Editorial: Virtual reality for neuropsychology and affective cognitive sciences: Theoretical and methodological avenues for studying human cognition

The Research Topic presented here emphasizes the theoretical and methodological contributions of the use of virtual reality to study human cognition. At a first glance, the use of novel technologies, such as virtual reality can be seen only as broader means of providing richer and multimodal stimuli for experimental psychology. However, it should be stressed out that the introduction of virtual reality in the field represents a serious paradigm shift in cognitive sciences. When Wilhelm Wundt established the first laboratory at Leipzig University in 1879, namely “The Institute for Experimental Psychology”, he deliberately created a separate space from other departments in which it could be possible to conduct experiments by isolating several parameters. Wundt was one of the first who recognized that behavior and even the subjective aspects of the mind itself can be observed according to independent variables created in the environment. Thus, he understood that in order to manipulate the variables that he created, he had to control other variables already present in the reality of this space. This is why a dark roomwas installed in this laboratory for performing psychophysical experiments on visual perception (Nicolas, 2005). This may seem insignificant by today’s standards, but virtually what WilhelmWundt tried to do was the manipulation of the physical reality in which modified stimuli have been exposed to participants. His work made that psychology is furthermore established as a full-fledged empirical science. More than a century after, technological advances in the field of computer sciences have also led to creating a new environment for a new kind of interface, interaction, and immersion: Virtual Reality. Following the democratization of technology, researchers in cognitive science found out that virtual reality can be a real asset for studying neuropsychology and affective cognition experimentally. The fact that it can create any familiar environment without limits OPEN ACCESS