While it may sound like a cute gift for your pet rat, a new set of virtual reality glasses has a more serious purpose. Their inventors say they could help advance research into Alzheimer's and other brain diseases.
Anyone who has watched a rat run a maze knows that this animal is often used in research to understand how the brain works. Just this year, for example, studies in rodents showed that activating certain brain cells not only slows aging but also extends their lifespan. Another study from 2024 showed how the brain stores three copies of memories. A study last year showed how brain adjustments caused mice to sleep less but feel as awake as if they had rested for longer periods of time.
Mouse studies are also critical to uncovering the cause of Alzheimer's disease. For example, Cornell University researchers who invented the new goggles had previously found reduced blood flow in the brains of diseased mice.
"It's very exciting from the perspective of, hey, maybe you can do something for Alzheimer's disease to restore some cognitive function," said lead researcher Chris Schaffer. "The next step is to reveal how improved blood flow improves neuron function in the brain. But to do these experiments, we need devices that have new capabilities than what has been available in the world before."
The need for these additional features led to the creation of the device, which the team aptly named "MouseGoggles."
While scientists have tried using video images to map reactions inside mouse brains, the light and sound produced by traditional methods can actually interfere with ongoing experiments or have no noticeable effect on the mice at all. The idea is that a VR device might have a different effect.
"The more immersive we can make the behavioral tasks, the more natural the brain functions we want to study will be," Schaffer said.
To build the MouseGoggles, the researchers used off-the-shelf components, specifically smartwatch displays.
Matthew Isaacson, a co-author of the study, said: "This is definitely due to the hacker spirit of taking parts made for other things and applying them in new contexts. It turns out that the perfect size display for a mouse VR headset has almost been made for a smart watch. We are lucky that we do not need to make or design anything from scratch, we can easily find all the cheap parts we need."
When the team submitted their study, along with the goggles' manufacturing specifications, for publication in the journal Nature Methods, an anonymous reviewer suggested adding a set of small cameras to each eyepiece so that the animals' pupils could be tracked.
Unlike human VR headsets, MouseGoggles do not allow rodents to move freely. Instead, the mice were strapped to a helmet and wore it while walking on a ball-like treadmill. However, the team said their next step will be to develop mobile goggles that can be worn on the heads of large rodents such as rats or tree shrews.
In tests, mice responded significantly to VR clips in which dark shapes moved toward them.
"When we did this test in a typical big-screen VR setup, the mice were completely unresponsive," Isaacson said. "But almost every mouse, the first time they saw it with the glasses on, they jumped. They had a huge startle response. They seemed to actually think they were being attacked by an imminent predator."
Other tests used brain fluorescence tracking technology to ensure the brain was properly stimulated by the goggles. The fact that the researchers were able to observe activity in the primary visual cortex confirmed that the goggles were correctly transmitting clear images to the rodents' retinas. They also saw activity in the hippocampus, indicating that the mice were able to map the virtual environment correctly.
In addition to creating lighter, more mobile MouseGoggles, the team said it would also be interesting to create a system that stimulates senses other than vision.
"I think five-sense virtual reality in mice is an experimental direction," Schaffer said. "We're trying to understand these very complex behaviors where mice are integrating sensory information, comparing opportunities with internal motivational states like rest and food needs, and then deciding how to act."
The study has been accepted for publication and is now available in NatureMethods.