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Lin X, Chen D, Liu J, Yao Z, Xie H, Anderson MC, Hu X. Observing the suppression of individual aversive memories from conscious awareness. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae080. [PMID: 38863114 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
When reminded of an unpleasant experience, people often try to exclude the unwanted memory from awareness, a process known as retrieval suppression. Here we used multivariate decoding (MVPA) and representational similarity analyses on EEG data to track how suppression unfolds in time and to reveal its impact on item-specific cortical patterns. We presented reminders to aversive scenes and asked people to either suppress or to retrieve the scene. During suppression, mid-frontal theta power within the first 500 ms distinguished suppression from passive viewing of the reminder, indicating that suppression rapidly recruited control. During retrieval, we could discern EEG cortical patterns relating to individual memories-initially, based on theta-driven visual perception of the reminders (0 to 500 ms) and later, based on alpha-driven reinstatement of the aversive scene (500 to 3000 ms). Critically, suppressing retrieval weakened (during 360 to 600 ms) and eventually abolished item-specific cortical patterns, a robust effect that persisted until the reminder disappeared (780 to 3000 ms). Representational similarity analyses provided converging evidence that retrieval suppression weakened the representation of target scenes during the 500 to 3000 ms reinstatement window. Together, rapid top-down control during retrieval suppression abolished cortical patterns of individual memories, and precipitated later forgetting. These findings reveal a precise chronometry on the voluntary suppression of individual memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuanyi Lin
- Center for Sleep & Circadian Biology, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, United States
- Department of Neurobiology, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, United States
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Danni Chen
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jing Liu
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ziqing Yao
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Hui Xie
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Michael C Anderson
- MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK
| | - Xiaoqing Hu
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- HKU-Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation, Shenzhen, 518057, China
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2
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Vitkova V, Ristori D, Cheron G, Bazan A, Cebolla AM. Long-lasting negativity in the left motoric brain structures during word memory inhibition in the Think/No-Think paradigm. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10907. [PMID: 38740808 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60378-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the electrical brain responses in a high-density EEG array (64 electrodes) elicited specifically by the word memory cue in the Think/No-Think paradigm in 46 participants. In a first step, we corroborated previous findings demonstrating sustained and reduced brain electrical frontal and parietal late potentials elicited by memory cues following the No-Think (NT) instructions as compared to the Think (T) instructions. The topographical analysis revealed that such reduction was significant 1000 ms after memory cue onset and that it was long-lasting for 1000 ms. In a second step, we estimated the underlying brain generators with a distributed method (swLORETA) which does not preconceive any localization in the gray matter. This method revealed that the cognitive process related to the inhibition of memory retrieval involved classical motoric cerebral structures with the left primary motor cortex (M1, BA4), thalamus, and premotor cortex (BA6). Also, the right frontal-polar cortex was involved in the T condition which we interpreted as an indication of its role in the maintaining of a cognitive set during remembering, by the selection of one cognitive mode of processing, Think, over the other, No-Think, across extended periods of time, as it might be necessary for the successful execution of the Think/No-Think task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viktoriya Vitkova
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
- InterPsy Laboratory, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France
| | - Dominique Ristori
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Guy Cheron
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Ariane Bazan
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
- InterPsy Laboratory, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France
| | - Ana Maria Cebolla
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
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3
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Satish A, Hellerstedt R, Anderson MC, Bergström ZM. Memory control immediately improves unpleasant emotions associated with autobiographical memories of past immoral actions. Cogn Emot 2024:1-16. [PMID: 38653497 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2024.2342390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
The ability to stop unwanted memories from coming to mind is theorised to be essential for maintaining good mental health. People can employ intentional strategies to prevent conscious intrusions of negative memories, and repeated attempts to stop retrieval both reduces the frequency of intrusions and improves subsequent emotions elicited by those memories. However, it is still unknown whether memory control can improve negative emotions immediately, at the time control is attempted. It is also not clear which strategy is most beneficial for emotion regulation; clearing the mind of any thoughts of negative memories via direct suppression, or substituting memory recall with alternative thoughts. Here, we provide novel evidence that memory control immediately regulates negative emotions associated with autobiographical memories of morally wrong actions. Repeated control significantly improved negative emotions over time, regardless of the strategy used to implement control. Thought substitution involving either positive diversionary thinking or counterfactual thinking both induced positive feelings, whereas direct suppression neutralised emotions, regardless of whether memories were positive or negative. These empirical findings have implications for clinical practice as they indicate that memory control strategies could be effective emotion regulation methods for real-world intrusive memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akul Satish
- Medical Research Council - Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Robin Hellerstedt
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
- Laboratory for Clinical Neuroscience, Center for Biomedical Technology, The Polytechnic University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Michael C Anderson
- Medical Research Council - Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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4
