Dissociation, EMDR, and adaptive information processing: The role of sensory awareness

This chapter explores sensory awareness, EMDR, and adaptive information processing (AIP) for applications beyond PTSD, in this text focused on dissociation.

Chapter Abstract

“We suggest the conjoining of exteroceptive awareness, attributable to alternating bilateral sensory stimulation, with interoceptive awareness, attributable to body mindfulness, is at the basis of synthesis and personification. It is suggested that EMs or alternating bilateral stimulation and the associated sensory awareness are involved in the gamma oscillatory response in the brain, a phenomenon that occurs both during REM sleep and the alert waking state for information processing. It is suggested that EMDR-specific sensory stimulation contributes to the synchronization of dynamic neuronal networks. This phenomenon is referred to as temporal binding and is created by a stream of oscillating networks in the brain, thus conjoining the fractured aspects of internal and external reality in the time domain. This process may not only affect hemispheric laterality, but also memorial, somatosensory, and cognitive integration. That is, sensory stimulation and sensory awareness may be involved in a reversal of TCD, a phenomenon that has been hypothesized as a mechanism for various psychiatric and neuropsychiatric conditions. This conceptualization is consistent with Shapiro’s notion of EMDR being potentially applicable to a greater number of disorders than originally considered. The proposed role of sensory awareness and sensory stimulation is consistent with the notion of a physiologically based information processing system as suggested by Shapiro (2001). Moreover, it is consistent with Shapiro’s (1995) original notion that not only visual but also auditory and tactile stimulation are effective modalities. Exteroceptive and interoceptive awareness and their roles in modulating salience and default network activity are hypothesized to play an integral role in synthesis, binding, and information processing. Thus, we propose that sensory stimulation and related sensory awareness are not only an intrinsic part of the EMDR procedure, and may indeed not only represent the underlying mechanism of AIP, but are also directly relevant to our understanding of the phenomenology of dissociation, human consciousness, and the self.”

—Description from publisher

Chapter Access

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Lanius, U. F., & Bergmann, U. (2014). Dissociation, EMDR, and adaptive information processing: The role of sensory awareness. In U. F. Lanius, S. L., Paulsen, & F. M. Corrigan (Eds.), Neurobiology and treatment of traumatic dissociation: Towards an embodied self (pp. 213 – 242). New York, NY: Springer Publishing

https://www.springerpub.com/neurobiology-and-treatment-of-traumatic-dissociation-9780826106315.html

ISBN: 978-0826106315

About the Book

“Encompassing the contributions of expert clinicians and researchers in the area of traumatic stress and dissociation, this volume is the first to integrate current neuroscience research regarding traumatic dissociation with several cutting-edge approaches to treatment, providing a comprehensive, neurobiologically based treatment approach.

The text discusses current neuroscientific research regarding traumatic stress and dissociation that includes attachment, affective neuroscience, polyvagal theory, structural dissociation, and information processing theory, yielding a comprehensive model that guides treatment and clinical interventions for traumatic dissociation. It then integrates this model with stage-oriented treatment and current therapeutic interventions, including EMDR, somatic and body psychotherapy approaches, Ego State Therapy, and adjunctive pharmacological interventions. Readers are given hands-on practical guidance regarding clinical decision making, enabling them to make sound choices about interventions that will facilitate optimal treatment outcomes.”

—Description from publisher