Methods for enhancing exposure therapy using vagus nerve stimulation
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- obtaining access to a patient that is a mammal;
identifying a stimulus that evokes an identifiable reaction indicative of a psychological response to the stimulus in the patient;
providing an exposure therapy to the patient including presenting the stimulus to the patient;
electrically stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve at the same time as the exposure therapy; and
obtaining data indicative of whether the identified stimulus evokes the reaction, whereinthe actions of providing an exposure therapy to the patient and stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve at the same time as the exposure therapy are repeated at least until the identified stimulus evokes the reaction no more than about one-fifth of the time that the identified stimulus is presented to the patient.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a method of enhancing exposure therapy comprising providing an exposure therapy to a patient and stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve at the same time as the exposure therapy. Also disclosed is a post-traumatic stress disorder therapy method comprising providing an exposure event to a patient and stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve during the exposure event. Also disclosed is a phobia disorder therapy method comprising providing an extinction event to a patient and stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve during the extinction event. Also disclosed is an obsessive compulsive disorder therapy method comprising providing a therapy event to a patient and stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve during the therapy event. Also disclosed is an addiction disorder therapy method comprising providing a therapy event to a patient and stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve during the therapy event.
11 Citations
32 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
obtaining access to a patient that is a mammal; identifying a stimulus that evokes an identifiable reaction indicative of a psychological response to the stimulus in the patient; providing an exposure therapy to the patient including presenting the stimulus to the patient; electrically stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve at the same time as the exposure therapy; and obtaining data indicative of whether the identified stimulus evokes the reaction, wherein the actions of providing an exposure therapy to the patient and stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve at the same time as the exposure therapy are repeated at least until the identified stimulus evokes the reaction no more than about one-fifth of the time that the identified stimulus is presented to the patient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A method, comprising:
-
(i) obtaining access to a patient; (ii) identifying a stimulus that evokes an identifiable reaction indicative of a psychological response to the stimulus in the patient; (iii) executing an extinction session including; providing an exposure therapy to a patient by providing the stimulus to the patient; and electrically stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve at the same time as the exposure therapy; (iv) observing the patient for a lack of reaction to the stimulus; and (v) repeating method actions iii and iv until a lack of reaction to the stimulus is observed. - View Dependent Claims (30)
-
-
31. A method, comprising:
-
(i) obtaining access to a patient; (ii) identifying a stimulus that evokes an identifiable reaction indicative of a psychological response to the stimulus in the patient; (iii) executing an extinction session including; providing an exposure therapy to a patient by providing the stimulus to the patient; and electrically stimulating the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve at the same time as the exposure therapy; (iv) observing the patient for a lack of reaction to the stimulus; and (v) repeating method actions iii and iv until a consistent lack of reaction to the stimulus is observed. - View Dependent Claims (32)
-
Specification