Reconsolidation and EMDR

Blocking Memory Reconsolidation by Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Blocking of reconsolidation by pharmacological or behavioral means offers the therapeutic possibility of weakening traumatic memories in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Two reconsolidation-based interventions, propranolol and extinction learning, have been shown to weaken fear memories in human healthy subjects. However, the success of these interventions seems to be limited to weak conditioned fear memories. This calls for new, potentially more efficacious, interventions to be tested. Bilateral eye movements seem to be a promising candidate intervention for blocking reconsolidation due to the compelling evidence of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing as effective treatment in PTSD. The investigators' aim is to test bilateral eye movements as an active reconsolidation-blocking intervention in an optimized differential fear conditioning procedure that the investigators have recently developed. This novel experimental assay creates stronger fear memories in healthy individuals.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: PTSD
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Delayed Bilateral Eye Movements; Behavioral: Undelayed Bilateral Eye Movement

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 160
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • ZH
    • Zurich, ZH, Switzerland, 8091
      • University Hospital Zurich, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female between 18 years and 60 years of age
• Presence of a manageable, nonphobic fear of spiders as determined by scores above the mean (male: 8.06; female: 10.46) on the German adapted Spider Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ; 38) and phobia criteria extracted from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Axis I Disorders (SCID-I; 39)
• Signed Informed Consent after being informed

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current or past neurological or other medical condition affecting the brain
• Current use of any medication (except contraceptives, herbal medicine)
• Known or suspected non-compliance, drug or alcohol misuse
• Presence of any current psychiatric disorders determined by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI; 40)
• Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems
• No SC response to physical (Valsalva maneuver), psychological (mental arithmetic) and/or auditive (handclapping) stressor

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Delayed Bilateral Eye Movements; Delayed Bilateral Eye Movements after reactivation of fear-memory.	Behavioral: Delayed Bilateral Eye Movements; Bilateral Eye Movements followed by a 10 min delay after reactivation of fear-memory.
Active Comparator: Undelayed Bilateral Eye Movements; Undelayed Bilateral Eye Movements after reactivation of fear-memory.	Behavioral: Undelayed Bilateral Eye Movement; Bilateral Eye Movements followed by no delay after reactivation of fear-memory. reactivation of the fear memory trace during which the reactivated memory is assumed to be in a labile state.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Skin conductance (SC) response	Change from Day 1 (acquisition) fear conditioned SC response at day 3 (testing of renewal, reinstatement) and day 30 follow-up (testing of spontaneous recovery/renewal, savings)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response	Change from Day 1 (acquisition) fear conditioned BOLD response at day 3 (testing of renewal, reinstatement) and day 30 follow-up (testing of spontaneous recovery/renewal, savings)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Zurich
• Collaborators: Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM); Massachusetts General Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Christoph Mueller-Pfeiffer, MD, University Hospital of Zurich, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 31, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 7, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): May 7, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 4, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 7, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): October 9, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 8, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 2, 2018
• Last Verified: May 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: PTSD; EMDR; Reconsolidation
• Other Study ID Numbers: F-86401-09-01