Concurrent category-selective neural activity across the ventral occipito-temporal cortex supports a non-hierarchical view of human visual recognition.

In recent years, several nonpharmacological methods for pain alleviation have been explored, including virtual reality (VR). VR has been established as an effective method to distract pediatric patients and alleviate pain during particularly painful medical procedures. Although VR has been associated with some short-term side effects because of simulator sickness (including nausea, eye strain, dizziness, and headache), VR is generally considered a promising nonpharmacological approach for further research and clinical use. In particular, VR pain alleviation therapeutics (VR-PAT) are very effective among pediatric patients. For example, VR reduces pain in younger children during burn hydrotherapy sessions. Although VR has been used for many clinical pain conditions that include wide age ranges and both sexes, whether VR pain alleviation differs according to a patient’s age or sex remains unresolved. Whether and how a patient’s age or sex may influence VR-PAT during medical procedures needs further investigation. Burn injury is among the top ten leading causes of death and unintentional injury in children. Over 67,000 US children sustained nonfatal burn injuries in 2020. Patients with severe burns experience background pain that exists during rest and procedural pain from wound care procedures adds to this existing pain. Painful burn dressing experiences can stress patients significantly enough to affect postinjury health outcomes. Pharmacological methods, such as opioids, are often used as the standard treatment to address this pain; however, opioid tolerance and dependence may increase over time. Owing to the current US opioid abuse epidemic, nonpharmacological approaches to alleviate pain are particularly needed. Pain is a subjective experience, with pain perception and rating differing based on sex. However, many studies use experimental pain conditions, which are different from pain caused by medical conditions such as burn injury. Around puberty, sex differences in pain emerge, with adolescent girls reporting more pain than adolescent boys. In addition, pediatric patients tend to process pain in more complex ways as they age.