A scoping review of augmented/virtual reality health and wellbeing Interventions for older adults: redefining Immersive virtual reality

Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies are regularly used in psychology research to complement psychological interventions and to enable an individual to feel as if they are in an environment other than that of their immediate surroundings. A scoping review was performed to identify how AR/VR was being used with older adult populations to impact their physical and mental health. The review also sought to determine whether the terminology used in AR/VR research was consistent. The results show that 65 studies have been published in the last 20 years that meet the inclusion criteria (virtual/augmented reality) technology to impact older adults’ physical/mental health and wellbeing. Participants included healthy, physically, and cognitively impaired, and emotionally vulnerable older adults. We argue that over 70% of the studies included in this review were mislabeled as VR and only six papers included fully immersive VR/AR. The remaining studies use less immersive variants of virtual reality with their populations, and only one study made use of AR, which prompted the suggestion of a new definition for virtual reality. This paper also calls for an updated taxonomy of augmented and virtual reality definitions to address the lack of consistency found in studies that identify themselves as AR/VR when they are using less immersive technical set-ups, including displaying non-interactive videos on 2D screens

Effects of cannabinoid exposure during neurodevelopment on future effects of drugs of abuse: a preclinical perspective.

The endocannabinoid system plays a central role in the earliest stages of embryonic, postnatal and adolescent neurodevelopment. Aberrant activity of this system at key developmental phases has been shown to affect neural development. The aim of this review is to synthesise and analyse preclinical insights within rodent populations, focusing on the effects that perinatal (embryonic, gestational and early postnatal developmental stages) and adolescent (postnatal day 21-60) cannabinoid exposure impose across time on the subsequent activity of various drugs of abuse. Results in rodents show that exposure to cannabinoids during the perinatal and adolescent period can lead to multifaceted behavioural and molecular changes. In the perinatal period, significant effects of Δ-THC exposure on subsequent opiate and amphetamine reward-related behaviours were observed primarily in male rodents. These effects were not extended to include cocaine or alcohol. In adolescence, various cannabinoid agonists were used experimentally. This array of cannabinoids demonstrated consistent effects on opioids across sex. In contrast, no significant effects were observed regarding the future activity of amphetamines and cocaine. However, these studies focused primarily on male rodents. In conclusion, numerous gaps and limitations are apparent in the current body of research. The sparsity of studies analysing the perinatal period must be addressed. Future research within both periods must also focus on delineating sex-specific effects, moving away from a male-centric focus. Studies should also aim to utilise more clinically relevant cannabinoid treatments