While much research has been done on the fact that virtual reality can effectively reduce pain, more research is necessary to understand how it reduces pain. Research has shown that virtual reality does more than just distract your brain. The lead doctor of a study on virtual reality to combat pain says, "“It does more than just distract the mind from pain but also helps to block pain signals from reaching the brain, offering a drug-free supplement to traditional pain management.” Another theory states that the level of attention paid to the pain, the emotion related to the pain, and past experience of pain all play into how pain is felt. This theory is known as the Gate Control theory. If the level of attention paid to pain plays into how pain is felt then should someone be distracted by virtual reality their perception of pain would change. This theory was adapted by McCaul and Malott to state that humans have a limited capacity of attention and for something to be perceived as painful it must be focused on. The Multiple resources theory states that different sensory systems function independently. This supports virtual reality as an analgesic, which is based on integrating multiple types of sensory distractions. The most recent theory on how virtual reality reduces pain states that virtual reality analgesia stems from intercortical modulation along the signaling pathways of the pain matrix, through attention, emotion, memory, and other senses. Clearly, while we know that virtual reality manages pain further research must be conducted to understand the mechanisms behind it. Understanding how this works, and how virtual reality analgesia effects people of different age, gender, pain history, etc. will allow the patient to be best matched with a virtual reality system.