Cerebral blood flow changes during retrieval of traumatic memories before and after regression thera

Peres, J.F.P.(1), Nasello, A.G.(1); Newberg, A.B.(2); Magalhães, A.C.A.(3)
1 Instituto de Psicologia da Universidade de São Paulo, NEC.
2 Hospital of University of Pennsylvania,
3 Instituto de Psiquiatria da Universidade de São Paulo, LIM21,

SUMMARY
Neuroimaging studies bring a crucial subject under the light of psychology: the emotional and traumatic memories are private and subjective representations of an event, distant from the original, however absolutely true in their significance to a person. Therefore, the retrievals of such memories can be mnemonic and also symbolic, representing in any case a psychological reality. Exposure to stressful events often determines the way patients thereafter organise the perception they have from themselves and from others. Traumatic experiences have been linked to difficulties in emotional and psychological development. Regression therapy has been largely used to reduce the emotional response to traumatic memories. It is established that emotional memories are not exact copies such as facsimile photos, but they are an interpretation, a new and reconstituted version of the original event, and literature reveal as well, that the brain does not really store memories, but stores traces of information that are later used to create memories, not always expressing a completely veridical picture of the past experienced reality. Nevertheless, the emotional content, configured as a memory, is absolutely genuine as a representation of the patient inner psychological dynamics. The regression therapy is effective when the traumatic event is comprehended in a new therapeutic perspective linked to the current reality. Brain SPECT is widely used to evaluate a large number of psychotherapeutic conditions. However, no previous studies have evaluated brain perfusion in the scope of traumatic memories. We studied six patients with traumatic memories by means of brain SPECT (99Tc-ECD), two studies per patient, one during the first regression session (while the patient retrieved the traumatic emotion-laden memory) and the second during the retrieval of the same traumatic memory, sixty days after the first session. ROIs were used to semi-quantify flow. Values were generated for each ROI and normalised to the average whole brain activity. There was a significant increase in activity in the parietal lobes and in the left hippocampus (p < 0.05) during memory retrieval after psychotherapy, as compared to the pre-psychotherapy exam. There was a significant and positive correlation between the change in activity in the left prefrontal cortex and the change in the left thalamus (R = 0.92, p = 0.01) and also between the change in activity in the left prefrontal cortex and the change in the left parietal lobe (R = 0.88, p = 0.02). The present study suggests changes in cerebral blood flow associated with the retrieval of traumatic memories after regression therapy named Terapia Reestruturativa Vivencial Peres (TRVP). It is worth pointing out that TRVP values the event retrieved by the patient, going beyond the episode itself, so the patient can notice and understand the existing relationships among the content retrieved and the psychological dynamics that generate and maintain the psychogenic symptom and the complaint brought to psychotherapy. Further studies are necessary for an increasing comprehension of the neural substrates related to psychotherapy applied in the scope of traumatic memories.