BOLBORETA INNOVA GROUP / BOLBORETA INVESTIGA / IDEAS / COGNITIVE REJUVENATION

Cognitive Rejuvenation

The power of virtual reality to keep the mind young

Immersive multisensory training to promote brain rejuvenation in older adults through Virtual Reality.

Focus areas

Life Sciences

Type of research

Multisensory stimulation for cognitive rejuvenation

Place of realization

Spain

Principal investigator

Tomás Ortiz and Laura Ortiz

Start Date

June 2024

End Date

Ongoing

Technology readiness level (TRL)

3

Our Services

Funding, technological support, prototype development, patent registration

Sustainable Development Goals

CURRENT PHASE OF THE PROJECT

1

Problem DEFINITION

2

Hypothesis

3

Research for hypothesis validation

4

results ANALYSIS

5

Publication

WHAT THE PROJECT IS ABOUT

This project aims to reactivate the mind through the senses. By combining Virtual Reality with multisensory stimuli—visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory—it delivers daily training sessions designed to strengthen both perception and cognitive function.

Over a six‑month period, participants use a virtual reality application that immerses them in carefully designed experiences intended to drive measurable cognitive “rejuvenation”.

The system orchestrates not only the virtual environment but also every accompanying sensory input, turning each session into a fully integrated, immersive, and personalized experience.

Ultimately, it represents a new way to care for the brain—by awakening the senses.

KEY WORDS:
Neurociencia AplicadaVirtual Reality
Cognitive aging
Brain plasticity
Multisensory stimulation
Sensory rehabilitation
Therapeutic VR

Study design

Pilot case study (N=2).
Daily training over 16 weeks.

Participants

Two adults, individual sessions.
They complete two sessions a day for a four-month period.

Procedure

VR application featuring a linear journey through three environments: forest, home, and beach
Physical exercises focused on balance, strength, and mobility
Sensory tasks stimulating smell, taste, touch, and vision
Activities of daily living and social interactions within virtual environments
Post‑session evaluation via image‑recognition tasks (memory or attention)

Multisensory system

Synchronized visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory stimuli
Centralized control through the VR application with precise latency management

Instruments used

Virtual reality system with advanced positional tracking.
Wearable haptic device for targeted body stimulation.
Olfactory module for the controlled scent delivery.
Oral stimulation system designed to activate taste receptors.
Auricular micro‑vibration system to reinforce low‑frequency auditory signals.
Independent wearable device for daily biomedical data collection.

Stimulation parameters

Visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli delivered at 4 Hz
Olfactory and gustatory stimuli applied at specific moments
Semi‑subliminal visual presentation (~100 ms) of a rejuvenated version of the participant

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

Integrated multisensory stimulation device

Engineering a multisensory experience for the brain

To carry out this research, a multisensory technological ecosystem has been designed capable of integrating and controlling different stimuli within an immersive environment. The aim has been to reproduce coherent and measurable experiences that allow us to assess how the body responds when several sensory channels are activated simultaneously.

The system is composed of:

Virtual reality platform with advanced positional tracking, responsible for guiding the experience, rendering environments, and regulating protocol pacing.
Wearable haptic device, delivering localized and modulated tactile sensations across different areas of the body.
Controlled‑release olfactory module, introducing scent stimuli in alignment with the immersive narrative.
Oral stimulation system, designed to activate gustatory receptors at specific moments.
Auricular micro‑vibration system, reinforcing low‑frequency auditory signals and supporting sensory integration.
Wearable biomedical monitoring device, used to track daily physiological parameters and enrich data interpretation.

All components are orchestrated through the VR application, resulting in a controlled, immersive, and reproducible experimental environment—built to rigorously explore the combined effects of multisensory stimulation.