NCT01623830

Targeting Reconsolidation to Prevent Return of Fear

Targeting Memory Reconsolidation to Prevent the Return of Fear in a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 89 (actual)
• Sponsor: Emory University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The overall aim of this project is to determine if using a cue to trigger (and reactivate) the fear memory 10 minutes prior to exposure treatment sessions leads to less anxiety in patients with a fear of flying. The long term goals are to establish if targeting the reconsolidation of fear with a reminder of the fear is effective for human clinical populations in reducing relapse (return of fear). In this investigation, the investigators propose to treat 64 patients diagnosed with a fear of flying (FOF) using virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE). All patients in the study will receive exactly the same exposure treatment using a virtual airplane.

Detailed description

Prior to each VRE session, the investigators will test a brief, easy-to-implement manipulation that triggers the fear memory and presumably allows it to be changed in a way that prevents the fear from returning later (i.e., prevents relapse). The investigators propose to randomly assign eligible participants to 1 of 2 conditions: 1) VRE therapy preceded by a reminder of the feared stimulus (a VR clip of a virtual airplane taxiing and taking off) presented 10 minutes prior to all VRE therapy sessions, or 2) VRE therapy preceded by a neutral cue (a VR clip of a virtual living room) presented 10 minutes prior to all VRE therapy sessions. Participants will be evaluated pre- and post-treatment and at a 3 month and 6 month follow-up visit to assess long-term effects.

Conditions

• Fear of Flying

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy	Treatment will consist of 8 weekly sessions. Session 1: information gathering, treatment procedures and rationale. Session 2: Cognitive restructuring. Session 3: Breathing retraining and thought stopping. Session 4: Review cognitive restructuring and hyperventilation exposure. Sessions 5-8 Fear of flying exposure in the Virtual environment.

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-07-01
• Primary completion: 2015-06-01
• Completion: 2016-06-01
• First posted: 2012-06-20
• Last updated: 2017-02-02
• Results posted: 2017-02-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States