What other possible implications does virtual reality technology have in the healthcare field?
Other literature sources show virtual reality technology has potential to be used in autism intervention (Esubalew et al. 2015), rehabilitation for people who suffer from a stroke (Viana et al. 2014), and therapy for social anxiety disorder (Ngai et al. 2015).
What methods does Kevin LaBar’s research team use in addition to fMRI to support the results from those scans?
The article mentions anxiety ratings, shock expectancy ratings, and skin conductance responses (SCR). He also explained during the talk that SCR is a good measure of fear response since the palm sweat glands are purely controlled by the sympathetic nervous system (as opposed to the parasympathetic nervous system).
Why are sweat levels measured instead of heart rate?
Kevin LaBar originally wanted to measure heart rate, but realized that it was less accurate than sweat gland readings. Sweat glands are measured instead because the sweat glands on the bottoms of your feet and in your hands are strictly sympathetic; they are not innervated by the parasympathetic parts of your body. You sweat more when you’re anxious, and that is a sympathetic response. Heart rate differs from person to person. Some people are more sympathetically dominated, while others are more parasympathetically dominated. This causes a large range in heart rate readings without a clear, determined cause of why.
What is the “wow” factor that Dr. Labor spoke about?
When participant first visit the facility, they are often in awe of the DiVE and the researchers therefore often have to allow people to get accustomed to their surroundings so that their arousal levels weren’t so high to begin with.
What are the physiological differences of those who suffer with PTSD, and how might these anomalies affect their performance in the virtual reality experiments?
According to LaBar, PTSD subjects have shown increased downregulation in the ACC, ultimately affecting their extinction recall processes. However, a number of articles have noted morphological differences in the amygdala and hippocampus, primarily in regard to decreased volume.
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