P300 Event-Related Potential Latency Shortening in PTSD Patients Treated with EMDR: A Short Report (Pages 3-10)

Philippe Raynaud de Prigny1,2, Olivier Gastal1, Albert Boxus2 and Aurore Larue2

1Department of Psychotraumatology, Centre Hospitalier Léon-Jean Grégory, 66301 Thuir, France; 2Department of Brain Stimulation, Centre Hospitalier Léon-Jean Grégory, 66301 Thuir, France

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12970/2310-8231.2020.08.02

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Abstract: Event-related potentials (ERPs) provide a non invasive and cost-effective tool to investigate the neurobiological correlates of psychiatric diseases. Eye movements desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) effectiveness for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is well-known from clinicians, but contrasts with a limited knowledge of its underlying mechanism of action. In this short report, we assessed five patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder with event-related potentials in a modified oddball paradigm containing auditory standard, target, and novel tones. ERPs were assessed before and after five EMDR sessions. Compared to a control group that underwent sham treatment, ERPs of the EMDR-treated patients showed a significant shortening in the post treatment recording of P300 latency. We acknowledge that the small size of our sample is a real limitation but these results suggests a reduced arousal level after the treatment and a better brain functioning that is consistent with literature findings and clinical practice.

Keywords: PTSD, Eye movements desensitization and reprocessing, event-related potentials, P300, biomarker. Read more