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Objectives: Virtual Reality‐based interventions have become an important element of digital mental health, offering accessible and scalable treatment options. However, studies on VR‐based approaches in elderly patients are scarce. This explorative study examined the feasibility of using Virtual Reality (VR) for elderly patients with psychiatric illness, focusing on the sense of presence as the primary outcome. Methods: The study included N = 30 patients between the ages of 59–92 years who were currently in geriatric psychiatric inpatient and day clinic treatment. Participants were assessed before, during and after a relaxing ten‐minute VR experience. Attitude towards digital media and VR, subjective digital competence, and previous experience were examined using questionnaires. Motion sickness was measured repeatedly during the VR experience using the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (FMS). Patients rated their motion sickness and their general well‐being in the virtual environment. Sense of presence in the virtual environment was quantified with the Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ). Results: Participants reported a notable sense of presence (M = 0.41 ± 1.4) in the virtual environment, particularly in terms of spatial presence. Motion sickness was reported by a minority of patients. Three patients terminated the VR application before it was finished. The average well‐being during the VR experience was reported as high (70/100). Sense of presence and motion sickness showed a significant negative correlation. Presence, motion sickness and well‐being were not significantly correlated with age, nor did they differ significantly between groups. Conclusions: This study underscores the potential of VR‐based experiences in the treatment of elderly psychiatric patients and highlights their willingness and ability to engage with VR technology. While the results are promising, future research should explore more interactive VR scenarios and assess their safety and feasibility in elderly populations. Key points: Elderly psychiatric patients showed a high level of tolerance for the VR experience with minimal drop‐out rates.Patients experienced a high sense of presence which was associated with low occurrences of motion sickness.Age did not significantly impact the participants' experiences with VR.The potential of VR in treating elderly psychiatric patients needs to be evaluated in more studies, assessing the safety and feasibility of more diverse VR applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent discovery of neuronal cell-surface antibodies profoundly expanded the clinical spectrum of paraneoplastic neurological syndromes. Many of these syndromes are associated with impaired cognitive function, a clinical symptom that is of increasing concern in cancer patients. However, the frequency of these antibodies in cancer patients and their relation to clinical syndromes is currently unknown. Here, we investigated the prevalence of neuronal cell-surface antibodies and associated paraneoplastic neurological syndromes in 323 patients with different cancer types and in 105 controls. Cerebrospinal fluid and serum samples were analysed for a large panel of anti-neuronal antibodies and all patients were screened for cognitive deficits. Blood-brain barrier integrity was assessed using the age-normalized albumin cerebrospinal fluid/serum ratio. Anti-neuronal autoantibodies were observed in 24.5% of cancer patients (in contrast to 3.1% in neurological control patients without cancer and 2.5% in healthy controls) and were almost exclusively detected in serum. The majority of antibodies were directed against cell-surface antigens (75.9%), most frequently IgA/IgM isotypes targeting the N-methyl- d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Cognitive deficits and cerebellar syndromes were significantly more prevalent in antibody-positive in comparison with antibody-negative patients (21 vs. 7%, p = 2.7 × 10; 11 vs. 2%, p = 3.0 × 10). Antibody-positive patients with cognitive deficits had a significantly increased albumin cerebrospinal fluid/serum ratio in comparison with antibody-positive patients with other neurological deficits, indicating blood-brain barrier dysfunction (49.1 × 10 vs. 12.0 × 10; p = 0.036). Our results show that anti-neuronal antibodies have a high prevalence in a wide range of different tumour types and are associated with distinct neurological deficits. Specifically, the results suggest a so far undefined cognitive paraneoplastic syndrome in patients with antibodies targeting neuronal surface antigens and concurrent blood-brain barrier dysfunction. Anti-neuronal antibodies might thus serve as a biomarker for potentially treatment-responsive cognitive impairments in cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]