Virtual reality flight experience suggests a new approach to fear reduction without repeated exposure

A research group led by Fujino Misako and Haruno Masahiko at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology has demonstrated that experiencing active flight in virtual reality (VR) allows individuals to predict that they can transition to a safe state even if they fall from a height, thereby reducing fear responses. This discovery challenges the traditional understanding that fear extinction necessarily requires repeated exposure to fear-inducing stimuli.

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