Cue reactivity to drug-related stimuli is a frequently observed phenomenon in drug addiction. Cue reactivity refers to a classical conditioned response pattern that occurs when an addicted subject is exposed to drug-related stimuli. This response consists of physiological and cognitive reactions. Craving, a subjective desire to use the drug of choice, is believed to play an important role in the occurrence of relapse in the natural setting. Besides craving, other subjective cue-elicited reactions have been reported, including withdrawal symptoms, drug-agonistic effects, and mood swings. Physiological reactions that have been investigated include skin conductance, heart rate, salivation, and body temperature. Conditioned reactivity to cues is an important factor in addiction to alcohol, nicotine, opiates, and cocaine. Cue exposure treatment (CET) refers to a manualized, repeated exposure to drug-related cues, aimed at the reduction of cue reactivity by extinction. In CET, different stimuli are presented, for example, slides, video tapes, pictures, or paraphernalia in nonrealistic, experimental settings. Most often assessments consist in subjective ratings by craving scales. Our pilot study will show that immersive virtual reality (IVR) is as good or even better in eliciting subjective and physiological craving symptoms as classical devices.

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Performance in virtual environments (VEs) is strongly modulated by attention-related factorssuch as the preattentive state of the brain. Because this state changes over time and might also be influenced by the VE, itself, we propose an implementation of an electrophysiological brain monitoring system focussing on event-related potentials (ERPs) and conventional EEG signals. ERPs provide information related to the respective cognitive functional state as a reliable method for assessing the underlying brain activity. Mismatch negativity (MMN) and P300 are cognitive event-related potentials that reflect preattentive (MMN) and attentiondependent (P300) information processing. The conventional EEG is capable of detecting the degree of the subjects drowsiness or alertness, such as the involvement of specific cortical areas during the task at hand. The goal of the present work was to establish a neurophysiological monitoring in VE. 407 FIG. 4. Spectral arrays of one EEG recording (26 minutes, all trials). The task (Tower of Hanoi) runs from minute 16 to minute 17 eliciting a valley in the alpha-power (m V 2 ) with an increase in the theta-power (m V 2 ). Power (m V 2 )

Some members of the so-called virtual world deny that technology such as the virtual environment (VE) is value-laden. But there are a variety of complex issues which arise in VE that make it necessary to think about ethics and values in VE applications. Using VE in therapy and psychotherapy research or diagnostics leads to several ethical concerns. VE can impoverish those aspects of life that are essential to social development, interpersonal relations, and emotional growth. This paper will focus on the concept called "virtual world," a question of metaphysics. After reviewing general ethical principles, ethics in applied sciences will be described. Ethical decision-making, code of conduct, and specific issues in VE will be discussed. The VE community is challenged to set guidelines around VE, and its ethics and values. A set of measurement tools around ethical codes and values in a virtual world ought to be discursively gained in this virtual world and in real society as a whole.

Exposure therapy is a behavioral technique that is reported to be the most effective, long-lasting treatment for patients suffering from specific phobia. During the performance in enclosed spaces, the patients show a strong psychophysiological response to the phobic stimulus that is normally avoided. This psychophysiological response changes characteristically during the course of exposure. We implemented an electroencephalographic monitoring focusing on event-related potentials to resolve the modulation of preattentive information processing by the anxiety state of the subject. Therefore, mismatch-negativity (MMN) was chosen as parameter using a passive auditory oddball paradigm that does not interfere with performance in the virtual environment. The results of this neurophysiological monitoring are demonstrated in one patient suffering from claustrophobia.