Changes in Brain Activation through Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy with Exposure to Virtual Reality: A Neuroimaging Study of Specific Phobia.

ABSTRACT: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure is the treatment of choice for specific phobia. Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) has shown benefits for the treatment and prevention of the return of fear in specific phobias by addressing the therapeutic limitations of exposure to real images. Thirty-one participants with specific phobias to small animals were included: 14 were treated with CBT + VRET (intervention group), and 17 were treated with CBT + exposure to real images (active control group). Participants' scores in anxiety and phobia levels were measured at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up, and brain activation was measured through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) baseline and post-treatment. Both groups showed a significant decrease in anxiety and

SUBMITTER: Alvarez-Perez Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8397119 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature