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A single dose psychological intervention, which includes using the computer game Tetris, can prevent the unpleasant, intrusive memories that develop in some people after suffering a traumatic event.

Researchers have been able to demonstrate how the survivors of motor vehicle accidents have fewer such symptoms if they play Tetris in hospital within six hours of admission after also having been asked to recall their memory of the accident. The results of the study, which was conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet with colleagues at Oxford University and elsewhere, are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect people who have experienced war, torture, rape, road accidents or other kinds of situations in which they felt their life, or that of another person, was in danger. While most people do not develop PTSD after trauma, one of the core clinical symptoms in those who do involves recurrent and intrusive memories of the trauma (colloquially referred to as ‘flashbacks’). Evidence based treatment for PTSD includes trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy, however we lack preventative interventions to prevent the build-up of symptoms.

'This first week after trauma can be important for our patients, who have to go home, recover and look after themselves, which can be hard to do if you’re getting intrusive memories of the trauma, often several a day.'  - Dr Lali Iyadurai

Emily Holmes, professor of psychology at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Clinical Neuroscience, has spent many years studying the kind of preventative effects that behavioural interventions – such as a procedure including the computer game Tetris – can have on reducing intrusive memories after experimental trauma. Previously she has studied healthy individuals in controlled laboratory environments. Now, she and her Oxford colleague Dr Lali Iyadurai have taken their model for the first time from the laboratory into a clinical environment to study patients who had a traumatic motor-vehicle accident. Earlier studies show that roughly one in four people who have been in such accidents develop PTSD.

'Our hypothesis was that after a trauma, patients would have fewer intrusive memories if they got to play Tetris as part of a short behavioural intervention while waiting in the hospital Emergency Department,' says Professor Holmes. 'Since the game is visually demanding, we wanted to see if it could prevent the intrusive aspects of the traumatic memories from becoming established i.e. by disrupting a process known as memory consolidation.'

The study involved 71 motor vehicle accident victims, of whom half received the intervention (recalled the trauma briefly and then played Tetris) while waiting in the hospital emergency department, and half performed another task, all doing so within six hours of the accident. Results showed that the researchers’ hypothesis was right: those who had played Tetris had fewer intrusive memories of the trauma in total over the week immediately following the accident than the controls. The researchers also found that the intrusive memories diminished more quickly.

The primary outcome of the research was the number of intrusive memories in the first week after the trauma. Further research is needed on larger patient groups to see if the psychological benefits of the intervention persist for a longer time – such as a month, which is the shortest time at which a PTSD diagnosis can be made. Also, to examine if similar games can be used for people who already have PTSD. A significant proportion of refugees, for example, show symptoms of PTSD.

'Anyone can experience trauma,' says Professor Holmes. 'It would make a huge difference to a great many people if we could create simple behavioural psychological interventions using computer games to prevent post-traumatic suffering and spare them these grueling intrusive memories. This is early days and more research is needed.'

The researchers at Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and The University of Oxford (UK) have collaborated with colleagues at the Medical Research Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge (UK), Ruhr University (Germany), and University of East Anglia (UK). The study was supported by funding from several bodies including the UK National Institute for Health Research, UK Medical Research Council, and The Wellcome Trust.

The full paper, ‘Preventing Intrusive Memories after Trauma via a Brief Intervention Involving Tetris Computer Game Play in the Emergency Department: A Proof-of-Concept Randomized Controlled Trial’, can be read in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

 

Media coverage

Playing Tetris could help stave off PTSD
Daily Telegraph, 29/03/2017, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/03/28/tetris-can-prevent-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-oxford-university/

How Tetris therapy could help patients
BBC News online, 28/03/2017, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39407196

Playing Tetris soothes stress after trauma
The Times, 29/03/2017, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/playing-tetris-soothes-stress-after-trauma-03cg7gt6m

Playing Tetris in hospital after traumatic incident could prevent PTSD, scientists say
The Independent, 28/03/2017, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/tetris-ptsd-hospital-oxford-study-symptoms-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-video-games-ruth-abrahams-a7653731.html

Tetris ‘can prevent painful flashbacks for crash victims’ 
Evening Standard, 28/03/2017

Tetris aid to PTSD
The Sun, 29/03/2017, p.14

Playing Tetris ‘beats PTSD flashbacks’
Daily Mirror, 29/03/2017, http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/playing-tetris-could-prevent-car-10114832#ICID=nsm

Playing Tetris ‘can help stop post-traumatic stress flashbacks’
ITV News online, http://www.itv.com/news/2017-03-28/researchers-say-playing-tetris-can-ward-off-ptsd/#provider_moreover

Playing Tetris ‘can help ward off PTSD symptoms’, study suggests, Sky News online, 28/03/2017 http://news.sky.com/story/playing-tetris-can-help-ward-off-ptsd-symptoms-study-suggests-10816543

Playing Tetris can help treat PTSD symptoms: Swedish-British study, Xinhua News Agency (China), 28/03/2017, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-03/29/c_136165545.htm

Playing Tetris can help treat PTSD symptoms: Swedish-British study, Global Times (China), 29/03/2017, via Xinhua, http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1040069.shtml

Radio: BBC Radio Oxford, Howard Bentham, 28/03/2017, 16:37 & 17:06

TV: BBC One, South Today, 28/03/2017, 22:39

Tetris could help PTSD symptoms, Oxford Mail, 29/03/2017, p.18, http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/15186970.Video_game_could_help_treat_car_crash_victims__claims_study/

Can playing Tetris ease our minds after a trauma? A study suggests it can, The Washington Post, 30/03/2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/30/can-playing-tetris-ease-our-minds-after-a-trauma-a-study-suggest-it-can/?utm_term=.3bca17c966db

 Can playing Tetris help slow the onset of PTSD? Researchers think it might, Global News Canada, 30/03/2017, http://globalnews.ca/news/3345938/can-playing-tetris-help-slow-the-onset-of-ptsd-researchers-think-it-might/

Playing Tetris may help prevent post-traumatic stress disorder, DNA India online, 30/03/2017, http://www.dnaindia.com/health/report-playing-tetris-may-help-prevent-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-2374981

Radio: BBC Radio London, Georgey Spanswick, 30/03/2017, 21:37, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04vydpj

Radio: BBC Radio Oxford, Georgey Spanswick, 30/03/2017, 21:37

Playing Tetris may help prevent post-traumatic stress disorder, says new study,
Economic Times (India), 01/04/2017, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/playing-tetris-may-help-prevent-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-says-new-study/articleshow/57960589.cms

Playing Tetris can help in prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder, Hindustan Times (India), 31/03/2017, http://www.hindustantimes.com/health-and-fitness/playing-tetris-can-help-in-prevention-of-post-traumatic-stress-disorder/story-ShIy6KVFGnUYKKTkP0L55H.html

Playing Tetris may help prevent PTSD, The Hindu online, 29/03/2017, http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/gadgets/playing-tetris-may-help-prevent-ptsd/article17740295.ece

Playing Tetris may help prevent PTSD: study, Business Standard India online, 29/03/2017, http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/playing-tetris-may-help-prevent-ptsd-study-117032900751_1.html

Tetris to treat PTSD?, Global News Canada, 19/04/2017
http://globalnews.ca/video/3382669/tetris-to-treat-ptsd


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