Virtual Reality Reward Training for Anhedonia: A Pilot Study

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Kelly Chen¹  Nora Barnes-Horowitz²  Michael Treanor³  Michael Sun⁴  Katherine S. Young⁵  Michelle G. Craske² 

[1] Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, United States;Department of Psychology, University of California, United States;Department of Psychiatry, University of California, United States;Department of Psychology, Dartmouth College, United States;Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King’s College London, United Kingdom

关键词: anhedonia;    depression;    virtual reality;    emotion;    positive affect;    treatment;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613617

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Anhedonia is a risk factor for suicide and poor treatment response in depressed individuals. Most evidence-based psychological therapies target symptoms of heightened negative affect (e.g., negative inferential style) instead of deficits in positive affect (e.g., attenuated reward response) and typically show little benefit for anhedonia. Viewing positive scenes through virtual reality (VR) has been shown to increase positive affect and holds great promise for addressing anhedonic symptoms. In this pilot study, six participants with clinically significant depression completed 13 sessions of exposure to positive scenes in a controlled VR environment. Significant decreases were found in self-reported anhedonia, depression, anxiety, and impairments in functioning from baseline to 1-month follow-up. Negative affect decreased over all 13 sessions, and positive affect increased over sessions 8–13. Results suggest that positive experiences in VR may be a novel avenue for the treatment of anhedonia in depressed individuals.

【 授权许可】

CC BY