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Ashton SM, Gagnepain P, Davidson P, Hellerstedt R, Satish A, Smeets T, Quaedflieg CWEM. The Index of Intrusion Control (IIC): Capturing individual variability in intentional intrusion control in the laboratory. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:4061-4072. [PMID: 38291222 PMCID: PMC11133188 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-024-02345-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Intrusive memories can be downregulated using intentional memory control, as measured via the Think/No-Think paradigm. In this task, participants retrieve or suppress memories in response to an associated reminder cue. After each suppression trial, participants rate whether the association intruded into awareness. Previous research has found that repeatedly exerting intentional control over memory intrusions reduces their frequency. This decrease is often summarised with a linear index, which may miss more complex patterns characterising the temporal dynamics of intrusion control. The goal of this paper is to propose a novel metric of intrusion control that captures those dynamic changes over time as a single index. Results from a mega-analysis of published datasets revealed that the change in intrusion frequencies across time is not purely linear, but also includes non-linear dynamics that seem best captured by a log function of the number of suppression attempts. To capture those linear and non-linear dynamics, we propose the Index of Intrusion Control (IIC), which relies on the integral of intrusion changes across suppression attempts. Simulations revealed that the IIC best captured the linear and non-linear dynamics of intrusion suppression when compared with other linear or non-linear indexes of control, such as the regression slope or Spearman correlation, respectively. Our findings demonstrate how the IIC may therefore act as a more reliable metric to capture individual differences in intrusion control, and examine the role of non-linear dynamics characterizing the conscious access to unwanted memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie M Ashton
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
| | - Pierre Gagnepain
- Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Per Davidson
- Department of Psychology, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden
| | - Robin Hellerstedt
- Centre for Technological Biology, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Akul Satish
- Medical Research Council - Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Tom Smeets
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Center of Research on Psychological disorders and Somatic diseases (CoRPS), Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands
| | - Conny W E M Quaedflieg
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
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5
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Nardo D, Anderson MC. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Think/No-Think task, but forgot to ask. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:3831-3860. [PMID: 38379115 PMCID: PMC11133138 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-024-02349-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
The Think/No-Think (TNT) task has just celebrated 20 years since its inception, and its use has been growing as a tool to investigate the mechanisms underlying memory control and its neural underpinnings. Here, we present a theoretical and practical guide for designing, implementing, and running TNT studies. For this purpose, we provide a step-by-step description of the structure of the TNT task, methodological choices that can be made, parameters that can be chosen, instruments available, aspects to be aware of, systematic information about how to run a study and analyze the data. Importantly, we provide a TNT training package (as Supplementary Material), that is, a series of multimedia materials (e.g., tutorial videos, informative HTML pages, MATLAB code to run experiments, questionnaires, scoring sheets, etc.) to complement this method paper and facilitate a deeper understanding of the TNT task, its rationale, and how to set it up in practice. Given the recent discussion about the replication crisis in the behavioral sciences, we hope that this contribution will increase standardization, reliability, and replicability across laboratories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Nardo
- Department of Education, University of Roma Tre, Rome, Italy.
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Michael C Anderson
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Ashton SM, Smeets T, Quaedflieg CW. Controlling intrusive thoughts of future fears under stress. Neurobiol Stress 2023; 27:100582. [PMID: 38025283 PMCID: PMC10656271 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Negative outlooks of our future may foster unwanted and intrusive thoughts. To some extent, individuals have control over their ability to suppress intrusions and downregulate their frequency. Acute stress impairs intentional suppression, leading to an increased frequency of intrusions. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the mechanism underlying stress-induced impairments in intentional suppression of intrusions by investigating the combined and independent roles of the two major stress hormones, noradrenaline and cortisol. Healthy participants (N = 181) were administered propranolol (to block the noradrenergic response), metyrapone (to block the cortisol response), or a placebo before being exposed to the Maastricht Acute Stress Test. Intrusive thoughts of autobiographical future fears were then measured via the Imagine/No-Imagine task. Results demonstrated that the stress response was successfully altered because of the drug and stress manipulations. In all groups, repeated suppression of future fears reduced intrusions. Across the sample, an enhanced decrease over time was associated with greater attenuation of anxiety towards the related fears. The groups did not differ in the total frequency of intrusions. Though, trait anxiety increased the total number of intrusions. Our findings show that stress hormones did not influence the ability to suppress intrusions. However, our results do add support to previous research linking anxiety to memory control deficits. When using autobiographical content, future research should focus on the quality and characteristics of the individual memories to explain more of the variation observed in intentional memory control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie M. Ashton
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Tom Smeets
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Center of Research on Psychological Disorders and Somatic Diseases (CoRPS), Tilburg University, the Netherlands
| | - Conny W.E.M. Quaedflieg
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
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7
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Ashton SM, Sambeth A, Quaedflieg CWEM. A mindful approach to controlling intrusive thoughts. Sci Rep 2023; 13:10966. [PMID: 37414828 PMCID: PMC10326059 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37447-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Intrusive thoughts of negative experiences can pose a threat to our well-being. To some extent, unwanted memories can be intentionally controlled via an executive control mechanism that downregulates the occurrence of intrusions. Mindfulness training can improve executive control. It is not known whether mindfulness training can be used as an intervention to improve intentional memory control and reduce intrusions. To this end, 148 healthy participants completed a 10-day app-based mindfulness training or an active control task. At baseline, inhibitory control and working memory were assessed as measures of executive functioning. Post-mindfulness training, intrusions were assessed via the Think/No-Think task. It was expected that mindfulness training would reduce intrusions. Furthermore, we hypothesised that this would be moderated by baseline executive functioning. Results revealed that, contrary to our hypothesis, both groups increased equally in dispositional mindfulness between baseline and post-test. As such, our exploratory analysis revealed that higher dispositional mindfulness across both groups resulted in fewer intrusions and enhanced the ability to downregulate intrusions over time. Furthermore, this effect was moderated by inhibitory control at baseline. These results provide insight into factors that can improve the ability to control unwanted memories, which could have considerable implications for treatments in psychopathologies characterized by the frequent occurrence of intrusive thoughts. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 11th March, 2022. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/U8SJN .
