scholarly journals Eye Movements Matter, But Why? Psychophysiological Correlates of EMDR Therapy to Treat Trauma in Timor-Leste

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Schubert ◽  
Christopher W. Lee ◽  
Peter D. Drummond
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Physiological Activity ◽  
Orienting Response ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Trauma Symptoms ◽  
Conflict Setting ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
Emdr Therapy

This preliminary study examined the physiological correlates of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy when effectively used to treat trauma symptoms in a postconflict, developing nation, Timor-Leste. Participants were 20 Timorese adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms treated with EMDR therapy. PTSD, depression, and anxiety decreased significantly after an average of 4.15 (SD = 2.06) sessions. Continuous measures of heart rate, skin conductance, and respiration were collected during the first and last desensitization sessions. Physiological activity decreased in EMDR desensitization sessions, and eye movement sets were associated with an immediate significant decrease in heart rate and an increase in skin conductance, consistent with an orienting response. This response habituated within and across eye movement sets. These findings suggest that effective EMDR therapy is associated with de-arousal within sessions and that eye movement sets are associated with distinct physiological changes that may aid memory processing. The findings offer insight into the working mechanisms of EMDR when used to treat PTSD symptoms in a real-world, cross-cultural, postwar/conflict setting.

Evidence of a Decrease in Heart Rate and Skin Conductance Responses in PTSD Patients After a Single EMDR Session

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphanie Aubert-Khalfa ◽  
Jacques Roques ◽  
Olivier Blin
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Psychophysiological Responses ◽  
Skin Conductance Responses ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Trauma Recall ◽  
Emdr Therapy

Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) demonstrate abnormal psychophysiological responses to stressful events. Given that eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy appears to be a treatment of choice for trauma victims, the aim of the present study was to determine if psychophysiological responses to stress decreased after a single EMDR session. Six PTSD patients were treated by an EMDR therapist. Their psychophysiological responses (heart rate and skin conductance) were recorded before and after the EMDR session under two conditions: (a) in a relaxed state and (b) while visualizing their own traumatic event. At the end of the session, all patients had a significant reduction in their PTSD symptoms, which confirms previous results demonstrating the efficacy of the EMDR approach. Second, after only one EMDR session, heart rate and skin conductance during the trauma recall decreased significantly as compared to a relaxing state.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tonya Edmond ◽  
Karen Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Trauma Symptoms ◽  
Rigorous Research ◽  
Social Work Practitioners ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Trauma Types ◽  
Lively Debate ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Emdr Therapy

Since its inception in 1987, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has been the subject of lively debate and controversy, rigorous research both nationally and internationally, and is now used by licensed practitioners across six continents as an effective treatment of trauma symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The aim of this entry is to provide social work practitioners and researchers with a description of the treatment approach for adults and children, EMDR’s development and theoretical basis, a review of controversial issues, and an overview of the evidence of effectiveness of EMDR across trauma types and populations.

scholarly journals EMDR in Older Adults With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 132-141
Author(s):  
Ellen Gielkens ◽  
Marja Vink ◽  
Sjacko Sobczak ◽  
Erlene Rosowsky ◽  
Bas Van Alphen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Trauma Symptoms ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Emdr Therapy

Recognition of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in older adults is often difficult due to its complicated presentation. Once recognized, trauma symptoms can, in accordance with (inter)national guidelines, be successfully treated with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. However, limited empirical research has been done on the expression and treatment of PTSD in older adults. This article explains trauma and age in the context of psychotherapy. It discusses the interaction between age and pathology and summarizes the cognitive issues related to age, PTSD, and anxiety. It provides practical suggestions for how these can be addressed in treatment. Age-related challenges related to motivation are identified with practical suggestions for addressing them. The case illustrates the necessary additions and subtractions for older adults, with clear explanations and instructions. This article points the way for future research.

