Virtual and Augmented Reality and Sensorimotor Control: Motor Function, Rehabilitation, and Brain-Behavior Insights Across the Lifespan

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) offer powerful platforms for investigating and enhancing sensorimotor control of movement, with broad applications across motor control, motor learning, rehabilitation, psychology, and neuroscience. Its immersive and interactive nature allows researchers to precisely manipulate sensory inputs, task constraints, and feedback mechanisms, providing unique insights into how movements are planned, executed, and refined. VR and AR enable controlled experimentation on coordination, timing, and adaptation, while also supporting individualized motor practice and rehabilitation. When combined with neurophysiological and psychological assessments, VR and AR can reveal the neural and cognitive processes underlying motor control and learning. These technologies also facilitate the study of movement variability, error correction, and feedback integration in both healthy and clinical populations. As such, VR and AR serve not only as tools for intervention but also as windows into the dynamic interplay between brain, body, and environment in shaping movement behavior.The goal of this research topic is to advance understanding of the sensorimotor control of movement by exploring how virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) can be used as a tools for both investigation and intervention across the fields of motor control, motor learning, rehabilitation, psychology, and neuroscience. Specifically, we aim to examine how immersive VR and AR environments can be designed to manipulate sensory feedback, task constraints, and motor demands in order to study the mechanisms of movement planning, execution, and adaptation. This topic seeks to uncover how motor control strategies evolve with practice, how they are influenced by cognitive and emotional factors, and how they can be reshaped through targeted VR/AR-based interventions. We invite research that integrates behavioral, neurophysiological, and psychological approaches to assess movement variability, feedback integration, and neuroplasticity. Ultimately, this topic aims to inform the development of personalized, evidence-based VR applications for motor assessment, rehabilitation and skill enhancement, while contributing to foundational knowledge about how the brain and body coordinate movement in dynamic environments.Areas of interest include, but are not limited to the following:• Experimental studies on motor control in VR and AR, including investigations of coordination, timing, force regulation, and feedback integration.• Sensorimotor adaptation and motor variability in immersive virtual environments.• Motor learning and skill acquisition through VR/AR-based practice, including retention and transfer of learned movements.• Clinical applications of VR and AR for motor rehabilitation in populations with neurological, developmental, or musculoskeletal impairments.• Comparative studies between VR/AR-based and traditional motor control or rehabilitation interventions.• Cognitive-motor interactions, including attention, executive function, and emotional responses during movement practice in VR/AR.• Design and optimization of VR/AR environments to support individualized motor control and learning goals. Topic editors: Andrea Helen Mason, Tiphanie Raffegeau, Kristen Alexis Pickett Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/76246/virtual-and-augmented-reality-and-sensorimotor-control-motor-function-rehabilitation-and-brain-behavior-insights-across-the-lifespan