Designing Real-Time EEG and ECG Integration for VR-Based Exposure Therapy: A User Study

Innovative therapeutic approaches are crucial to the treatment of anxiety and food aversion disorders. This study integrates EEG and ECG signals with a VR-based serious game for exposure therapy, assessing neurophysiological engagement in a framework designed for real-time integration. Our results demonstrate consistent detection of EEG biomarkers, particularly N200, during VR tasks, providing evidence of neural habituation. While ECG signals faced motion-related artifacts, EEG data reliably captured cognitive adaptation to repeated stimuli, reinforcing the feasibility of real-time neurofeedback. Despite these challenges, our study successfully validates the integration of multimodal biosignals in VR-based exposure therapy, confirming its potential for adaptive, personalized interventions. By leveraging VR's immersive capabilities with physiological feedback, this approach advances real-time, patient-centered exposure therapy, laying the groundwork for customized therapeutic strategies.