Eye‐movements and visual imagery: A working memory approach to the treatment of post‐traumatic stress disorder

Andrade, Jackie; Kavanagh, David J.; Baddeley, Alan

doi:10.1111/j.2044-8260.1997.tb01408.x

Cited by 352 publications

(427 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This assumption was previously derived indirectly from the observation that visual imagery is disrupted by both laboratory tasks designed to tax the visuospatial sketchpad and Tetris game play (e.g. Andrade, Kavanagh, & Baddeley, 1997; Deeprose et al, 2012; Holmes et al, 2004). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective Association Between Tetris Game Play and Visuospatial Working Memory: A Preliminary Investigation

Lau‐Zhu

Holmes

Butterfield

et al. 2017

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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SummaryRecent experimental and clinical research has suggested that Tetris game play can disrupt maladaptive forms of mental imagery because Tetris competes for limited cognitive resources within visuospatial working memory (WM) that contribute to imagery. Whether or not Tetris performance is selectively associated with visuospatial WM remains to be tested. In this study, young adults (N = 46) completed six standardized measures indexing verbal and non‐verbal reasoning, verbal and visuospatial short‐term memory, and verbal and visuospatial WM. They also played Tetris. Consistent with the hypothesis that visuospatial WM resources support Tetris game play, there was a significant moderate positive relationship between Tetris scores and visuospatial WM performance but no association with other cognitive ability measures. Findings suggest that Tetris game play involves both storage and processing resources within visuospatial WM. These preliminary results can inform interventions involving computer games to disrupt the development of maladaptive visual imagery, for example, intrusive memories of trauma. © 2017 The Authors. Applied Cognitive Psychology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective Association Between Tetris Game Play and Visuospatial Working Memory: A Preliminary Investigation

Lau‐Zhu

Holmes

Butterfield

et al. 2017

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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“…Currently, the most evidenced account for the beneficial effects of EM is provided by the working memory (WM) theory (Andrade, Kavanagh, & Baddeley, 1997; Maxfield, Melnyk, & Hayman, 2008; van den Hout & Engelhard, 2012). WM is a cognitive system for temporal storage and manipulation of information (Baddeley, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring expectation effects in EMDR: does prior treatment knowledge affect the degrading effects of eye movements on memories?

Littel

Schie

Hout

2017

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective psychological treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. Recalling a memory while simultaneously making eye movements (EM) decreases a memory’s vividness and/or emotionality. It has been argued that non-specific factors, such as treatment expectancy and experimental demand, may contribute to the EMDR’s effectiveness. Objective: The present study was designed to test whether expectations about the working mechanism of EMDR would alter the memory attenuating effects of EM. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we examined the effects of pre-existing (non-manipulated) knowledge of EMDR in participants with and without prior knowledge. In Experiment 2, we experimentally manipulated prior knowledge by providing participants without prior knowledge with correct or incorrect information about EMDR’s working mechanism. Method: Participants in both experiments recalled two aversive, autobiographical memories during brief sets of EM (Recall+EM) or keeping eyes stationary (Recall Only). Before and after the intervention, participants scored their memories on vividness and emotionality. A Bayesian approach was used to compare two competing hypotheses on the effects of (existing/given) prior knowledge: (1) Prior (correct) knowledge increases the effects of Recall+EM vs. Recall Only, vs. (2) prior knowledge does not affect the effects of Recall+EM. Results: Recall+EM caused greater reductions in memory vividness and emotionality than Recall Only in all groups, including the incorrect information group. In Experiment 1, both hypotheses were supported by the data: prior knowledge boosted the effects of EM, but only modestly. In Experiment 2, the second hypothesis was clearly supported over the first: providing knowledge of the underlying mechanism of EMDR did not alter the effects of EM. Conclusions: Recall+EM appears to be quite robust against the effects of prior expectations. As Recall+EM is the core component of EMDR, expectancy effects probably contribute little to the effectiveness of EMDR treatment.

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“…A substantial amount of experimental studies have found that eye movements during recall of unpleasant autobiographical memories decreased vividness and/or negative emotions associated with these emotions compared to recall only [65][66][67][68]. Furthermore, analogue studies have shown that other taxing tasks, like drawing a complex figure [69], playing Tetris [70], and mental arithmetic [71] all reduce image vividness and/or emotionality.…”

Section: Treatment Of Intrusive Imagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It consists of the central executive and two 'buffer' subsystems -the phonological loop (PL), and the Visuospatial Sketchpad (VSSP) -in which the central executive can allocate information to be held online for later use [75]. The PL stores verbal and auditory information while the VSSP stores visuospatial information and the latter is suggested to hold memories during EMDR sessions [65,76]. Images of unpleasant memories are held in the VSSP and become less vivid when eye movements simultaneously use up processing resources in the VSSP.…”

Section: Treatment Of Intrusive Imagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Treatment of Intrusive Suicidal Imagery Using Eye Movements

Bentum¹,

Sijbrandij²,

Huibers³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Suicide and suicidal behavior are major public health concerns and affect 3-9% of the population worldwide. Despite growing evidence, there are still few effective interventions available to reduce suicide risk. In this article, we describe theoretical models of suicide ideation and behavior and propose to examine the possible effectiveness of a new and innovative preventive strategy. A model of suicidal intrusion (mental imagery related to suicide, also referred to as suicidal flash-forwards) is presented describing one of the assumed mechanisms in the etiology of suicide and the mechanism of therapeutic change. We provide a brief rationale for an Eye Movement Dual Task (EMDT) treatment for suicidal intrusions describing techniques that can be used to target these suicidal mental images and thoughts to reduce overall behavior. Based on the available empirical evidence for the mechanisms of suicidal intrusions, this approach appears to be a promising new treatment to prevent suicidal behavior as it potentially targets one of the linking pins between suicidal ideation and suicidal actions.

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Eye‐movements and visual imagery: A working memory approach to the treatment of post‐traumatic stress disorder

Cited by 352 publications

References 20 publications

Selective Association Between Tetris Game Play and Visuospatial Working Memory: A Preliminary Investigation

Selective Association Between Tetris Game Play and Visuospatial Working Memory: A Preliminary Investigation

Exploring expectation effects in EMDR: does prior treatment knowledge affect the degrading effects of eye movements on memories?

Treatment of Intrusive Suicidal Imagery Using Eye Movements

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