Skip to content
Bored Studies
RecruitingAccepts healthy volunteers

K08 VR Fear Conditioning

University of California, Los Angeles · with National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Duke University · NCT07216222

View Study & Apply (opens in a new tab)

Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 18–70 · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
70
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
March 1, 2025
Record last updated
October 13, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

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.

Being studied: Deep Brain Stimulation

Conditions: Anxiety and Fear; PTSD; Veteran

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Male
  • Female
  • Between 18 and 70 years of age
  • Adequate visual and auditory acuity to allow neuropsychological testing
  • Have undergone surgical placement of NeuroPace RNS System for the treatment of epilepsy or post-traumatic stress disorder

Exclusion Criteria

  • History of traumatic brain injury

Recruiting US locations

  • UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior

    Los Angeles, CA 90024

    Site contact: Anthony I Jang, MD · 424-242-2423 · aijangresearch@gmail.com

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Jonny Baham · 424-242-2423 · jangresearchlab.ucla@gmail.com
All mental health studies in California →
K08 VR Fear Conditioning (NCT07216222) | Bored Studies