Virtual reality tool box enhances translational research
Often times the translation of research from animal models to humans fails because the experiments don’t look alike. In research, most spatial memory experiments include animal models being tested in actual, real-world mazes while humans are assessed virtually, using computer screens, more often than not in a two dimensional setting.
Dr. Julio Martinez-Trujillo, Physiology and Pharmacology, and his team have developed a new virtual reality ‘tool box’ that can be used to build video games with a unique capacity for teaching and testing both humans and animal models which enhance translational research.
Using standardized, preexisting software, the new virtual reality tool box allows investigators to homogenize psychological tests across species by creating three-dimensional environments with specific learning tasks and end goals.
With the tool box, investigators can test humans and animal models within exactly the same environment and very similar settings, allowing for generalization from animal models into humans and translational research findings.
