Moments of high emotional distress (hotspots) during a traumatic event are assumed to be closely related to post-event intrusions. However, this assumption lacks experimental investigation. Here, we used a virtual reality (VR) trauma analogue to investigate hotspots, and their possible overlap with involuntary and voluntary memories recorded in a diary study. Thirty-two participants were exposed to a VR trauma analogue, identified hotspots, and rated their characteristics immediately and after a 1-week diary study. Most involuntary and voluntary memories recorded in the diary referred to moments previously identified as hotspots, and hotspots that were recalled were more distressing than non-recalled hotspots, irrespective of retrieval strategy. Only some hotspots were repeated after a 1-week delay and new ones were formed, suggesting less than expected consistency. The findings replicate and extend findings from real-life trauma research, and suggest that the use of VR may be an important asset to the trauma film paradigm.

创伤事件期间情绪高发的时刻（热点）被认为与事件后的入侵密切相关。但是，此假设缺乏实验研究。在这里，我们使用虚拟现实（VR）创伤类似物来研究热点，以及它们可能与日记研究中记录的非自愿和自愿记忆重叠。32名参与者暴露于VR创伤类似物，确定了热点，并在1周的日记研究后立即对其特征进行了评分。日记中记录的大多数非自愿和自愿记忆都是指以前被识别为热点的时刻，而无论检索策略如何，被召回的热点比未被召回的热点更令人痛苦。经过1周的延迟，仅重复了一些热点并形成了新的热点，表明一致性低于预期。这些发现复制并扩展了现实生活中创伤研究的结果，并表明VR的使用可能是创伤电影范式的重要资产。