Assessment of Prospective Memory using fNIRS in Immersive Virtual Reality Environment

In order to measure real life prospective memory (PM) ability in laboratory setting, previous studies have used photograph-based, video-based and virtual reality (VR)-based to simulate real life environment. In this study, we used the Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record participants’ brain activities when they are performing PM tasks in immersive VR environment. 10 participants were asked to perform PM tasks in a virtual environment while wearing a VR headset and an fNIRS device. By comparing the hemodynamic changes of rostral prefrontal cortex (BA10) of the PM component and the ongoing component, the result shows that VR PM task can induce the activation of BA10. In addition, by making use of the fNIRS technique, this study provides a feasible way to measure BA10 activity in simulated real life environment using immersive VR device.