Scene construction impairment in posttraumatic stress disorder restored
Description
Background/Aims
The ability to encode, imagine, and remember coherent representations of the world is crucial for everyday life and depends on a brain network involving the hippocampal region. Scene construction tasks, which measure spatial coherence, have been shown to be sensitive to hippocampal integrity in amnesic patients. Hippocampal dysfunction has been implicated in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition characterized by intrusions of the trauma memory, often in a highly sensory, fragmented, and non-coherent state. The present study assesses spatial coherence (beyond the trauma memory) in adults receiving Eye Movement and Desensitization (EMDR) therapy for PTSD and healthy controls and whether reductions in PTSD were associated with improvements in spatial coherence.
Methods
Adults (N=17) with PTSD receiving EMDR completed clinical measures and a scene construction task before and after treatment. Age-matched, healthy controls (N=17) completed the scene construction task over the same interval.
Results
PTSD scores improved significantly from pre- to posttreatment; completers no longer meeting criteria for PTSD diagnosis. Patients displayed significant impairments in generating spatially coherent scenes compared to controls at pre-treatment but were similar to controls at posttreatment.
Conclusions
This is the first study demonstrating that adults with PTSD have difficulty generating spatially coherent scenes, indicating a general disruption of spatial coherence beyond trauma memories. The present study further suggests that EMDR therapy may restore the hippocampally-dependent capacity for spatial coherence in PTSD. Further studies are warranted involving larger samples, additional tests of hippocampal functioning, and how performances on these tasks are related to symptom severity and change.
The ability to encode, imagine, and remember coherent representations of the world is crucial for everyday life and depends on a brain network involving the hippocampal region. Scene construction tasks, which measure spatial coherence, have been shown to be sensitive to hippocampal integrity in amnesic patients. Hippocampal dysfunction has been implicated in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition characterized by intrusions of the trauma memory, often in a highly sensory, fragmented, and non-coherent state. The present study assesses spatial coherence (beyond the trauma memory) in adults receiving Eye Movement and Desensitization (EMDR) therapy for PTSD and healthy controls and whether reductions in PTSD were associated with improvements in spatial coherence.
Methods
Adults (N=17) with PTSD receiving EMDR completed clinical measures and a scene construction task before and after treatment. Age-matched, healthy controls (N=17) completed the scene construction task over the same interval.
Results
PTSD scores improved significantly from pre- to posttreatment; completers no longer meeting criteria for PTSD diagnosis. Patients displayed significant impairments in generating spatially coherent scenes compared to controls at pre-treatment but were similar to controls at posttreatment.
Conclusions
This is the first study demonstrating that adults with PTSD have difficulty generating spatially coherent scenes, indicating a general disruption of spatial coherence beyond trauma memories. The present study further suggests that EMDR therapy may restore the hippocampally-dependent capacity for spatial coherence in PTSD. Further studies are warranted involving larger samples, additional tests of hippocampal functioning, and how performances on these tasks are related to symptom severity and change.
Format
Conference
Language
English
Original Work Citation
Bergman, E., Perrin, S., & Johansson, M. (2023, June). Scene construction impairment in posttraumatic stress disorder restored. Presentation at the EMDR Europe Conference, Bologna, Italy
Citation
“Scene construction impairment in posttraumatic stress disorder restored,” Francine Shapiro Library, accessed May 10, 2024, https://francineshapirolibrary.omeka.net/items/show/28213.