Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Jun;41(2):105-12.
doi: 10.1080/02791072.2009.10399903.

Reactivity to cannabis cues in virtual reality environments

Patrick S Bordnick  1 , Hilary L Copp, Amy Traylor, Ken M Graap, Brian L Carter, Alicia Walton, Mirtha Ferrer
Affiliations

Reactivity to cannabis cues in virtual reality environments

Patrick S Bordnick et al. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2009 Jun.

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) cue environments have been developed and successfully tested in nicotine, cocaine, and alcohol abusers. Aims in the current article include the development and testing of a novel VR cannabis cue reactivity assessment system. It was hypothesized that subjective craving levels and attention to cannabis cues would be higher in VR environments with cannabis cues compared to VR neutral environments. Twenty nontreatment-seeking current cannabis smokers participated in the VR cue trial. During the VR cue trial, participants were exposed to four virtual environments that contained audio, visual, olfactory, and vibrotactile sensory stimuli. Two VR environments contained cannabis cues that consisted of a party room in which people were smoking cannabis and a room containing cannabis paraphernalia without people. Two VR neutral rooms without cannabis cues consisted of a digital art gallery with nature videos. Subjective craving and attention to cues were significantly higher in the VR cannabis environments compared to the VR neutral environments. These findings indicate that VR cannabis cue reactivity may offer a new technology-based method to advance addiction research and treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Screenshots of the VR Cannabis Cue Exposurt Rooms
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Average Craving Level (SE) across VR Cue Rooms
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Text Revision) Fourth, Text Revision Ed. APA; Washington, DC: 2000.
    1. Baumann S, Neff C, Fetzick S, Stangl G, Basler L, Vereneck R, Schneider W. A virtual reality system for neurobehavioral and functional MRI studies. CyberPsychology & Behavior. 2003;6(3):259–66. - PubMed
    1. Bordnick PS, Graap K, Virtual Reality Nicotine Cue Reactivity Assessment System (VR-NCRAS) (Version 1.0) [PC] Virtually Better, Inc.; Decatur, GA: 2004.
    1. Bordnick PS, Graap KM, Ferrer M. Virtual Reality Cannabis Cue Reactivity Assessment System (VR-CCRAS) (Version 1.0) [PC] Virtually Better, Inc.; Decatur: 2006.
    1. Bordnick PS, Copp HL, Traylor A, Graap KM, Ferrer M, Brooks J. Assessing reactivity to virtual reality alcohol based cues including olfactory stimuli. Addictive Behaviors. 2008;33:743–56. - PubMed

Publication types