Contributions to the use of virtual reality for eating disorders therapy ; Contributions à l’utilisation de la réalité virtuelle pour la thérapie des troubles du comportement alimentaire

The use of immersive technologies for therapeutic purposes has been practiced for several years. While these techniques were initially applied to phobic disorders, they have gradually expanded to other disorders such as anxiety, schizophrenia and eating disorders. Existing research on the use of virtual reality (VR) for the treatment of eating disorders focuses on two issues : (1) correcting the distortion of the patient’s self-representation, where VR helps correct this erroneous representation through embodiment or visualization of an avatar (2) using the environment with triggering elements of the pathology (e.g., food) to better characterize symptoms and conduct exposure therapy to these cues. The first objective of the thesis is to propose and evaluate an immersive environment inducing conditions of food craving (irresistible urge to consume a product associated with compulsive seeking) in individuals with bulimia nervosa or binge-eating disorder, compared to matched healthy subjects. The development of this environment is based on collaborative design work, in which the use of multi-modal stimuli is an innovative element. The characterization of the environment is based on the current reference measure of food craving in VR, which is a self-assessment using a simple verbal scale. We study variations during the exploration of the scenario before and after each virtual exposure, as well as its association with anxiety induced by the exploration at the same moments. Additionally, certain physiological parameters previously associated with cravings in addictive disorders are measured at different evaluation points (heart rate variability and electrodermal activity). Finally, we also use phenotyping methods based on self-assessment questionnaires to highlight behavioral and emotional dimensions that may contribute to triggering episodes. Moreover, in the context of studies on the desire to eat, visual quality emerges as a major parameter that needs to be controlled to offer environments suitable for user ...