Search for EEG signal patterns in simulating phobic anxiety disorder situations in a VR environment

Introduction: Effective and prompt formulation of diagnostic conclusions about the presence of anxiety-phobic disorders requires the improvement of existing and the development of new methods for diagnosing and treating patients, including the use of virtual reality technology. Purpose: To analyze a reaction of an individual to a stimulus that triggers a fear response to virtual reality scenes (height exposure). To identify electroencephalographic (EEG) signal markers related to the level of anxiety and virtual reality environment susceptibility of an individual. Methods: A group of nine conditionally healthy males aged 23 to 26 years old who reported neither history of somatic symptoms nor organic brain disorders was formed to conduct the research. The immersion into virtual reality was accompanied by the registration of EEG signals and subsequent completion of a self-assessment questionnaire by the subjects. Results: The state of rest (a reference value) and the state of high emotional stress experience (at the height of a skyscraper) in the virtual reality environment were compared. The results obtained allow to make a conclusion that the simulated situation of being at a height causes a decrease in the indices of alpha, theta, beta rhythms, and an increase in the delta rhythm index of the EEG signal relative to the state of rest in various subjects, regardless of the intensity of fear manifestation. Practical relevance: The conducted research is among the pioneering studies in assessing the effect of virtual reality technologies on human phobic anxiety state. Some objective electrophysiological markers related to the level of anxiety were determined to confirm the presence of patterns in the functional state of the cerebral cortex with a sense of anxiety in individuals immersed in a virtual reality environment.