Reconsolidation and EMDR

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

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

Conditions
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PTSD

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Delayed Bilateral Eye Movements
* Behavioral: Undelayed Bilateral Eye Movement


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 60 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

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


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Delayed Bilateral Eye Movements<br>Delayed Bilateral Eye Movements after reactivation of fear-memory. | Behavioral: Delayed Bilateral Eye Movements<br>* Bilateral Eye Movements followed by a 10 min delay after reactivation of fear-memory.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Undelayed Bilateral Eye Movements<br>Undelayed Bilateral Eye Movements after reactivation of fear-memory. | Behavioral: Undelayed Bilateral Eye Movement<br>* 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.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | 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 | Measure Description | 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) | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Reconsolidation, EMDR, PTSD