AUTHOR=Lucifora Chiara , Gangemi Aldo , D’Italia Giovanni , Culicetto Laura , Ferraioli Francesca , Grasso Giorgio Mario , Vicario Carmelo Mario 

TITLE=PanicRoom: a virtual reality-based Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1432141

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1432141

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Pavlovian fear conditioning is an experimental paradigm used to study the acquisition and extinction of fear responses and various aspects of fear and anxiety. We developed a VR version of this paradigm to leverage the benefits of virtual reality, such as ecological validity, standardization, safety, and therapeutic applications. Our objective was to create an open-source, immersive environment for studying fear-related responses using the Unity Engine 3D and an Oculus Rift device.In this virtual environment, participants encountered a screaming monster at 100 dB approaching them as the fear-inducing stimulus (Unconditioned Stimulus or US). Our protocol includes three sessions: habituation, acquisition, and extinction, with two stimuli associated with different doors (blue vs. red). The blue door (CS+) is linked to the US, while the red door (CS-) is a control.We tested this VR paradigm on 84 young participants, recording their Skin Conductance Responses (SCR) and Fear Stimulus Ratings (FSR) on a 10-point Likert scale. The findings showed significantly higher SCR and FSR responses to CS+ compared to CS-during the acquisition phase and higher SCR and FSR for CS+ compared to habituation and extinction sessions. These results support the protocol's reliability for studying fear and anxiety-related conditions.