ArticleBMC psychology2022
Can working memory account for EMDR efficacy in PTSD?
Article in BMC psychology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Disentangling eye movement desensitization and reprocessing mechanisms of action: The impact of eye movements in the eye blink conditioning task.Psychology and psychotherapy · 2025Trial
- Effects of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing on depressive symptoms, stress and rumination in adolescents with depression: a randomised controlled trial.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Trial
- Article
- The Timing of Attentional Distraction Matters in Facilitating Extinction of Trace Fear Memory.Experimental neurobiology · 2026Article
- Study on the cognitive effects of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing: proposed active mechanisms.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2026Article
- Judicial assessment of testimonial reliability after EMDR therapy: a case-series analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Brief Manual for Multi-Modal Motion-Assisted Memory Desensitization and Reconsolidation Therapy for the Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.Psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in Treating Borderline Personality Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Alpha psychiatry · 2025Article
- B.R.E.A.S.T. Study protocol: Benefits of R-TEP EMDR protocol in Addressing diStress and Trauma in breast cancer patients.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- The Efficacy of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Treatment for Depression: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Exhausting, but necessary: the lived experience of participants in an intensive inpatient trauma treatment program.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Neuropsychological Consequences of Massive Trauma: Implications and Clinical Interventions.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- MDMA-Based Psychotherapy in Treatment-Resistant Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Brief Narrative Overview of Current Evidence.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of PTSD for years, it remains controversial due to the lack of understanding of its mechanisms of action. We examined whether the working memory (WM) hypothesis -the competition for limited WM resources induced by the dual task attenuates the vividness and emotionality of the traumatic memory - would provide an explanation for the beneficial effect induced by bilateral stimulation.
methodsWe followed the Prisma guidelines and identified 11 articles categorized in two types of designs: studies involving participants with current PTSD symptoms and participants without PTSD diagnosis.
resultsRegardless of the types of studies, the results showed a reduction of vividness and emotionality in the recall of traumatic stimuli under a dual-task condition compared to a control condition, such as recall alone. However, two studies used a follow-up test to show that this effect does not seem to last long.
conclusionOur results provide evidence for the WM hypothesis and suggest that recalling a traumatic memory while performing a secondary task would shift the individual's attention away from the retrieval process and result in a reduction in vividness and emotionality, also associated with the reduction of symptoms.
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