Scientists uncover clues to how EMDR therapy calms traumatic memories

This study looked at why eye movements help reduce the emotional impact of traumatic memories in EMDR therapy. Researchers tested 112 healthy adults using a simple eye-blink learning task to see if eye movements speed up the process of unlearning a fear response. The goal was to understand the working memory hypothesis, which suggests that doing two tasks at once (like recalling a memory while moving your eyes) weakens the memory's emotional power. Results may help explain how EMDR works and improve future treatments for PTSD.