The goal of this clinical trial is to learn how people respond to fear-related experiences in a virtual reality (VR) environment. The study will also look at how brain activity and body responses are connected to learning and memory of fear. To do so, we recruit individuals who are already implanted with a Responsive Neurostimulator (RNS) device for the treatment of epilepsy. This research may help improve our understanding of anxiety disorders and how to better treat them in the future. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1) How do people learn to associate certain cues in VR with feelings of fear or safety? 2) What brain and body responses happen during fear learning? Participants will: 1) Wear a virtual reality headset and experience different environments and sounds, 2) Have their brain activity, heart rate, and sweating measured, and 3) Receive safe, mild electrical pulses through the RNS device during the study to help study fear learning. Participants will attend one or more study sessions, each lasting about 3-4 hours.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
70
Deep brain stimulation via the Responsive Neurostimulator (RNS) device.
UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
Los Angeles, California, United States
Intracranial EEG activity
Power in the theta band (\~3-12 Hz).
Time frame: Baseline
Skin conductance activity
Electrodermal response during the fear conditioning experiment, as quantified by changes in electrical conductance between electrodes placed on the palm.
Time frame: Baseline
Heart rate
Time frame: Baseline
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