Visual Stimulation

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During treatment sessions related to traumatic experiences, patients are told to move their eyes left and right and think of negative emotions. This exercise seeks to remove fearful memories through visual stimulation. Although this practice has been proven to actually work, the theory behind it has never been discovered, that is until now. Korean researchers have unraveled the secret. Let's take a look

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Psychological trauma from events such as war or a major accident lasts a long time. This can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder where people are constantly gripped by fear and have a difficult time leading a normal life. Korean researchers have found that visual stimulus in the form of eye exercise plays a role in eliminating brain memories involving fear and horror. In an experiment, lab mice that exhibit symptoms of trauma received light stimulation to their left and right eyes repeatedly. The results showed reduction in their reactionary fear. The research team explained that when the part of the brain that oversees eye movement is stimulated, the function of the neural circuit which suppresses activity of fear-related cells is also strengthened. The so-called horizontal eye exercise has been used in therapy where a patient shifts his or her eyes right and left while recollecting a negative memory. But it's the first time that the process of how this actually works in the brain has been identified.

[Soundbite] Shin Hee-sup(Center for Cognition and Sociality) : "There was reluctance to using the eye exercise therapy because how it works remained unknown. Now psychiatrists can use the remedy with more confidence."

Eye movement exercises can deliver effects quickly and is expected to complement other long-term treatment methods such as medication and recognition therapy. The latest finding which proved the effects of trauma treatment for the very first time through an experiment has been published in the online edition of Nature magazine.