The EMDR-PRECI: advancing neurobiological insights into PTSD through fMRI in women with cancer

Abstract

Objective: This research aimed to develop an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing-Protocol for Recent Critical Incidents and Ongoing Traumatic Stress (EMDR-PRECI)-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) protocol to explore the neurobiological conditions associated with PTSD diagnosis and to demonstrate the effects of the application of the EMDR-PRECI in general and the EMDR Butterfly Hug (BH) method for self-administered bilateral stimulation in particular on specific brain structures associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and to establish a precedent that can serve as a new tool for advancing our understanding of the neurobiology of PTSD and EMDR treatment. This study is also part of a larger research project examining the neurobiological, psychological, and neuropsychological changes associated with the application of the EMDR-PRECI in women with cancer and PTSD-related diagnoses. Methods: The authors used a transversal quantitative quasi-experimental study design to develop the EMDR-PRECI-based fMRI protocol, which included T1 spin echo pulse sequences in axial projection and blood oxygenation level dependent-EPI 2D in axial projection. Results: Results showed that the average deoxygenation change relative to the resting condition increases in each brain region (amygdala, hippocampus, and medial prefrontal cortex) during the treatment condition, using the BH, compared to the control condition (no BH), inferring that these brain regions experienced neuromodulation. Conclusions: The BH triggered simultaneous changes across multiple brain regions, suggesting the impact of this method in broader brain circuits. This study provides an fMRI research protocol to study PTSD and its treatment through the EMDR-PRECI protocol.