A new type of "virtual reality" (VR) treatment could be used as an alcoholism therapy. The innovative technique to treat alcohol dependence is based on a preliminary study that decreased brain metabolism and booze cravings.
The research on alcohol addiction was led by Dr. Doug Hyun Han of Chung-Ang University Hospital in Seoul, and included a sample size of 10 patients. Han believes that the new VR therapy has a bright future because it puts the patients with substance dependence in real-life scenarios, and demands their active participation, according to Channel News Asia.
The study's volunteers first underwent a one-week detox program. They then completed virtual reality sessions ( three VRs each) that were projected onto a 3D TV screen, two times a week.
The virtual reality treatment included one VR used to relax the patients. Another one used to trigger alcohol cravings showed other people drinking booze such as beer, wine, and hard liquor.
The third VR's ojective was to make drinking seem to be an unpleasant experience, by placing the patients in a room where they saw people getting sick from alcohol. Participants also drank a vomit-tasting beverage.
Researchers learned that certain brain sections changed after they were exposed to the three virtual realities. The CPU areas are alcohol-sensitive.
After conducting brain scans, the researchers learned that the limbic system's metabolism of the non-alcoholic control group was lower than in the people with alcohol dependence. The brain region is linked to emotions and behavior.
Following five weeks of virtual reality therapy, metabolic activity had dropped in this brain area. The treatment was effective.
However, more research is needed. Han stated in an e-mail that future studies would examine the long-term effects of the VR application, and test if the innovative method would be effective on other types of addiction.
Dr. Bernard Le Foll is the head of a Toronto-based alcohol research center. He told Reuters that the new virtual reality treatment should be tested for its effectiveness in Western countries, according to Asia One.
The alcoholism study was published in the July issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.