Veterans With PTSD May Benefit From Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Plus Virtual Reality

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may augment virtual reality –guided exposure therapy for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according tofindings published yesterday inJAMA Psychiatry. In the study, veterans with war zone –related trauma had significantly greater improvements in PTSD symptoms when receiving virtual reality combined with tDCS compared with veterans who received virtual reality and sham stimulation.Mascha van ’t Wout-Frank, Ph.D., of the VA Providence (R.I.) Healthcare System and colleagues recruited 54 participants (94% male; mean age 46 years) from the system who had PTSD related to war zone experiences. Participants were randomized to receive up to six 25-minute sessions of active tDCS plus virtual reality or sham tDCS plus virtual reality over 10 business days, with at least one day between sessions. The stimulation started simultaneously with the virtual reality program, which provided the participants with visual, auditory, haptic, and olfactory immersion into Iraq or Afghanistan war scenes . Participants were presented with 12 virtual reality scenarios, beginning with a low-intensity experience of riding in a mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle. From there, the exposures became more intense by the addition of a distant gun battle, a Black Hawk flyover, or an improvised explosive d evice that caused the leading vehicle to flip.The primary outcomes were self-reported PTSD symptoms as assessed through the PTSD Checkl...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: exposure therapy post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation veterans virtual reality VR war zone Source Type: research