Stress Enhances the Memory-Degrading Effects of Eye Movements on Emotionally Neutral Memories

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Littel ◽  
Malou Remijn ◽  
Angelica M. Tinga ◽  
Iris M. Engelhard ◽  
Marcel A. van den Hout
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Dual Tasking ◽  
Traumatic Memories ◽  
Lateral Eye ◽  
Stress Task ◽  
Task Component

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is an effective treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. It uses a dual-task approach: Patients retrieve traumatic memories while making lateral eye movements. Laboratory studies have consistently shown that this dual-task component decreases the vividness of emotional memories, whereas neutral memories appear insensitive to the intervention. Hence, emotional arousal might play a crucial role in the (re)consolidation of the degraded memory. This study investigated whether boosting arousal levels would induce degradation of neutral memories by dual tasking. A total of 67 participants, 32 with performance anxiety, selected two vivid, neutral autobiographical memories, which were subjected to dual tasking or recall only. Half of the participants first underwent the Trier Social Stress Task to increase arousal. Only participants with performance anxiety in the arousal condition showed reduced vividness after the dual tasking relative to recall only. Thus, adding arousal to neutral memories makes them susceptible to the degrading effects of dual tasking.

scholarly journals Lateral Eye Movements Increase False Memory Rates

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 610-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanne T. L. Houben ◽  
Henry Otgaar ◽  
Jeffrey Roelofs ◽  
Harald Merckelbach
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
False Memories ◽  
Misinformation Effect ◽  
Lateral Eye ◽  
Car Crash

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a popular treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. However, little is known about the memory effects of EMDR. Using a misinformation paradigm, we examined whether lateral eye movements, as used in EMDR, enhance susceptibility to false memories. Undergraduates ( N = 82) saw a video depicting a car crash. Subsequently, participants either performed eye movements or held their eyes stationary. Afterward, all participants received misinformation in the form of an eyewitness narrative. The results indicate that eye movement participants were less accurate and were more susceptible to the misinformation effect than controls. Our finding suggests EMDR may have risky drawbacks in an eyewitness context and therefore urgently needs follow-up research.

scholarly journals Eye-Movement does not reduce ratings of vividness and emotionality or the number of intrusive thoughts of unpleasant memories: Implications for Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nicholas Arnott-Steel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Intrusive Thoughts ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Line Treatment ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Traumatic Memories

<p>Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy that incorporates the use of saccadic Eye-Movements (EM) to alleviate distress caused by traumatic memories. Although EMDR is recognised as a front-line treatment for individuals suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of the EM component remain a point of contention. The aim of the current research was to investigate first, whether EM reduced ratings of memory vividness and emotionality by taxing Working Memory (WM) capacity, and second, to examine whether EM lowered the number of intrusive thoughts under two opposing suppression conditions. In two experiments, 244 non-clinical participants were asked to recall an unpleasant memory while simultaneously engaging in fast-EM, slow-EM or a no-EM control. Participants then received an instruction to intentionally avoid thinking about the memory, or to think about whatever came to mind. Relative to no-EM, fast-EM and slow-EM had no significant effect on vividness and emotionality ratings, nor did they influence the number of intrusive thoughts. In addition, the level of suppression intent had no impact on memory outcomes. Overall, the results from these two experiments oppose earlier findings in support of WM theory, and a significant body of research that has demonstrated the efficacy of the EM component. Implications for the EM component in EMDR are discussed, and an alternative explanation for EM is offered.</p>

scholarly journals Retrieving and Modifying Traumatic Memories: Recent Research Relevant to Three Controversies

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris M. Engelhard ◽  
Richard J. McNally ◽  
Kevin van Schie
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
Traumatic Memories ◽  
New Findings

The purpose of this article is to review recent research that is relevant to three controversies concerning memory for trauma. First, we briefly review the debate about recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse, summarizing a third interpretation distinct from both the repression and false-memory accounts. Second, we address new findings related to claims that memories of trauma, especially in people with posttraumatic stress disorder, are especially fragmented and disorganized. Third, we discuss research designed to test whether eye movements in eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy are effective.

scholarly journals Eye-Movement does not reduce ratings of vividness and emotionality or the number of intrusive thoughts of unpleasant memories: Implications for Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nicholas Arnott-Steel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Intrusive Thoughts ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Line Treatment ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Traumatic Memories

<p>Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy that incorporates the use of saccadic Eye-Movements (EM) to alleviate distress caused by traumatic memories. Although EMDR is recognised as a front-line treatment for individuals suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of the EM component remain a point of contention. The aim of the current research was to investigate first, whether EM reduced ratings of memory vividness and emotionality by taxing Working Memory (WM) capacity, and second, to examine whether EM lowered the number of intrusive thoughts under two opposing suppression conditions. In two experiments, 244 non-clinical participants were asked to recall an unpleasant memory while simultaneously engaging in fast-EM, slow-EM or a no-EM control. Participants then received an instruction to intentionally avoid thinking about the memory, or to think about whatever came to mind. Relative to no-EM, fast-EM and slow-EM had no significant effect on vividness and emotionality ratings, nor did they influence the number of intrusive thoughts. In addition, the level of suppression intent had no impact on memory outcomes. Overall, the results from these two experiments oppose earlier findings in support of WM theory, and a significant body of research that has demonstrated the efficacy of the EM component. Implications for the EM component in EMDR are discussed, and an alternative explanation for EM is offered.</p>

