No effects of eye movements on the encoding of the visuospatial sketchpad and the phonological loop in healthy participants: Possible implications for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy

•A hypothesized mechanism of action of EMDR is an overload of the working memory.•“Corsi Cubes” and “Digits” were used to test this hypothesis in 50 healthy subjects.•Eye movements did not improve the immediate auditory and visual consolidation memory.•The mechanism of action of EMDR needs further neurobiological investigation.