Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in PTSD: neurobiology and its applications in other mental disorders

The number of researchers focused on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) have increased dramatically, often finding that neuroimaging is a powerful tool for investigating EMDR's neurobiological correlates. EMDR has been recommended by several guidelines (American Psychological Association, 2017; International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, 2018; National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, 2018; World Health Organization, 2013), along with trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT), for frontline treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this chapter, we provide an overview of EMDR's clinical value and review scholarship in the field of EMDR, particularly studies stressing the role of versatile psychotherapy in treating pathological conditions in which the role of past traumatic events is ascertain. In recent years, EMDR has been increasingly used in clinical practice due to its efficacy (Chen et al., 2014; Cusack et al., 2016; Moreno-Alcázar et al., 2017; Valiente-Gómez et al., 2017), and the speed in which positive outcomes can result in comparison to psychotherapies (Ironson, Freund, Strauss, & Williams, 2002; Nijdam et al., 2012). The impact of EMDR on cortical and sub-cortical brain regions involved in PTSD has been demonstrated by several investigations showing a clear association between the disappearance of symptoms and the normalization of cortical functional changes as investigated statically before and after therapy and by dynamically monitoring cortical activation during EMDR sessions. Recently, hypotheses on the mechanisms of action of EMDR therapy have been proposed in an attempt to explain the ability of EMDR to facilitate, in a relatively short time, the processing of pathologic memories (Pagani et al., 2017; Hase et al., 2017; Baek et al., 2019). Furthermore, the application of EMDR beyond PTSD has expanded rapidly and recent scholars have underlined its efficacy to successfully treat two major public health problems- depression and addiction.