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Effect of Attentional Therapy on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Sponsor: University Hospital, Lille
Summary
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with an attentional bias towards negative stimuli, which is supposed to contribute to the development and the maintenance of the disorder. We recently showed using eye-tracking evidenced two types of AB towards negative stimuli: a "physiological AB" found both in healthy and individual with PTSD, characterized by a stronger initial attentional engagement towards negative stimuli compared to neutral stimuli, as revealed by longer first fixation duration dwell time on negative pictures than on neutral pictures; a "pathological bias" observed only in individuals with PTSD and characterized by an heightened sustained attention towards negative stimuli once detected, which further increases with prolonged exposure. The present study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of an eye-tracking assisted attentional bias reduction therapy, targeting specifically the pathological bias on the reduction of PTSD symptoms
Official title: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Eye-tracking Assisted Attentional Bias Reduction Therapy on Reducing Symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - 60 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
140
Start Date
2024-02-02
Completion Date
2029-02-02
Last Updated
2025-08-24
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Eye-tracking assisted attention control training (ACTo)
ACT is made of 8 sessions of a Dot-Probe Task (DPT). The DPT is a computerized task in which two visual stimuli (one emotional stimulus and one neutral stimulus) are displayed simultaneously on the left and right side of the screen. AB towards or away from emotional stimuli is respectively inferred by faster or slower responses to detect a probe replacing an emotional stimulus than a probe replacing a neutral stimulus. In the ACT therapy, the probe replaces the negative and neutral stimuli with equal frequency. ACTo will combine ACT with eye tracking methodology, allowing to directly record eye movements of the participants during the task. At each trial, images will be displayed for 2s and the negative image will be replaced by the neutral image (and vice versa) if the patient continues to explore the negative image beyond the first fixation, in order to block any additional attentional engagement.
Attention control training (ACT)
Patients will benefit from the ACT as described above; at each trial, images will remain on screen for 2s.
Locations (1)
Hôpital Fontan 2
Lille, France