Most people think of virtual reality (VR) as a fun way to play games or explore fantasy worlds.
But scientists are now using VR for a much more serious purpose: to help detect early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, even before symptoms appear.
Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s can make a big difference.
With the right lifestyle changes and treatments, people may be able to slow the disease’s progression and enjoy a better quality of life. However, traditional diagnosis methods often rely on expensive and invasive tests, such as brain scans or spinal fluid collection.
That’s where VR comes in. Researchers are now using immersive VR environments to study memory and navigation, which are often affected early in Alzheimer’s disease.
Instead of 2D memory tests on a computer screen, participants can walk through realistic 3D virtual rooms, just like in real life.
At the Cognitive Neuroscience Society conference in Boston, scientists shared exciting new research showing how VR can uncover hidden memory problems.
One study, led by Tammy Tran from Stanford University, asked participants to remember where everyday objects—like glasses or a remote—were placed in a virtual living room. Later, they had to recreate the same room.
The study included young adults, healthy older adults, and people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI)—a condition that can be an early stage of Alzheimer’s. Tran’s team found that older adults and those with MCI had more trouble remembering object locations and were less accurate in placing them back. These memory problems were also linked to higher levels of Alzheimer’s-related proteins in their blood, such as pTau217.
This research shows that memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s can be detected early—even before major symptoms appear—by using VR to measure how people remember and move through space.
VR is especially helpful because it mimics real life. People can naturally move around, interact with objects, and feel immersed in the task. Tran noted that participants—even older ones—found the experience exciting and easy to understand.
Manu Madhav, a neuroscientist at the University of British Columbia, also sees big potential in using VR to measure spatial navigation, another early skill that declines in Alzheimer’s. His team created virtual mazes and tested how well participants could remember their starting point and the locations of hidden landmarks. So far, they’ve studied healthy young and older adults, and soon they’ll include participants with early Alzheimer’s.
The biggest challenge, Madhav said, was making sure the experience is comfortable for older users. But thanks to careful design, participants can now spend over an hour in the VR environment without getting dizzy or confused.
Both Tran and Madhav believe that VR could change the way doctors screen for Alzheimer’s, offering a fun, non-invasive, and highly accurate tool. As VR becomes more affordable and accessible, more research labs may use it to explore memory, brain health, and even other mental conditions.
It’s a high-tech step forward in the fight against dementia—one virtual room at a time.
If you care about Alzheimer’s disease, please read studies about the protective power of dietary antioxidants against Alzheimer’s, and eating habits linked to higher Alzheimer’s risk.
For more health information, please see recent studies that oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms, and Vitamin E may help prevent Parkinson’s disease.
