<p class="title">A virtual reality experience of being in Albert Einstein's body can help people with low self-esteem score better on cognitive tests, a study has found.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The perception of having Einstein's body may help unlock previously inaccessible mental resources, researchers said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Following a virtual reality "Einstein" experience, participants were also less likely to unconsciously stereotype older people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Published in Frontiers in Psychology, the study suggests the way our brain perceives our body is surprisingly flexible. The researchers hope the technique will be useful for education.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Virtual reality can create the illusion of a virtual body to substitute your own, which is called virtual embodiment," said Mel Slater, a professor at the University of Barcelona in Spain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"In an immersive virtual environment, participants can see this new body reflected in a mirror and it exactly matches their movements, helping to create a powerful illusion that the virtual body is their own," said Slater.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Previous research found that virtual embodiment can have striking effects on attitudes and behaviour. For example, white people who experienced a virtual black body showed less unconscious stereotyping (called implicit bias) of black people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We wondered whether virtual embodiment could affect cognition. If we gave someone a recognizable body that represents supreme intelligence, such as that of Albert Einstein, would they perform better on a cognitive task than people given a normal body?" said Slater.</p>.<p class="bodytext">To find out, the researchers recruited 30 young men to participate in a virtual embodiment experiment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prior to the embodiment, the participants completed three tests: a cognitive task to reveal their planning and problem-solving skills; a task to quantify their self-esteem; and one to identify any implicit bias towards older people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This final task was to investigate whether the experience of having an older appearance simulation could change attitudes to older people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The study participants then donned a body-tracking suit and a virtual reality headset. Half experienced a virtual Einstein body and the other half a normal adult body.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After completing some exercises in the virtual environment with their new body, they repeated the implicit bias and cognitive tests.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The researchers found that people with low self-esteem performed the cognitive task better following the virtual Einstein experience, compared with those who experienced a normal body of someone their own age.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Those exposed to the Einstein body also had a reduced implicit bias against older people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Crucially, cognitive enhancements only occurred in people with low self-esteem. The researchers hypothesise that those with low self-esteem had the most to gain by changing how they thought about themselves.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Seeing themselves in the body of a respected and intelligent scientist may have enhanced their confidence during the cognitive test.</p>
<p class="title">A virtual reality experience of being in Albert Einstein's body can help people with low self-esteem score better on cognitive tests, a study has found.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The perception of having Einstein's body may help unlock previously inaccessible mental resources, researchers said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Following a virtual reality "Einstein" experience, participants were also less likely to unconsciously stereotype older people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Published in Frontiers in Psychology, the study suggests the way our brain perceives our body is surprisingly flexible. The researchers hope the technique will be useful for education.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Virtual reality can create the illusion of a virtual body to substitute your own, which is called virtual embodiment," said Mel Slater, a professor at the University of Barcelona in Spain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"In an immersive virtual environment, participants can see this new body reflected in a mirror and it exactly matches their movements, helping to create a powerful illusion that the virtual body is their own," said Slater.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Previous research found that virtual embodiment can have striking effects on attitudes and behaviour. For example, white people who experienced a virtual black body showed less unconscious stereotyping (called implicit bias) of black people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We wondered whether virtual embodiment could affect cognition. If we gave someone a recognizable body that represents supreme intelligence, such as that of Albert Einstein, would they perform better on a cognitive task than people given a normal body?" said Slater.</p>.<p class="bodytext">To find out, the researchers recruited 30 young men to participate in a virtual embodiment experiment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prior to the embodiment, the participants completed three tests: a cognitive task to reveal their planning and problem-solving skills; a task to quantify their self-esteem; and one to identify any implicit bias towards older people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This final task was to investigate whether the experience of having an older appearance simulation could change attitudes to older people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The study participants then donned a body-tracking suit and a virtual reality headset. Half experienced a virtual Einstein body and the other half a normal adult body.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After completing some exercises in the virtual environment with their new body, they repeated the implicit bias and cognitive tests.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The researchers found that people with low self-esteem performed the cognitive task better following the virtual Einstein experience, compared with those who experienced a normal body of someone their own age.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Those exposed to the Einstein body also had a reduced implicit bias against older people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Crucially, cognitive enhancements only occurred in people with low self-esteem. The researchers hypothesise that those with low self-esteem had the most to gain by changing how they thought about themselves.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Seeing themselves in the body of a respected and intelligent scientist may have enhanced their confidence during the cognitive test.</p>