The Use of Virtual Reality to Discover Objective Correlates of Alcohol Craving

项目总结 对酒精和毒品的渴求的研究越来越被认为是理解 成瘾的发病机制和维持。然而，调查这一事件的有效和可靠的方法 缺乏心理生物学现象。这项研究试图开发一种新颖的、在生态上有效的范式 利用虚拟现实(VR)的技术进步和现实主义，通过 呈现真实的酒精相关提示，并通过测量潜力可靠地评估酒精渴望 渴望与主观报告相关(注意力偏向和自发眨眼率[EBR])。跟随 初步可接受性测试和优化(n=15)，将有三个酒精激活和三个中性VR场景 对由中低度酒精饮用者(n=50)和重度饮酒者组成的样本进行研究 (n=50)。眼球跟踪(建立对酒精暗示的注意偏差)和EBR将被持续记录 在场景的呈现过程中。然后，参与者将通过流动评估进行为期七天的跟踪， 并在第30天通过电话联系，获得主观酒精渴求和酒精的自我报告反应 在他们的自然主义环境中使用。 因此，拟议研究的具体目标是：(1)开发一种生态有效和身临其境的 VR线索-反应范式，可靠地诱导酒精渴望，(2)测试以下方法的可行性、可靠性和实用性 虚拟现实衍生的注意偏差作为客观渴求的相关性，通过与常用测量方法进行比较 主观渴求和注意偏向，以及(3)检验客观相关的预测效用 在范例中获得的酒精渴求和在范例中酒精渴望和酒精使用的主观报告 后续行动。使用EBR作为客观渴求相关性也将作为一项探索性目标进行调查。 一旦完全开发和测试，这一范例将在基础科学中有巨大的应用 通过提供新的平台开发干预措施，在临床科学中研究酒精渴求 其目的是减少饥饿感。此外，这个项目将促进我们对注意偏差及其效用的理解。 作为酒精渴求和饮酒的预测指标。

PROJECT SUMMARY The study of craving for alcohol and drugs is increasingly thought to be essential for understanding the pathogenesis and maintenance of addiction. However, valid and reliable methods for investigating this psychobiologic phenomenon are lacking. This study seeks to develop a novel, ecologically valid paradigm that capitalizes on the technological advances and realism of virtual reality (VR) to both induce alcohol craving, via presentation of realistic alcohol-related cues, and reliably assess alcohol craving, via measurement of potential craving correlates (attentional bias and spontaneous eye-blink rate [EBR]) and subjective reports. Following initial acceptability testing and optimization (n=15), three alcohol active and three neutral VR scenes will be administered to a sample comprised of low-moderate alcohol drinkers (n=50) and heavy alcohol drinkers (n=50). Eye-tracking (to establish attentional bias towards alcohol cues) and EBR will be continuously recorded during presentation of the scenes. Participants will then be followed for seven-days, via mobile assessment, and contacted by phone at day 30, to obtain self-report responses of subjective alcohol craving and alcohol use in their naturalistic environment. Thus, the specific aims of the proposed research are: (1) to develop an ecologically valid and immersive VR cue-reactivity paradigm that reliably induces alcohol craving, (2) test the feasibility, reliability, and utility of VR derived attentional bias as an objective craving correlate by comparing it against commonly used measures of subjective craving and attentional bias, and (3) examine the predictive utility of the objective correlates of alcohol craving acquired during the paradigm and subjective reports of alcohol craving and alcohol use during follow-up. The use of EBR as an objective craving correlate will also be investigated as an exploratory aim. Once fully developed and tested, this paradigm will have tremendous applications within basic science research on alcohol craving and within clinical science via providing a new platform to develop interventions that aim to reduce craving. Further, this project will advance our understanding of attentional bias and its utility as a predictive measure of alcohol craving and use.