Microsoft Office 2007 Virtual food causes stress i

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(click on to enlarge) Virtual meals leads to stress in sufferers affected by eating disorders
Food presented in a virtual reality (VR) environment brings about the same emotional responses as real meals. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Annals of General Psychiatry compared the responses of people with anorexia and bulimia, and a control group, to the virtual and real-life snacks, suggesting that virtual meals can be used for the evaluation and treatment of consuming disorders. Alessandra Gorini from the Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy, worked with an international team of researchers to compare the effects of the exposure to real food, virtual food and photographs of foods in a sample of clients affected by consuming disorders. She said,Office 2010 Key, "Though preliminary, our data show that virtual stimuli are as effective as real ones,Office 2010 Key, and more effective than static pictures, in generating emotional responses in consuming disorder patients".
The 10 anorexic, 10 bulimic and 10 control participants, all women, were initially shown a series of 6 real high-calorie foods placed on a table in front of them. Their heart rate and skin conductance, as well as their psychological tension were measured during the exposure. This process was then repeated with a slideshow of the same foods,Microsoft Office 2007, and a VR trip into a computer-generated diner where they could interact with the virtual version of the same 6 items. The participants' level of anxiety was statistically identical whether in virtual reality or real exposure.
Speaking about the results,Office 2007, Gorini said, "Since real and virtual exposure elicit a comparable level of pressure,Office 2007 Keygen, higher than the one elicited by static pictures, we may eventually see VR being used to screen, evaluate, and treat the emotional reactions provoked by specific stimuli in sufferers impacted by different psychological disorders".
Source: BioMed Central