Eye Movement

An early critical review and metanalysis that looked at the contribution of eye movement to treatment effectiveness in EMDR concluded that eye movement is not necessary to the treatment effect.[65][66] However, recent research has demonstrated that when the eye movement component of EMDR is removed from the method the procedure is less effective.[67] This finding supports previous research that has demonstrated that EMDR with eye movement is more effective than treatment conditions that do not use eye movement in the method,[68][69][70] or instead use a dual attention task such as tapping.[71]

MacCulloch (2006) argued that the eye movement makes a unique contribution to EMDR,[72] whereas Salkovskis (2002) reported that the eye movement is irrelevant and that the effectiveness of the procedure is solely due to it sharing similar properties to cognitive behavioral therapies, such as desensitization and exposure.[73]

Effect of eye movement on memory, cognitive processes, and physiology

Although the necessity of eye movement in EMDR is still a point of controversy and contentious debate, a separate body of research has examined the effects of eye movement on physiology, memory, and cognition during the process of EMDR. To date the research in this area has demonstrated that eye movement decreases the vividness and/or emotional valence of autobiographical memories,[9][74][75] they enhance the retrieval of episodic memories,[76] produce a physiological relaxation effect, similar to that which is characteristically seen when an orienting response is elicited,[10][77][78] and they have been found to increase cognitive flexibility.[79] Although a wide range of researchers have proposed various models and theories to explain the effect of eye movement, and the possible role that eye movement may play in the process of EMDR, to date, no single model or theory exists that can explain all of the above mentioned findings. Further research is therefore required in this area.

Source: Wikipedia