[P2–014]: REL@X: SENSORY AND VIRTUAL IMMERSION TO REDUCE THE ANXIETY OF PATIENTS CONSULTING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NICE MEMORY CENTER
Auriane Gros, Emmanuelle Chapoulie, Rémy Ramadour, Vincent Robert, Julie de Stoutz, Stéphane Guétin, Yvan Regeard, Chaïma Damoun, Emeline Wyckaert, Valéria Manera, Philippe H. Robert, Renaud David · Alzheimer s & Dementia · 2017
Rel@x project aims at reducing the level of anxiety and to improve positive emotions in patients coming for the first time in consultation at Nice Memory Center. This is supposed to reduce errors due to stress in neuropsychological tests, and also allows to study emotion regulation capabilities of patients with and without cognitive impairment. To these aims, Rel@x project developed a multisensorial relaxing environment including virtual reality, music and odors. In the present study, we included 50 participants with (N=25) and without (N=25) mild cognitive impairment. Patients were immersed in a realistic universe then in a fantasy world on an island, and during this immersion we measured their emotional reactivity and regulation with mobile EEG and skin conductance devices. Before and after the immersion participants completed questionnaires on perceived emotions (PANAS) and emotion regulation ability (ERQ), and performed verbal fluency tasks (picture description). Preliminary results show that: -This virtual and sensory immersion allows a reduction of participants' level of anxiety and negative emotions. -this immersion allows an improvement of their verbal fluency. -there are differences in emotion and emotion regulation abilities between patients with and without cognitive impairment. This study showed that an immersive experience combining virtual reality, music and odors is able to reduce anxiety level in patients consulting for the first time in a memory center, possibly improving their cognitive performance in cognitive tests.