The Effect of Searching Versus Surfing on Cognitive and Emotional Responses to Online News

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Wise ◽  
Hyo Jung Kim ◽  
Jeesum Kim
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Online News ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Mixed Design ◽  
Information Need ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Rate Acceleration

A mixed-design experiment was conducted to explore differences between searching and surfing on cognitive and emotional responses to online news. Ninety-two participants read three unpleasant news stories from a website. Half of the participants acquired their stories by searching, meaning they had a previous information need in mind. The other half of the participants acquired their stories by surfing, with no previous information need in mind. Heart rate, skin conductance, and corrugator activation were collected as measures of resource allocation, motivational activation, and unpleasantness, respectively, while participants read each story. Self-report valence and recognition accuracy were also measured. Stories acquired by searching elicited greater heart rate acceleration, skin conductance level, and corrugator activation during reading. These stories were rated as more unpleasant, and their details were recognized more accurately than similar stories that were acquired by surfing. Implications of these results for understanding how people process online media are discussed.

scholarly journals Stress Markers for Mental States and Biotypes of Depression and Anxiety: A Scoping Review and Preliminary Illustrative Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 247054702110003
Author(s):  
Megan Chesnut ◽  
Sahar Harati ◽  
Pablo Paredes ◽  
Yasser Khan ◽  
Amir Foudeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Classification Model ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Stress Markers ◽  
Physiological Markers

Depression and anxiety disrupt daily function and their effects can be long-lasting and devastating, yet there are no established physiological indicators that can be used to predict onset, diagnose, or target treatments. In this review, we conceptualize depression and anxiety as maladaptive responses to repetitive stress. We provide an overview of the role of chronic stress in depression and anxiety and a review of current knowledge on objective stress indicators of depression and anxiety. We focused on cortisol, heart rate variability and skin conductance that have been well studied in depression and anxiety and implicated in clinical emotional states. A targeted PubMed search was undertaken prioritizing meta-analyses that have linked depression and anxiety to cortisol, heart rate variability and skin conductance. Consistent findings include reduced heart rate variability across depression and anxiety, reduced tonic and phasic skin conductance in depression, and elevated cortisol at different times of day and across the day in depression. We then provide a brief overview of neural circuit disruptions that characterize particular types of depression and anxiety. We also include an illustrative analysis using predictive models to determine how stress markers contribute to specific subgroups of symptoms and how neural circuits add meaningfully to this prediction. For this, we implemented a tree-based multi-class classification model with physiological markers of heart rate variability as predictors and four symptom subtypes, including normative mood, as target variables. We achieved 40% accuracy on the validation set. We then added the neural circuit measures into our predictor set to identify the combination of neural circuit dysfunctions and physiological markers that accurately predict each symptom subtype. Achieving 54% accuracy suggested a strong relationship between those neural-physiological predictors and the mental states that characterize each subtype. Further work to elucidate the complex relationships between physiological markers, neural circuit dysfunction and resulting symptoms would advance our understanding of the pathophysiological pathways underlying depression and anxiety.

scholarly journals Post-traumatic stress impact on health outcomes in Gulf War Illness

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Jeffrey ◽  
Fanny Collado ◽  
Jeffrey Kibler ◽  
Christian DeLucia ◽  
Steven Messer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Gulf War ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Symptom Presentation ◽  
Trauma Symptoms ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Gulf War Illness ◽  
Cut Point ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract Background Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic, multi-symptomatic disorder affecting an estimated 25–32% of the returning military veterans of the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War. GWI presents with a wide range of symptoms including fatigue, muscle pain, cognitive problems, insomnia, rashes and gastrointestinal issues and continues to be a poorly understood illness. This heterogeneity of GWI symptom presentation complicates diagnosis as well as the identification of effective treatments. Defining subgroups of the illness may help alleviate these complications. Our aim is to determine if GWI can be divided into distinct subgroups based on PTSD symptom presentation. Methods Veterans diagnosed with GWI (n = 47) and healthy sedentary veteran controls (n = 52) were recruited through the Miami Affairs (VA) Medical Health Center. Symptoms were assessed via the RAND short form health survey (36), the multidimensional fatigue inventory, and the Davidson trauma scale. Hierarchal regression modeling was performed on measures of health and fatigue with PTSD symptoms as a covariate. This was followed by univariate analyses conducted with two separate GWI groups based on a cut-point of 70 for their total Davidson Trauma Scale value and performing heteroscedastic t-tests across all measures. Results Overall analyses returned two symptom-based subgroups differing significantly across all health and trauma symptoms. These subgroups supported PTSD symptomatology as a means to subgroup veterans. Hierarchical models showed that GWI and levels of PTSD symptoms both impact measures of physical, social, and emotional consequences of poor health (ΔR2 = 0.055–0.316). However, GWI appeared to contribute more to fatigue measures. Cut-point analysis retained worse health outcomes across all measures for GWI with PTSD symptoms compared to those without PTSD symptoms, and healthy controls. Significant differences were observed in mental and emotional measures. Conclusions Therefore, this research supports the idea that comorbid GWI and PTSD symptoms lead to worse health outcomes, while demonstrating how GWI and PTSD symptoms may uniquely contribute to clinical presentation.

Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing versus exposure in vivo

1997 ◽  
Vol 171 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Muris ◽  
Harald Merckelbach ◽  
Hans Van Haaften ◽  
Birgit Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Specific Phobia ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Additional Value ◽  
Conductance Level

BackgroundEye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new therapeutic technique that has been proposed as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety complaints.MethodWe compared the efficacy of EMDR with that of exposure in viv. in the treatment of a specific phobia. Twenty-two spider-phobic children who met the DSM – III – R criteria for specific phobia participated in the study. Children were treated with one session of exposure in viv. and one session of EMDR in a crossover design. Treatment outcome was evaluated by self-report measures, a behavioural avoidance test and a physiological index (skin conductance level).ResultsResults showed positive effects of EMDR, but also suggest that it is especially self-report measures that are sensitive to EMDR. Improvement on a behavioural measure was less pronounced, and exposure in viv. was found to be superior in reducing avoidance behaviour. With regard to skin conductance level, EMDR and exposure in viv. did not differ.ConclusionsEMDR has no additional value in treatment of this type of animal phobia, for which exposure in viv. is the treatment of choice.

Heterogeneous activity level of jaw-closing and -opening muscles and its association with arousal levels during sleep in the guinea pig

2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (1) ◽  
pp. R34-R42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takafumi Kato ◽  
Yuji Masuda ◽  
Hayato Kanayama ◽  
Norimasa Nakamura ◽  
Atsushi Yoshida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Nrem Sleep ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Jaw Muscles ◽  
High Activity Level ◽  
Motor Activities

Exaggerated jaw motor activities during sleep are associated with muscle symptoms in the jaw-closing rather than the jaw-opening muscles. The intrinsic activity of antagonistic jaw muscles during sleep remains unknown. This study aims to assess the balance of muscle activity between masseter (MA) and digastric (DG) muscles during sleep in guinea pigs. Electroencephalogram (EEG), electroocculogram, and electromyograms (EMGs) of dorsal neck, MA, and DG muscles were recorded with video during sleep-wake cycles. These variables were quantified for each 10-s epoch. The magnitude of muscle activity during sleep in relation to mean EMG activity of total wakefulness was up to three times higher for MA muscle than for DG muscle for nonrapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. Although the activity level of the two jaw muscles fluctuated during sleep, the ratio of activity level for each epoch was not proportional. Epochs with a high activity level for each muscle were associated with a decrease in δEEG power and/or an increase in heart rate in NREM sleep. However, this association with heart rate and activity levels was not observed in REM sleep. These results suggest that in guinea pigs, the magnitude of muscle activity for antagonistic jaw muscles is heterogeneously modulated during sleep, characterized by a high activity level in the jaw-closing muscle. Fluctuations in the activity are influenced by transient arousal levels in NREM sleep but, in REM sleep, the distinct controls may contribute to the fluctuation. The above intrinsic characteristics could underlie the exaggeration of jaw motor activities during sleep (e.g., sleep bruxism).

Heart-rate change as a component of the orienting response.

1966 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 305-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances K. Graham ◽  
Rachel K. Clifton
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Orienting Response ◽  
Heart Rate Change ◽  
Rate Change
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