small in size have large tendencies to freak humans much larger in size. People fear spiders to an extent of obsession that impairs their daily functioning. Scientists might have the solution to this crippling phobia of spiders and other similar phobias in the shape of virtual reality programmes that take their user to a place where he/she can befriend the eight legged freak gradually coming to terms with its existence and thus lessening the unnecessary fear.
Researchers are trying to find ways to lessen the perception of pain in patients who have painful long recovery from severe burn injuries. According to one approach our brain can process a limited number of inputs at one given time thus if we provide our brain with some virtual activity while a painful procedure is being done on the patient the brain will remain distracted towards the virtual world and have very little perception of severe pain. Many studies have been conducted to assess the usefulness of this approach and it seems to work pretty well. Studies conducted at Harbourview Burn center, Seattle, University of Washington, William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston, Texas, University of South Australia, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and elsewhere have shown that this approach can be used in number of scenarios with comparable efficacy and success.
You can read the detail account here on Scientific American.
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