The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), through its Office of Research Administration, has been awarded a $181,926 Project Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242). The grant, effective May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2029, will support research investigating the effects of enhancing reward processing on exposure therapy outcomes for individuals with social anxiety disorder and fear of public speaking.
Specifically, the project will conduct an experimental therapeutics study to evaluate whether a behavioral treatment focused on improving reward processing can enhance the efficacy of subsequent exposure therapy for social anxiety symptoms. The primary outcome will be a multi-modal assessment of public speaking anxiety. The research aims to gain a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying extinction of fear and social anxiety, with the goal of improving the effectiveness of exposure therapy for millions of Americans suffering from these conditions.