Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 May 9:15:1291961.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1291961. eCollection 2024.

Virtual realities, real recoveries: exploring the efficacy of 3MDR therapy for treatment-resistant PTSD

Åsmund Gausemel  1 , Petra Filkuková  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Virtual realities, real recoveries: exploring the efficacy of 3MDR therapy for treatment-resistant PTSD

Åsmund Gausemel et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Exposure-based therapies have shown promise in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but challenges exist in maintaining patient engagement and finding appropriate stimuli for graded exposure. Virtual reality (VR) technology has been used to enhance exposure therapy, but current software lacks customization and some patients remain treatment-resistant. A novel approach called multimodular motion-assisted memory desensitization and reconsolidation (3MDR) has the potential to solve some of the current limitations of VR-assisted exposure therapy. This study examines the efficacy of 3MDR treatment for individuals with treatment-resistant PTSD through a systematic review of relevant literature and clinical studies. Preliminary findings indicate promise for 3MDR in reducing PTSD symptoms, including emotional regulation and moral injury. However, further research with larger samples and controlled studies is needed to understand underlying mechanisms and validate these results. Moreover, this study highlights the importance of health-economic evaluations to assess costs and resource utilization associated with implementing 3MDR treatment in clinical services.

Keywords: exposure therapy; moral injury; multimodular motion-assisted memory desensitization and reconsolidation (3MDR); treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder (TR PTSD); virtual reality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Digital illustration of the “CAVE” 3MDR setup (van Gelderen et al., 2020b, CC BY-NC 4.0).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Battles A. R., Bravo A. J., Kelley M. L., White T. D., Braitman A. L., Hamrick H. C. (2018). Moral injury and PTSD as mediators of the associations between morally injurious experiences and mental health and substance use. Traumatology 24, 246–254. doi: 10.1037/trm0000153 - DOI
    1. Bekinschtein P., Cammarota M., Medina J. H. (2014). BDNF and memory processing. Neuropharmacology 76, 677–683. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2013.04.024 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bisson J. I., Deursen R., Hannigan B., Kitchiner N., Barawi K., Jones K., et al. . (2020). Randomized controlled trial of multi-modular motion-assisted memory desensitization and reconsolidation (3MDR) for male military veterans with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 142, 141–151. doi: 10.1111/acps.13200, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Borgomaneri S., Battaglia S., Sciamanna G., Tortora F., Laricchiuta D. (2021). Memories are not written in stone: re-writing fear memories by means of non-invasive brain stimulation and optogenetic manipulations. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 127, 334–352. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.04.036 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bredy T. W., Wu H., Crego C., Zellhoefer J., Sun Y. E., Barad M. (2007). Histone modifications around individual BDNF gene promoters in prefrontal cortex are associated with extinction of conditioned fear. Learn. Mem. 14, 268–276. doi: 10.1101/lm.500907, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

LinkOut - more resources