The Equivalence between Virtual and Real Feared Stimuli in a Phobic Adult Sample: A Neuroimaging Study
| Autor: | Moisés Betancort, Ascensión Fumero, Yolanda Álvarez-Pérez, Juan de la Fuente, Conrado M. Viña, Francisco Rivero, Wenceslao Peñate, Manuel Herrero |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
050103 clinical psychology
Property (programming) virtual reality real phobic images anxiety disorders specific phobia fMRI neuroimaging Context (language use) Virtual reality Amygdala Article Specific phobia 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Neuroimaging medicine 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Equivalence (measure theory) business.industry 05 social sciences General Medicine medicine.disease medicine.anatomical_structure business Neuroscience Insula 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Clinical Medicine; Volume 8; Issue 12; Pages: 2139 Journal of Clinical Medicine |
| ISSN: | 2077-0383 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/jcm8122139 |
| Popis: | The clinical use of virtual reality (VR) has proven its efficacy, especially when used as an exposure technique. A prominent property of VR’s utility is its equivalence with the reality it represents. In this study, we explored this equivalence in a clinical context using neuroimaging. A sample of 32 adults with specific phobias (i.e., to cockroaches, spiders, or lizards) was divided into two groups: One was exposed to phobic stimuli using VR and the other was exposed to real phobic images (RI). We used brain activations as a dependent measure, focusing specifically on brain areas usually associated with fear processing. Whole-brain analysis detected higher activations for RI in the hippocampus, occipital, and calcarine areas. A specific analysis of the amygdala and insula also detected higher activations and extensions in response to RI, but VR stimuli also activated those areas in a significant manner. These results suggest that even in those cases where RI stimuli activate all of the brain’s fear-processing circuits, VR stimuli do so as well. This implies that VR can be useful as an exposure technique similar to RI and applied as more than a mere training mechanism. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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