Citation

Laugharne J, Kullack C, Lee CW, McGuire T, Brockman S, Drummond PD, Starkstein S. J. Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2016; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

From the Community, Culture and Mental Health Unit School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia (JL, CK); the Neuropsychiatry Unit, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia (SB, SS); School of Psychology and Exercise Science, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia (CL, TM, PD).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, American Neuropsychiatric Association, Publisher American Psychiatric Publishing)

DOI

10.1176/appi.neuropsych.16010006

PMID

27255857

Abstract

The authors investigated the impact of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and prolonged exposure (PE) on the volumes of the amygdala and hippocampus, structures known to be important in fear conditioning, in 20 patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Patients were randomly allocated to either EMDR or PE. Volumes were assessed before and after treatment via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Both groups showed significant improvements in PTSD symptoms. Left amygdala mean volume increased significantly following EMDR treatment only. No significant volumetric changes were found for the hippocampus.

Language: en