Tag: Memory Reconsolidation

Mnemophrenia (2019)

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Introduction

Mnemophrenia is a futuristic drama about a new psychosis that arises from advanced virtual reality technology, which causes people to be unable to distinguish between real and artificial memories.

Outline

The film explores how society is affected by and how it adapts to deal with Mnemophrenia, a growing new psychosis and the still advancing technology. We see the story unfold over time, through the eyes of three generations of the same family who are all affected and involved in different ways. The story explores how attitudes to Mnemophrenia would differ from person to person and across generations, going from resistance and fear, through acceptance and eventually even using it to our benefit, pushing humanity towards a new evolutionary step.

Cast

  • Freya Berry … Jeanette Harper.
  • Robin King … Nicholas Morgan.
  • Tim Seyfert … Douglas.
  • Tallulah Sheffield … Robyin.
  • Jamie Laird … Will Hall.
  • Robert Milton Wallace … Charlie.
  • Dominic O’Flynn … Michael Murphy.
  • Angela Peters … Keri Taylor.
  • Anna Brook … Nina.
  • Michael Buckster … Richard.
  • Gary Cargill … Jim.
  • Steve Hope Wynne … David Quinn.
  • Lisa Caruccio Came … Anna Lyons.
  • Cally Lawrence … Tessa Fox.
  • John Morton … Self.

Trivia

  • The word ‘mnemophrenia’ was coined especially for the film.
    • It is a portmanteau of the words ‘mneme’ and ‘schizophrenia’.
    • In the film ‘Mnemophrenia’ the word is defined as: ‘A condition or a state characterised by the coexistence of real and artificial memories, which affects the subject’s sense of identity.’
  • The director, Eirini Konstantinidou, used improvisation in order to build the characters and the shooting script for the whole film.
    • She believes that the realistic dialogue and performances that are achieved through improvisation contribute to the intended blurring of the distinction between reality and fiction.
    • Part 1 needed to be made first and edited in order for the actors of the following period (part 2) to watch it and build their characters’ experiences from what they have watched; according to the premise of the film these video recordings become part of their memories and identity.
    • That is the process that the actors of part 3 had to go through as well.
    • This technique allows for an organic development of the characters and dialogue, which is a result of the creative collaboration between the actors and herself.

Production & Filming Details

  • Director(s):
    • Eirini Konstantinidou.
  • Producer(s):
    • Robin King … assistant producer.
    • Eirini Konstantinidou … producer.
  • Writer(s):
    • Eirini Konstantinidou … (writer).
    • Robin King … (co-writer).
    • Eirini Konstantinidou … (original story).
    • Gary Cargill … (additional material).
    • Cally Lawrence … (additional material).
    • Robert Milton Wallace … (additional material).
    • Freya Berry … (additional material).
    • Michael Buckster … (additional material).
    • Tallulah Sheffield … (additional material).
    • Tim Seyfert … (additional material).
    • Angela Peters … (additional material).
    • Anna Brook … (additional material).
    • Dominic O’Flynn … (additional material).
    • Jamie Laird … (additional material).
    • Lisa Came … (additional material).
  • Music:
    • Corey Zack.
  • Cinematography:
    • Mirko Beutler … (part one: “The Beginning”).
    • Petros Nousias … (part three: “Homo Mnemonicus”).
    • Richard Thomas … (part two: “Total Cinema”).
  • Editor(s):
    • Giorgio Galli.
  • Production:
    • EK Productions.
    • Quoxel.
  • Distributor(s):
    • Indie Rights (2019) (World-wide) (all media).
  • Release Date: 11 February 2019 (US, Boston Science Fiction Film Festival).
  • Running Time: 78 minutes.
  • Rating: Unknown.
  • Country: US.
  • Language: English.

3MDR & PTSD: Breaking Through Avoidance & Increasing Engagement

Published on by Andrew MarshallLeave a comment

Research Paper Title

Perceived treatment processes and effects of interactive motion-assisted exposure therapy for veterans with treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: a mixed methods study.

Background

A novel intervention, Multi-modular motion-assisted memory desensitisation and reconsolidation (3MDR), aims to reduce avoidance and improve engagement for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who did not sufficiently respond to previous treatments. It has been found to effectively reduce PTSD symptoms for veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD. Symptomatic measures alone might not capture all treatment effects, and addition of qualitative outcomes may provide deeper understanding of treatment processes and treatment-induced changes.

The purpose of this was to study the perspectives of veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD on 3MDR treatment processes and effects and explore the relation of their experiences to PTSD symptom improvement.

Methods

A convergent parallel mixed methods design was applied. For the qualitative part, open-ended question interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached (N = 10). Thematic analysis, rooted in grounded theory, was performed. Quantitative data included pre- to posttreatment responder status based on a structured clinical interview for PTSD.

Results

Treatment processes endorsed by the veterans were engaging, regulating distress, feeling supported, facing traumatic memories, allowing emotions, associating, and disengaging from trauma. In terms of effects, veterans reported positive changes following 3MDR, including openness, new learning, self-understanding, closure, and reintegration. High comparability across themes was observed for responders and non-responders, except for the themes closure and reintegration, which were reported more often or more in depth by responders.

Conclusions

Veterans indicated 3MDR treatment processes that complied with its aims of breaking through avoidance and increasing engagement, thereby facilitating traumatic memory retrieval and processing. However, this did not necessarily translate into PTSD symptom improvement for all veterans. Walking towards trauma-related pictures was highlighted as unique component of 3MDR and connected to specific treatment processes and effects. Positive changes following 3MDR were experienced outside the domain of PTSD symptom improvement, implicating that 3MDR may beneficially impact veterans beyond symptom changes alone.

Reference

van Gelderen, M.J., Nijdam, M.J., Dubbink, G.E., Sleijpen, M. & Vermetten, E. (2020) Perceived treatment processes and effects of interactive motion-assisted exposure therapy for veterans with treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: a mixed methods study.