title: Visual Hallucinations as Incidental Negative Effects of Virtual Reality on Parkinson's Disease Patients: A Link with Neurodegeneration?
abstract: We followed up a series of 23 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients who had performed an immersive virtual reality (VR) protocol eight years before. On that occasion, six patients incidentally described visual hallucinations (VH) with occurrences of images not included in the virtual environment. Curiously, in the following years, only these patients reported the appearance of VH later in their clinical history, while the rest of the group did not. Even considering the limited sample size, we may argue that VR immersive systems can induce unpleasant effects in PD patients who are predisposed to a cognitive impairment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Ospedale San Giuseppe, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Via Cadorna 90, Piancavallo, 28824 Verbania, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8642-6616
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Albani
authors.affiliation: Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Via Magnasco 2, 20149 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pedroli
authors.affiliation: Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Via Magnasco 2, 20149 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0662-7678
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cipresso
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Ospedale San Giuseppe, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Via Cadorna 90, Piancavallo, 28824 Verbania, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bulla
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cimolin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Neuroimaging and Medical Sciences, Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" di Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Ospedale San Giuseppe, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Via Cadorna 90, Piancavallo, 28824 Verbania, Italy ; Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi Montalcini", Università di Torino, Via Cherasco 15, 10126 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mauro
authors.affiliation: Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Via Magnasco 2, 20149 Milano, Italy ; Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica di Milano, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3657-106X
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riva