title: Testing a virtual reality intervention for pain control.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed (1) to assess the validity of a virtual reality (VR) intervention designed specifically to gain control over pain, (2) to test whether the association between the virtual environment and pain can be potentiated using a differential conditioning procedure, and (3) to examine the effects of this VR intervention in a cold pressor experiment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The VR intervention was based on a figure representing pain. This figure could be manipulated until reaching a no-pain state. Participants were 64 undergraduate students, who were asked to evaluate this environment in terms of arousal and valence. A differential conditioning procedure was then applied, in which the pain figure was paired with electric shock and the no-pain figure was presented without shock. Afterwards, participants performed a cold pressor task.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the initial testing, the pain figure was evaluated as more arousing and more unpleasant than the no-pain figure. After the conditioning procedure, these ratings significantly increased; with the pain figure being rated as more anxiety eliciting and a better predictor of shocks than the no-pain figure. During cold pressor, the interaction with the conditioned VR figure led to significant increases in pain threshold and tolerance, as well as a significantly greater underestimation of time, but it did not affect pain intensity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide preliminary support for the use of our VR intervention to gain control over pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatments, University of Barcelona, Spain. desi.loreto@gmail.com
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Loreto-Quijada
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Maldonado
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Martínez
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nieto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D014584:User-Computer Interface