Feasibility of Immersive Virtual Reality Cue Reactivity for Nicotine Craving

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We proposed to explore the impact of environmental context and cue type in nicotine craving and dependence using an immersive virtual reality cue reactivity system (IVRCR). Traditional cue reactivity approaches have been criticized for lacking realism and not providing exposure in realistic environmental contexts. The proposed IVRCR system provides exposure to complex social cues and realistic interpersonal situations within congruent environmental contexts (e.g. party setting vs. lab room). The impact of environmental context on craving and immersion will be tested in a controlled cue reactivity experiment of 105 adult nicotine dependent smokers. Assignment will be randomized to three context groups who will be exposed to both neutral and smoking cues in either a IVRCR or traditional cue reactivity paradigm. Physiological arousal, subjective craving, immersion, attention to cues, and mood state will be compared between groups and three hypotheses concerning the main effects of smoking context and cue type will be tested. Results will contribute to the conditioning theory of craving and the effect of context in drug dependence and relapse. The study results will provide additional information relevant to generalizability of cues and other significant issues in cue reactivity theory. We proposed to explore the impact of environmental context and cue type in nicotine craving and dependence using an immersive virtual reality cue reactivity system (IVRCR). The proposed IVRCR system provides exposure to complex social cues and realistic interpersonal situations within congruent environmental contexts (e.g. party setting vs. lab room). PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: We believe that the additions to VR cue methods will sufficiently emulate traditional cue reactivity (non-VR methods), and expand these methods to study the impact of environmental context on craving and dependence, not currently offered in traditional cue approaches.