The story below came from a study at

Emory

University that looks at cues that trigger drug use in people addicted to crack cocaine.  Using virtual reality they recreated a crack house complete with people using, selling and clearly under the influence.  The triggers set off the brain circuits that cause craving and lead to using the drug of choice.  The point of the study is for the addict to identify the peak in the craving and when it decreases.  At the moment of decreased craving the researchers sound a tone that will be used in the future to signal the brain to decrease the cravings when the addict is confronted with real life triggers.  The tone can be accessed at any time from the addict’s cell phone after he completes the virtual reality therapy.  This VR therapy can also be used to test the efficacy of pharmacological treatments and psychotherapeutic interventions. 

Eve Bender As with other drug dens, people in the “virtual” crack house buy and use crack cocaine and trade sex for drugs. Occasionally, the police burst through the door and make arrests. But the virtual crack house is safe. Not only that, it’s therapeutic, according to Barbara Rothbaum, Ph.D., who is an associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. The program built a virtual environment to study the cues that trigger drug use in people addicted to crack cocaine. “With substance use disorders, it’s dangerous and unethical to present patients with real cues—with virtual reality, we can do that in a controlled treatment setting,” Rothbaum told Psychiatric News.

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