Bruder, L. R. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2021

Increased temporal discounting and reduced model-based control in problem gambling are not substantially modulated by exposure to virtual gambling environments.

High-performance virtual reality (VR) technology has opened new possibilities for the examination of the reactivity towards addiction-related cues (cue-reactivity) in addiction. In this preregistered study (https://osf.io/4mrta), we investigated the subjective, physiological, and behavioral effects of gambling-related VR environment exposure in participants reporting frequent or pathological gambling (n=31) as well as non-gambling controls (n=29). On two separate days, participants explored two rich and navigable VR-environments (neutral: cafe vs. gambling-related: casino/sports-betting facility), while electrodermal activity and heart rate were continuously measured using remote sensors. Within VR, participants performed a temporal discounting task and a sequential decision-making task designed to assess model-based and model-free contributions to behavior. Replicating previous findings, we found strong evidence for increased temporal discounting and reduced model-based control in participants reporting frequent or pathological gambling. Although VR gambling environment exposure increased subjective craving, there was if anything inconclusive evidence for further behavioral or physiological effects. Instead, VR exposure substantially increased physiological arousal (electrodermal activity), across groups and conditions. VR is a promising tool for the investigation of context effects in addiction, but some caution is warranted since effects of real gambling environments might not generally replicate in VR. Future studies should delineate how factors such as cognitive load and ecological validity could be balanced to create a more naturalistic VR experience.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

A Virtual Reality setup for the combined assessment of behavioral and psychophysiological cue-reactivity in gambling disorder

In recent years the emergence of high-performance virtual reality (VR) technology has opened up new possibilities for the examination of context effects in psychological studies. The opportunity to create ecologically valid stimulation in a highly controlled lab environment is especially relevant for studies of psychiatric disorders, where it can be problematic to confront participants with certain stimuli in real life. However, before VR can be confidently applied widely it is important to establish that commonly used behavioral tasks generate reliable data within a VR surrounding. One field of research that could benefit greatly from VR-applications are studies assessing the reactivity to addiction related cues (cue-reactivity) in participants suffering from gambling disorder. Here we tested the reliability of a commonly used temporal discounting task in a novel VR set-up designed for the concurrent assessment of behavioral and psychophysiological cue-reactivity in gambling disorder. On two days, thirty-four healthy non-gambling participants explored two rich and navigable VR-environments (neutral: cafe vs. gambling-related: casino and sports-betting facility), while their electrodermal activity was measured using remote sensors. In addition, participants completed the temporal discounting task implemented in each VR environment. On a third day, participants performed the task in a standard lab testing context. We then used comprehensive computational modeling using both standard softmax and drift diffusion model (DDM) choice rules to assess the reliability of discounting model parameters assessed in VR. Test-retest reliability estimates were good to excellent for the discount rate log(k), whereas they were poor to moderate for additional DDM parameters. Differences in model parameters between standard lab testing and VR, reflecting reactivity to the different environments, were mostly numerically small and of inconclusive directionality. Finally, while exposure to VR generally increased tonic skin conductance, this effect was not modulated by the neutral vs. gambling-related VR-environment. Taken together this proof-of- concept study in non-gambling participants demonstrates that temporal discounting measures obtained in VR are reliable, suggesting that VR is a promising tool for applications in computational psychiatry, including studies on cue-reactivity in addiction.

neuroscience↗