Increased cognitive load in immersive virtual reality during visuomotor adaptation is associated with decreased long-term retention and context transfer

BACKGROUND: Complex motor tasks in immersive virtual reality using a head-mounted display (HMD-VR) have been shown to increase cognitive load and decrease motor performance compared to conventional computer screens (CS). Separately, visuomotor adaptation in HMD-VR has been shown to recruit more explicit, cognitive strategies, resulting in decreased implicit mechanisms thought to contribute to motor memory formation. However, it is unclear whether visuomotor adaptation in HMD-VR increases cognitive load and whether cognitive load is related to explicit mechanisms and long-term motor memory formation. METHODS: We randomized 36 healthy participants into three equal groups. All groups completed an established visuomotor adaptation task measuring explicit and implicit mechanisms, combined with a dual-task probe measuring cognitive load. Then, all groups returned after 24-h to measure retention of the overall adaptation. One group completed both training and retention tasks in CS (measuring long-term retention in a CS environment), one group completed both training and retention tasks in HMD-VR (measuring long-term retention in an HMD-VR environment), and one group completed the training task in HMD-VR and the retention task in CS (measuring context transfer from an HMD-VR environment). A Generalized Linear Mixed-Effect Model (GLMM) was used to compare cognitive load between CS and HMD-VR during visuomotor adaptation, t-tests were used to compare overall adaptation and explicit and implicit mechanisms between CS and HMD-VR training environments, and ANOVAs were used to compare group differences in long-term retention and context transfer. RESULTS: Cognitive load was found to be greater in HMD-VR than in CS. This increased cognitive load was related to decreased use of explicit, cognitive mechanisms early in adaptation. Moreover, increased cognitive load was also related to decreased long-term motor memory formation. Finally, training in HMD-VR resulted in decreased long-term retention and context transfer. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that cognitive load increases in HMD-VR and relates to explicit learning and long-term motor memory formation during motor learning. Future studies should examine what factors cause increased cognitive load in HMD-VR motor learning and whether this impacts HMD-VR training and long-term retention in clinical populations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12984-022-01084-6.