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Traumatology, Vol. 12, No. 1, 9-24 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/153476560601200102
© 2006 SAGE Publications

EMDR and Low Frequency Stimulation of the Brain

Tasha Rasolkhani-Kalhorn

Institute for Forensic Psychiatry, Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo (CMHIP), trkalhorn{at}yahoo.com

Melvin L. Harper

Elbert, Colorado

Laboratory research on animals indicates that the potentiation of synapses in various areas of the limbic system is the primary step in fear memory formation. Depotentiation of these synapses can result in erasure or modification of these memories. The principal mechanism for depotentiation is induction of low frequency stimulation (LFS). This research has also shown that during memory recall, potentiated circuits within the limbic system become labile, and more vulnerable to depotentiation. The authors propose that LFS can be induced in the human brain during eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR), and that this can lead to quenching or modification of fear memory traces. Hence, the authors theorize that this process is the main biological basis for the therapeutic effects of EMDR.

Key Words: EMDR • PTSD • low frequency stimulation • long term potentiation • depotentiation • hippocampus • amygdala • anterior cingulate cortex • explicit memory


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