Virtual Reality (VR) is a promising tool for the study of cued fear conditioning in humans because it allows the use of complex and realistic experimental situations. The present study aims to validate a task for the acquisition and extinction of cued fear learning through VR with ecologically relevant Unconditional Stimuli (USs). In a first experiment (n = 69), we evaluated the effectiveness of six USs specially created to be presented in a virtual environment and to provoke physiological and affective reactions of fear. The two stimuli that evoked significantly higher than baseline electromyographic responses during three trials were then selected to be used as the USs in a second experiment. Experiment 2 (n = 51) aimed to determine if the previously selected US could generate a conditioned response (CR) when associated with another visual stimulus (Conditioned Stimulus; CS) in a differential conditioning paradigm, and subsequently go through extinction. We measured physiological, subjective and behavioral responses of fear, and evaluated their relationship to trait anxiety. This study showed that visual CSs in a VR environment can potentiate a startle reflex during acquisition, but we observed no discrimination between stimuli that signaled the US (fear cues CS+) and stimuli that signaled the absence of the US (safety cue CS-). Nevertheless, differential learning was observed in subjective measures (US expectancy and retrospective anxiety ratings) during acquisition, where participants responded differently to fear and safety cues. Subjective CRs, but not physiological, were reduced during extinction. No changes were observed in response suppression presented with CS, and no relationship was found between trait anxiety and fear responses. We conclude that VR is an appropriate model to elicit valid unconditioned fear responses (URs). The results of the present experiments are particularly important given that subjective CRs (observed in Experiment 2) account for an important part of the clinical experience of anxiety-related disorders, which may help to translate the use of VR to exposure therapy. Future research could improve the task to effectively generate differential physiological and behavioral responses with greater sensitivity to individual differences.

虚拟现实 (VR) 是研究人类暗示恐惧条件反射的一种很有前途的工具，因为它允许使用复杂和现实的实验情况。本研究旨在验证通过 VR 与生态相关的无条件刺激 (USs) 获得和消除线索恐惧学习的任务。在第一个实验 (n = 69) 中，我们评估了专门为在虚拟环境中呈现并引发恐惧的生理和情感反应而创建的六个 US 的有效性。然后选择在三个试验中诱发显着高于基线肌电图反应的两个刺激用作第二个实验中的 US。实验 2 (n = 51) 旨在确定先前选择的 US 是否可以在差分条件范式中与另一种视觉刺激 (Conditioned Stimulus; CS) 相关时产生条件反应 (CR)，并随后经历消退。我们测量了恐惧的生理、主观和行为反应，并评估了它们与特质焦虑的关系。这项研究表明，VR 环境中的视觉 CS 可以增强采集过程中的惊吓反射，但我们观察到在发出美国信号的刺激（恐惧线索 CS+）和发出美国缺席信号的刺激（安全提示 CS-）之间没有区别。然而，在获取过程中，在主观测量（美国预期和回顾性焦虑评级）中观察到差异学习，参与者对恐惧和安全提示的反应不同。主观CR，但不是生理的，在灭绝期间减少。CS 出现的反应抑制没有观察到变化，并且没有发现特质焦虑和恐惧反应之间的关系。我们得出结论，VR 是引发有效的无条件恐惧反应 (URs) 的合适模型。鉴于主观 CR（在实验 2 中观察到）占焦虑相关疾病临床经验的重要部分，本实验的结果尤为重要，这可能有助于将 VR 的使用转化为暴露疗法。未来的研究可以改进任务，以有效地产生对个体差异更敏感的不同生理和行为反应。CS 出现的反应抑制没有观察到变化，并且没有发现特质焦虑和恐惧反应之间的关系。我们得出结论，VR 是引发有效的无条件恐惧反应 (URs) 的合适模型。鉴于主观 CR（在实验 2 中观察到）占焦虑相关疾病临床经验的重要部分，本实验的结果尤为重要，这可能有助于将 VR 的使用转化为暴露疗法。未来的研究可以改进任务，以有效地产生对个体差异更敏感的不同生理和行为反应。CS 出现的反应抑制没有观察到变化，并且没有发现特质焦虑和恐惧反应之间的关系。我们得出结论，VR 是引发有效的无条件恐惧反应 (URs) 的合适模型。鉴于主观 CR（在实验 2 中观察到）占焦虑相关疾病临床经验的重要部分，本实验的结果尤为重要，这可能有助于将 VR 的使用转化为暴露疗法。未来的研究可以改进任务，以有效地产生对个体差异更敏感的不同生理和行为反应。鉴于主观 CR（在实验 2 中观察到）占焦虑相关疾病临床经验的重要部分，本实验的结果尤为重要，这可能有助于将 VR 的使用转化为暴露疗法。未来的研究可以改进任务，以有效地产生对个体差异更敏感的不同生理和行为反应。鉴于主观 CR（在实验 2 中观察到）占焦虑相关疾病临床经验的重要部分，本实验的结果尤为重要，这可能有助于将 VR 的使用转化为暴露疗法。未来的研究可以改进任务，以有效地产生对个体差异更敏感的不同生理和行为反应。