A Feasibility Study of Virtual Reality-Based Coping Skills Training for Nicotine Dependence.

Objective: Virtual reality (VR)-based cue reactivity has been successfully used for the assessment of drug craving. Going beyond assessment of cue reactivity, a novel VR-based treatment approach for smoking cessation was developed and tested for feasibility.

Method: In a randomized experiment, 10-week treatment feasibility trial, 46 nicotine-dependent adults, completed the10-week program.

Reactivity to cannabis cues in virtual reality environments.

Virtual reality (VR) cue environments have been developed and successfully tested in nicotine, cocaine, and alcohol abusers. Aims in the current article include the development and testing of a novel VR cannabis cue reactivity assessment system. It was hypothesized that subjective craving levels and attention to cannabis cues would be higher in VR environments with cannabis cues compared to VR neutral environments.

VR PTSD exposure therapy results with active duty OIF/OEF combatants.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is reported to be caused by traumatic events that are outside the range of usual human experience including military combat, violent personal assault, being kidnapped or taken hostage and terrorist attacks. Reports indicate that at least 1 out of 6 Iraq War veterans are exhibiting symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD. Virtual Reality exposure therapy has been previously used for PTSD with reports of positive outcomes.

Virtual Iraq: initial results from a VR exposure therapy application for combat-related PTSD.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is reported to be caused by traumatic events that are outside the range of usual human experience including (but not limited to) military combat, violent personal assault, being kidnapped or taken hostage and terrorist attacks. Initial data suggests that at least 1 out of 6 Iraq War veterans are exhibiting symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD. Virtual Reality (VR) delivered exposure therapy for PTSD has been used with reports of positive outcomes.

Assessing reactivity to virtual reality alcohol based cues.

The use of virtual reality (VR) programs in behavioral science research has been gaining prominence over the past several years. In the field of substance abuse, VR cue reactivity programs have been successfully tested for feasibility in nicotine and cocaine dependent samples. Seeking to expand VR applications in alcohol cue research, a novel VR alcohol cue reactivity assessment system incorporating visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli was developed and tested.

Frequency of stuttering during challenging and supportive virtual reality job interviews.

Unlabelled: This paper seeks to demonstrate the possibility of manipulating the frequency of stuttering using virtual reality environments (VREs). If stuttering manifests itself in VREs similarly to the way it manifests itself in real world interactions, then VREs can provide a controlled, safe, and confidential method for treatment practice and generalization. Though many researchers and clinicians recognize the need for generalization activities in the treatment of stuttering, achieving generalization in a clinical setting poses challenges to client confidentiality, safety, and the efficient use of a professionals' time.

A preliminary report on the use of virtual reality technology to elicit craving and cue reactivity in cocaine dependent individuals.

In the present feasibility study, we developed a 3-dimensional virtual "crack" cocaine environment and evaluated the environment's ability to elicit subjective craving and cue reactivity (i.e., subjective emotional responding, heart rate and skin conductance) in 11 crack cocaine dependent individuals.

Virtual reality cue reactivity assessment in cigarette smokers.

Drug craving has purportedly been linked to relapse and to substance use. For over two decades, cue reactivity has been a viable method to assess craving and physiological reactions to drug stimuli. However, traditional cue reactivity has faced the following limitations: austere situations or stimuli, lack of complex cues, lack of standardization, and limited generalization outside of the lab setting.

Virtual reality cue reactivity assessment: a case study in a teen smoker.

Cigarette smoking in adolescents is a major public health problem. To address the increasing need for efficacious assessment and treatment methods, we developed and tested a novel virtual reality cue reactivity assessment system. A case study of a controlled virtual reality cue reactivity trial with a 17-year-old adolescent cigarette smoker is presented.

Utilizing virtual reality to standardize nicotine craving research: a pilot study.

Traditional cue reactivity provides a methodology for examining drug triggers and stimuli in laboratory and clinical settings. However, current techniques lack standardization and generalization across research settings. Improved methodologies using virtual reality (VR) cue reactivity extend previous research standardizing exposure to stimuli and exploring reactions to drug cues in a controlled VR setting.

Cognitive enhancers as adjuncts to psychotherapy: use of D-cycloserine in phobic individuals to facilitate extinction of fear.

Background: Traditional pharmacological approaches to treating psychiatric disorders focus on correcting presumed biochemical abnormalities. However, some disorders, particularly the anxiety-related disorders exemplified by specific phobia, have an emotional learning component to them that can be facilitated with psychotherapy.

Objective: To determine whether D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial agonist at the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor that has previously been shown to improve extinction of fear in rodents, will also improve extinction of fear in human phobic patients undergoing behavioral exposure therapy.