Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of this pilot study is to investigate the impact of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) on brain metabolism and connectivity.Eighteen patients with acrophobia were assessed by an 18F-FDG PET scan sensitized by virtual exposure before treatment, and nine of them were assessed again after eight sessions of VRET. Statistical Parametric Mapping was used to study the correlations between metabolism and pretherapeutic clinical scores and to compare metabolism before and after VRET (p voxel < 0.005, corrected for cluster volume). Metabolic connectivity was evaluated through interregional correlation analysis.ResultsBefore therapy, a positive correlation was found between scores on the behavioural avoidance test and left occipital metabolism (BA17-18). After VRET, patients presented increased metabolism in the left frontal superior gyri and the left precentral gyrus, which showed increased metabolic connectivity with bilateral occipital areas (BA17-18-19), concomitant with clinical recovery.ConclusionsThis study highlights the exciting opportunity to use brain PET imaging to investigate metabolism during virtual exposure and reports the involvement of the visual-motor control system in the treatment of acrophobia by VRET.
Highlights
The aim of this pilot study is to investigate the impact of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) on brain metabolism and connectivity
Acrophobia, defined as “fear of heights”, is a specific phobia according to the criteria of the “Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders” (DSM-5) [1, 2], with high prevalence, chronicity and cumulative social impact [3]
Psychological assessments included the subjective unit of discomfort (SUD) test [8] on a 100-point scale, performed immediately after virtual exposure of the preand post-therapeutic 18F-FDG PET scan, and an objective behavioural instrument such as the behavioural avoidance test (BAT)
Summary
The aim of this pilot study is to investigate the impact of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) on brain metabolism and connectivity. Eighteen patients with acrophobia were assessed by an 18F-FDG PET scan sensitized by virtual exposure before treatment, and nine of them were assessed again after eight sessions of VRET. Verger et al EJNMMI Research (2018) 8:93 correlation analysis (IRCA) leads to a better understanding on the network scale [7]. The aim of this 18F-FDG PET pilot study, sensitized by virtual exposure during radiopharmaceutical administration, was to investigate the impact of VRET on brain metabolism and related connectivity
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