Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28348380›Full record

Trial reportMolecular psychiatry2018

Preventing intrusive memories after trauma via a brief intervention involving Tetris computer game play in the emergency department: a proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial.

L Iyadurai, S E Blackwell, R Meiser-Stedman, P C Watson, M B Bonsall, J R Geddes, A C Nobre, E A Holmes

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Molecular psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07290127 (Effects of a Computer Game on Postpartum Mental Health After Emergency Cesarean Birth), which is not on this map. Cited by 118 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
118citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07290127 naenrolling by invitationnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Effects of a Computer Game on Postpartum Mental Health After Emergency Cesarean Birth: a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorKyoto University, Graduate School of MedicineRan2025 to 2027Enrolled120ConditionsPost-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Postpartum Mental HealthArmsimplementation of a brief computer-based intervention "Tetris"
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

118 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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58 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

L IyaduraiDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
S E BlackwellMedical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.
R Meiser-StedmanDepartment of Clinical Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
P C WatsonMedical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.
M B BonsallDepartment of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
J R GeddesDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
A C NobreDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
E A HolmesDivision of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

Department of Health DRF-2011-04-076Medical Research Council MC_EX_G0802821Medical Research Council MC_UP_0901/1Medical Research Council MC_UU_00005/14Medical Research Council MC_UU_00005/15Medical Research Council MRC-A060-5PR50Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust 104571/Z/14/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

After psychological trauma, recurrent intrusive visual memories may be distressing and disruptive. Preventive interventions post trauma are lacking. Here we test a behavioural intervention after real-life trauma derived from cognitive neuroscience. We hypothesized that intrusive memories would be significantly reduced in number by an intervention involving a computer game with high visuospatial demands (Tetris), via disrupting consolidation of sensory elements of trauma memory. The Tetris-based intervention (trauma memory reminder cue plus c. 20 min game play) vs attention-placebo control (written activity log for same duration) were both delivered in an emergency department within 6 h of a motor vehicle accident. The randomized controlled trial compared the impact on the number of intrusive trauma memories in the subsequent week (primary outcome). Results vindicated the efficacy of the Tetris-based intervention compared with the control condition: there were fewer intrusive memories overall, and time-series analyses showed that intrusion incidence declined more quickly. There were convergent findings on a measure of clinical post-trauma intrusion symptoms at 1 week, but not on other symptom clusters or at 1 month. Results of this proof-of-concept study suggest that a larger trial, powered to detect differences at 1 month, is warranted. Participants found the intervention easy, helpful and minimally distressing. By translating emerging neuroscientific insights and experimental research into the real world, we offer a promising new low-intensity psychiatric intervention that could prevent debilitating intrusive memories following trauma.

Indexed as

AdultBehavior TherapyCognitionEmergency Service, HospitalFemaleHumansMaleMemoryMiddle AgedProof of Concept StudyPsychological TraumaStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticSyndromeVideo GamesWounds and Injuries

Identifiers

PMID28348380
PMCPMC5822451

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.