Title
Immersive Virtual Environments in Cue Exposure
Abstract
Cue reactivity to drug-related stimuli is a frequently observed phenomenon in drug addiction. Cue reactivity refers to a classical conditioned response pattern that occurs when an addicted subject is exposed to drug-related stimuli. This response consists of physiological and cognitive reactions. Craving, a subjective desire to use the drug of choice, is believed to play an important role in the occurrence of relapse in the natural setting. Besides craving, other subjective cue-elicited reactions have been reported, including withdrawal symptoms, drug-agonistic effects, and mood swings. Physiological reactions that have been investigated include skin conductance, heart rate, salivation, and body temperature. Conditioned reactivity to cues is an important factor in addiction to alcohol, nicotine, opiates, and cocaine. Cue exposure treatment (CET) refers to a manualized, repeated exposure to drug-related cues, aimed at the reduction of cue reactivity by extinction. In CET, different stimuli are presented, for example, slides, video tapes, pictures, or paraphernalia in nonrealistic, experimental settings. Most often assessments consist in subjective ratings by craving scales. Our pilot study will show that immersive virtual reality (IVR) is as good or even better in eliciting subjective and physiological craving symptoms as classical devices.
Year
DOI
Venue
2001
10.1089/109493101750527051
CYBERPSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
DocType
Volume
Issue
Journal
4
4
ISSN
Citations 
PageRank 
1094-9313
9
3.96
References 
Authors
3
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
M F Kuntze1104.66
Robert Stoermer2167.93
Ralph Mager3179.00
Andreas Roessler41810.26
Franz Mueller-Spahn5159.78
Alex H. Bullinger62612.36