The Effects of Visual Displays in Attenuating Discrepancies Between Self-Reported and Physiological Indexes of Stress

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Jenny J. W. Liu ◽  
Julia Gervasio ◽  
Kenneth Fung ◽  
Kristin Vickers
Keyword(s):  
Social Stress ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Subjective Evaluations ◽  
Stress Task ◽  
Physiological Indexes ◽  
Physiological Outcomes ◽  
Physiological Markers ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. This study examined whether the relationship between subjective and physiological outcomes of stress, and the responsivity to stressors, are affected by whether participants can see a visual display of their physiological output. Participants were randomly assigned to have a visible view of their physiological output readings, or to a condition in which physiological output readings were out of view. Participants individually completed a 30-min laboratory study including the modified Trier Social Stress Task. Both physiological markers of stress (heart rate and blood pressure) and subjective evaluations of stress (visual analog scale) were measured. Results found little congruency across subjective and physiological measures of stress. The visible visual display condition had elevated physiological arousal, while no group differences were observed in self-reported stress. Findings from the study provide insight into the use of visual physiological displays and hold practical implications for both the measurement of stress in research, and the development of wearable technologies without accompanying response strategies.

scholarly journals Combining tDCS With a Motor-Cognitive Task to Reduce the Negative Impact of Dual-Tasking on the Gait of Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 287-288
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Hausdorff ◽  
Nofar Schneider ◽  
Marina Brozgol ◽  
Pablo Cornejo Thumm ◽  
Nir Giladi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Gait Speed ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Dual Tasking ◽  
Concurrent Performance ◽  
Dual Task Cost

Abstract The simultaneous performance of a secondary task while walking (i.e., dual tasking) increases motor-cognitive interference and fall risk in older adults. Combining transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with the concurrent performance of a task that putatively involves the same brain networks targeted by the tDCS may reduce the negative impact of dual-tasking on walking. We examined whether tDCS applied while walking reduces the dual-task costs to gait and whether this combination is better than tDCS alone or walking alone (with sham stimulation). In 25 healthy older adults (aged 75.7±10.5yrs), a double-blind, within-subject, cross-over pilot study evaluated the acute after-effects of 20 minutes of tDCS targeting the primary motor cortex and the dorsal lateral pre frontal cortex during three separate sessions:1) tDCS while walking on a treadmill in a virtual-reality environment (tDCS+walking), 2) tDCS while seated (tDCS+seated), and 3) walking in the virtual-reality environment with sham tDCS (sham+walking). The complex walking condition taxed motor and cognitive abilities. During each session, single- and dual-task walking and cognitive function were assessed before and immediately after stimulation. Compared to pre-tDCS performance, tDCS+walking reduced the dual-task cost to gait speed (p=0.004) and other gait features (e.g., variability p=0.02), and improved (p&lt;0.001) executive function (Stroop interference score). tDCS+seated and sham+walking did not affect the dual-task cost to gait speed (p&gt;0.17). These initial findings demonstrate that tDCS delivered during challenging walking ameliorates dual-task gait and executive function in older adults, suggesting that the concurrent performance of related tasks enhances the efficacy of the neural stimulation and mobility.

Learning of across- and within-task contingencies modulates partial-repetition costs in dual-tasking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lasse Pelzer ◽  
Christoph Naefgen ◽  
Robert Gaschler ◽  
Hilde Haider
Keyword(s):  
Dual Task ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Feature Binding ◽  
Dual Tasking ◽  
Single Task ◽  
Task Set ◽  
Task Processing ◽  
Tone Discrimination ◽  
Task Sets

AbstractDual-task costs might result from confusions on the task-set level as both tasks are not represented as distinct task-sets, but rather being integrated into a single task-set. This suggests that events in the two tasks are stored and retrieved together as an integrated memory episode. In a series of three experiments, we tested for such integrated task processing and whether it can be modulated by regularities between the stimuli of the two tasks (across-task contingencies) or by sequential regularities within one of the tasks (within-task contingencies). Building on the experimental approach of feature binding in action control, we tested whether the participants in a dual-tasking experiment will show partial-repetition costs: they should be slower when only the stimulus in one of the two tasks is repeated from Trial n − 1 to Trial n than when the stimuli in both tasks repeat. In all three experiments, the participants processed a visual-manual and an auditory-vocal tone-discrimination task which were always presented concurrently. In Experiment 1, we show that retrieval of Trial n − 1 episodes is stable across practice if the stimulus material is drawn randomly. Across-task contingencies (Experiment 2) and sequential regularities within a task (Experiment 3) can compete with n − 1-based retrieval leading to a reduction of partial-repetition costs with practice. Overall the results suggest that participants do not separate the processing of the two tasks, yet, within-task contingencies might reduce integrated task processing.

Targeting the Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories With Electroconvulsive Therapy for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 89 (9) ◽  
pp. S196
Author(s):  
Victor Tang ◽  
Kathleen Trought ◽  
Kristina Gicas ◽  
Mari Kozak ◽  
Sheena Josselyn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Memories
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