{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T14:47:40Z","timestamp":1792853260059,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,30]],"date-time":"2023-06-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1688083200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Italian Ministry of Health","award":["GR-2016-02363640"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GR-2016-02363640"]}]},{"name":"Italian Ministry of Health","award":["2021\/2022\/2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021\/2022\/2023"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Social cognition is fundamental in everyday life to understand \u201cothers\u2019 behavior\u201d, which is a key feature of social abilities. Previous studies demonstrated the efficacy of a rehabilitative intervention in semi-immersive virtual reality (VR) controlled by whole-body motion to improve the ability of patients with cerebellar disorders to predict others\u2019 intentions (VR-SPIRIT). Patients with severe ataxia that have difficulties at multiple levels of social processing could benefit from this intervention in terms of improving their social prediction skills, but they may have difficulties in controlling VR with whole-body movements. Therefore, we implemented VR-SPIRIT on a wearable, affordable, and easy-to-use technology, such as the Oculus Quest, a head-mounted display. The aim of this work was to evaluate the usability and tolerability of this VR application. We recruited 10 patients (37.7 \u00b1 14.8 years old, seven males) with different types of hereditary ataxia who performed a single VR-SPIRIT session using the Oculus Quest viewer. After the session, patients answered a series of questionnaires to investigate the overall usability of the system and its potential effects in terms of cyber sickness. The preliminary results demonstrated system usability and tolerability. Indeed, only three patients did not complete the session due to different problems (dizziness, nausea, and boredom). In future studies, more patients will be enrolled to assess the effectiveness of the application, paving the way for the implementation of social training that can also be delivered at home.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci13071017","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,30]],"date-time":"2023-06-30T16:06:37Z","timestamp":1688141197000},"page":"1017","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Is Social Training Delivered with a Head-Mounted Display Suitable for Patients with Hereditary Ataxia?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2362-3839","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giorgia","family":"Malerba","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Silvia","family":"Bellazzecca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0572-1328","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cosimo","family":"Urgesi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy"},{"name":"Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5511-4342","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Niccol\u00f2","family":"Butti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy"},{"name":"PhD Program in Neural and Cognitive Sciences, Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Grazia","family":"D\u2019Angelo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eleonora","family":"Diella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2568-9735","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emilia","family":"Biffi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. 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