The study of the human brain is a complex, tricky thing. Apart from the intricacies that continue to shroud the human mind, many other research-related concerns constantly arise.

Testing theory in the laboratory, for instance, presents the issue of low ecological validity–the extent to which experimental results can be generalized to real-world scenarios. Laboratory conditions aren’t always as realistic as researchers can hope them to be, due to a number of reasons. For one, presentations of experimental variables are often limited to simplistic text-, graphic-, or computer-based abstractions of real-world objects and situations (Bohil et al., 2011) because these are the forms over which researchers can practice the most control that technology and resources can allow. Another concern is the ethical constraints of human participation in experiments. For instance, studies on driving must deal with the challenge of simulating the complex activity of operating a car and navigating along urban city roads, as well as the moral implications of allowing participants to literally go out driving in the streets and putting themselves and civilians in danger. Also, beyond the behavioral aspect of neuroscientific research, one must also consider its biological foundations. The widely-applied tests for brain activity such as fMRI and EEG require participants to be stationary, and due to this, the possible activities that the participant can undergo during testing are considerably narrowed. This makes it hard for researchers to explore neuronal foundations of certain actions and situations in particularly naturalistic environments (Doucet et al., 2016).

Because of these hurdles, it has easily become evident how useful a tool VR technology can be in the study of the human brain and behavior. Through virtual environments, a compromise between naturalistic laboratory conditions and a high degree of experimental control is achieved (Bohil, 2011). So far, the advantages that VR technology has brought upon the field of neuroscientific research are abundant, not just among humans but as well across multiple species. One advantage of VR technology in neuroscientific research is that participants can undergo elaborate tests on brain activity while kept sufficiently stationary, as they experience virtual scenarios that elicit very real responses. Also, the high degree of control that researchers have over the creation and manipulation of virtual environments is incomparable to real-world testing environments. VR-based experiments provide a more engaging alternative to passive experimental content such as video or written recordings of sample scenarios. Finally, VR environments circumvent many ethical constraints (Doucet et al., 2016).

How our brains’ realities can be fooled is one thing, but how we can use that fact to gain much-needed knowledge and insight into the anatomy, physiology, and psychology of the human mind is a different thing altogether.