Virtual reality game using scents boosts cognitive function in older adults

As the world’s population gets older, supporting older adults in maintaining their cognitive and memory functions has become an urgent care. The United Nations estimates that by the 2070s there will be more than 2.2 billion people aged 65 or older, so that the global number of children under the age of 18 will be surpassed. This demographic shift is particularly pronounced in Japan, the fastest aging country, where 28.7% of the population is 65 or older.

A promising strategy to prevent cognitive decline is through smell stimulation that reinforces the sense of smell. Geurs signals travel directly to brain areas involved in memory and emotion. Building on this knowledge, a joint research team of Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), University of the Arts London, Bunkyo Gakuin University and Hosei University, Japan, the first cognitive training method for older adult reality (vractorical stimulation (). The study was published in part 15 of the magazine Scientific reports on March 28, 2025.

VR offers a promising platform to simulate sensory conditions in a controlled but fascinating way. By combining targeted tasks with real -time feedback, our VR -based olfactory training approach can increase cognitive involvement and maximize its therapeutic impact. “

Professor Takamichi Nakamoto from Science Tokyo

The method includes an olfactory display that broadcasts specific scents during compelling VR gameplay, activating memory and emotion-related brain areas. In the activity, participants are asked to remember scents in a virtual environment and later match. The experience starts in a virtual landscape. With the help of a VR controller, participants interact with a fragrance source proposed by a stone image. When touched, the statue releases a specific scent, accompanied by a white vapor cloud as a visual cue to strengthen the memory.

Participants then explore the virtual landscape to find an odor source. As they move through the landscape, the smell screen broadcasts subtle traces of the scent to lead them to the location. When reaching the odor source, shown as a stone lantern, they come across three colored vapor clouds, each sending a different scent. Their task is to compare the scents and to identify the one that corresponds to the original scent they remember.

“The odor memory phase reinforced odor recognition and memory coding by linking the olfactory stimulus with a visual Cue. The navigation phase challenges players to integrate spatial navigation with odor recognition, while the memory of the initial odor is held. The final odor -toactoric, enlargement phase, and working aging phase, and working aging phase and and working aging phase and and working aging phase and and working aging phase and and working aging phase and and working aging function, “explains Nakamoto.

The activity led to noticeable cognitive improvements in 30 older adults aged 63 to 90 years. After only 20 minutes of play of the VR game, the participants showed improvements in Visuospatial Rotation and Memory. Visuospatial processing and cognitive function were assessed by various tasks. In the Hiragana rotation task, where they had to decide whether rotated Japanese characters corresponded to the original, the scores improved from 19-82 to 29-85. In a word-based spatial memory call task, in which participants remember word positions in a schedule, the scores rose from 0-15 to 3-15. These improvements were validated by statistical analysis.

With constant research and development into more affordable olfactory displays or alternative odor declaration methods, an accessible and fascinating tool for supporting mental health in older adults can become an accessible and fascinating tool.