Amygdala-related EEG Neuro-Feedback as an add-on Therapy for treatment-resistant Childhood Sexual Abuse PTSD: Feasibility Study.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) among women is an alarmingly prevalent traumatic experience, that often leads to debilitating and treatment-refractory Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) raising the need for novel adjunctive therapies. Neuroimaging investigations systematically report amygdala hyperactivity is the most consistent and reliable neural abnormality in PTSD and childhood abuse, raising the potential of implementing volitional neural modulation using neurofeedback (NF) aimed at down-regulating amygdala activity. This study aimed to reliably probe limbic activity but overcome the limited applicability of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-NF by using a scalable EEG-NF probe of amygdala-related activity, termed Amygdala-Electrical-Finger-Print (amyg-EFP) in a randomized controlled trial. Fifty-five female CSA-PTSD participants that were in ongoing intensive trauma focused psychotherapy for a minimum of one year but still met the DSM-5 PTSD criteria, were randomized to either 10 add-on sessions of amyg-EFP-NF training (test group) or continuing psychotherapy (control group). Participants were blindly assessed for PTSD symptoms pre-and-post NF training period, followed by self-reported clinical follow-up at 1,3 and 6-months, as well as one session of amygdala real-time fMRI-NF pre-and-post NF training period. Participants in test, compared to control group demonstrated a marginally significant immediate reduction in PTSD symptoms, which progressively improved during the follow-up period. Additionally, successful neuromodulation during NF training was demonstrated. This feasibility study for CSA-PTSD treatment-resistant patients indicates amyg-EFP-NF as a viable and efficient intervention. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.