Virtual reality cue-exposure therapy in reducing cocaine craving: the Promoting Innovative COgnitive behavioral therapy for Cocaine use disorder (PICOC) study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Cocaine craving is a central symptom of cocaine use disorders (CUD). Virtual reality cue-exposure therapy for craving (VRCET) allows more immersive, realistic, and controllable exposure than traditional non-VR cue-exposure therapy (CET), whose efficacy is limited in treating substance use disorders. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of VRCET, as a stand-alone and add-on intervention (i.e., combined with cognitive therapy), compared to a picture-based CET (PCET), in reducing self-reported cocaine craving in inpatients hospitalized for CUD. METHODS: Fifty-four inpatients hospitalized for CUD will be randomized in one of two intensive 3-week treatment arms: 10 meetings/2-week treatment of VRCET plus 5 meetings/1-week treatment of memory-focused cognitive therapy (MFCT; experimental arm), or 15 meetings/3-week treatment of PCET (active control arm). The Craving Experience Questionnaire (CEQ - F & S) will be used to assess the primary outcome, i.e., the post-treatment decrease of self-reported cocaine craving frequency (within the past 2 weeks) and intensity scores (in VR exposure to cocaine cues). Secondary endpoints include urinary, physiological, and self-reported cocaine use-related measures. Assessments are scheduled at pretreatment, after 2 weeks of treatment (i.e., VRCET vs. PCET), post-treatment (3 weeks, i.e., VRCET + MFCT vs. PCET), and at 1-month follow-up. Acceptability will be evaluated via (i) the Spatial Presence for Immersive Environments - Cybersickness along VRCET and (ii) the Client Satisfaction Questionnaires after 2 weeks of treatment and post-treatment. DISCUSSION: This study will be the first to evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of VRCET for CUD, as a psychotherapeutic add-on, to reduce both cocaine craving frequency and intensity. Additionally, this study will provide evidence about the specific interest of VRCET, compared to a non-VR-based CET, as a cue reactivity and exposure paradigm for treating substance use disorders. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT05833529 [clinicaltrials.gov]. Prospectively registered on April 17, 2023.

[Cocaine and alcohol: a risky association]. / Cocaïne et alcool : des liaisons dangereuses.

Key points. Cocaine, the second most frequently consumed illicit substance after cannabis in both United States and Europe, remains the psychostimulant of choice for many, often mixed with other psychoactive substances. It is most frequently associated with alcohol, and a diagnosis of alcohol dependence may be made in 50%-90% of cocaine-dependent subjects. When treating cocaine addicts, it is important to characterize not only the modalities of cocaine use but also the modes of consumption of other substances, notably alcohol. Alcohol is often consumed to reduce the anxiety and discomfort resulting from cocaine withdrawal. Alcohol may also trigger an irresistible craving for cocaine, which can result in frequent relapses even after several months of cocaine abstinence. Brief intervention and motivational interview techniques can help to reduce alcohol use and prevent cocaine relapses in this context. In the absence of severe cocaine withdrawal symptoms, the guidelines for treating alcohol withdrawal syndrome may be applied for cocaine and alcohol codependence. Lower doses of benzodiazepine are needed for treating this alcohol-cocaine withdrawal syndrome. Cognitive behavioral therapies, alone or in combination with psychotropic medication, are accepted therapeutic approaches for alcohol-cocaine dependence. It is also accepted that over the long term the combination of psychotherapeutic treatments is usually more effective than any single approach. In the absence of a therapeutic consensus, four drugs (disulfiram, baclofen, topiramate and naltrexone) are most often recommended to promote and maintain abstinence; nevertheless, their efficacy has not been proven and their use remains experimental and off-label: they have not been approved by health authorities as treatment for addictions.

Auditory/visual duration bisection in patients with left or right medial-temporal lobe resection.

Patients with unilateral (left or right) medial temporal lobe lesions and normal control (NC) volunteers participated in two experiments, both using a duration bisection procedure. Experiment 1 assessed discrimination of auditory and visual signal durations ranging from 2 to 8 s, in the same test session. Patients and NC participants judged auditory signals as longer than equivalent duration visual signals. The difference between auditory and visual time discrimination was equivalent for the three groups, suggesting that a unilateral temporal lobe resection does not modulate the modality effect. To document interval-timing abilities after temporal lobe resection for different duration ranges, Experiment 2 investigated the discrimination of brief, 50-200 ms, auditory durations in the same patients. Overall, patients with right temporal lobe resection were found to have more variable duration judgments across both signal modality and duration range. These findings suggest the involvement of the right temporal lobe at the level of the decision process in temporal discriminations.