Electroencephalography (EEG), due to its peculiar time and spatial resolution, was used for the first time to fully monitor neuronal activation during the whole eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) session, including the autobiographical script. The present case report describes the dominant cortical activations (Z-score >1.5) during the first EMDR session and in the last session after the client processed the index trauma. During the first EMDR session, prefrontal limbic cortex was essentially activated during script listening and during lateral eye movements in the desensitization phase of EMDR. In the last EMDR session, the prevalent electrical activity was recorded in temporal, parietal, and occipital cortical regions, with a clear leftward lateralization. These findings suggest a cognitive processing of the traumatic event following successful EMDR therapy and support evidence of distinct neurobiological patterns of brain activations during lateral eye movements in the desensitization phase of EMDR.
Date
June 1, 2011
Creator(s)
Marco Pagani, Giorgio Di Lorenzo, Leonardo Monaco, Cinzia Niolu, Alberto Siracusano, Anna Rita Verardo, Giada Lauretti, Isabel Fernandez, Giampaolo Nicolais, Patrizia Cogolo, Massimo Ammaniti
Practice & Methods
BLS, Neurobiology
Extent
15 pages
Publisher
Springer Publishing Company
Rights
Copyright © 2011 EMDR International Association
APA Citation
Pagani, M., Di Lorenzo, G., Monaco, L., Niolu, C., Siracusano, A., Verardo, A. R., Lauretti, G., Fernandez, I., Nicolais, G., Cogolo, P. & Ammaniti, M. (2011). Pretreatment, Intratreatment, and Posttreatment EEG Imaging of EMDR: Methodology and Preliminary Results From a Single Case. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 5(2), 42–56. https://doi.org/10.1891/1933-3196.5.2.42
Series
5
Installment
2
Audience
EMDR Therapists
Language
English
Content Type
Peer-Reviewed
Original Source
Journal of EMDR Practice and Research
Access Type
Open Access