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Affiliation(s)
- S M Ashton
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - A Sambeth
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - C W E M Quaedflieg
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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8
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Cortisol reactivity impairs suppression-induced forgetting. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2022; 142:105774. [PMID: 35512558 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
To some extent, we can shape our recollections by intentionally remembering certain experiences while trying to forget others, for example, by intentional suppression. Acute stress impairs suppression-induced forgetting of memories. It is unclear, however, whether these deficits are a direct consequence of the acute stress-induced cortisol response. The present study was designed to examine the stress-induced impairment in suppression-induced forgetting in a subgroup of cortisol responders. We exposed healthy participants to a stress (n = 55) or no-stress control (n = 32) version of the Maastricht Acute Stress Test before they performed the Think / No-Think task. Here, participants aimed to repeatedly retrieve or suppress memories of previously learned cue-target video clips to mimic the complexity of episodic memories. Results on the subsequent memory test revealed that, while the no-stress controls and cortisol non-responders demonstrated suppression-induced forgetting, this effect was absent in cortisol responders. Moreover, the magnitude of suppression-induced forgetting was negatively correlated to stress-induced cortisol increases. The current study extends findings on stress-induced impairments in suppression-induced forgetting by specifically focusing on cortisol reactivity. Furthermore, our findings show the importance of individual differences in cortisol responses as a driving mechanism behind stress-induced alterations in our capacity to actively control our memory.
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9
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Anterior Cingulate Cortex Signals the Need to Control Intrusive Thoughts during Motivated Forgetting. J Neurosci 2022; 42:4342-4359. [PMID: 35437275 PMCID: PMC9145231 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1711-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Revised: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
How do people limit awareness of unwanted memories? When such memories intrude, a control process engages the right DLPFC (rDLPFC) to inhibit hippocampal activity and stop retrieval. It remains unknown how the need for control is detected, and whether control operates proactively to prevent unwelcome memories from being retrieved, or responds reactively, to counteract intrusions. We hypothesized that dorsal ACC (dACC) detects the emergence of an unwanted trace in awareness and transmits the need for inhibitory control to rDLPFC. During a memory suppression task, we measured in humans (both sexes) trial-by-trial variations in the theta power and N2 amplitude of dACC, two EEG markers that are thought to reflect the need for control. With simultaneous EEG-fMRI recordings, we tracked interactions among dACC, rDLPFC, and hippocampus during suppression. We found a clear role of dACC in detecting the need for memory control and upregulating prefrontal inhibition. Importantly, we identified distinct early (300-450 ms) and late (500-700 ms) dACC contributions, suggesting both proactive control before recollection and reactive control in response to intrusions. Stronger early activity was associated with reduced hippocampal activity and diminished BOLD signal in dACC and rDLPFC, suggesting that preempting retrieval reduced overall control demands. In the later window, dACC activity was larger, and effective connectivity analyses revealed robust communication from dACC to rDLPFC and from rDLPFC to hippocampus, which are tied to successful forgetting. Together, our findings support a model in which dACC detects the emergence of unwanted content, triggering top-down inhibitory control, and in which rDLPFC countermands intruding thoughts that penetrate awareness.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Preventing unwanted memories from coming to mind is an adaptive ability of humans. This ability relies on inhibitory control processes in the prefrontal cortex to modulate hippocampal retrieval processes. How and when reminders to unwelcome memories come to trigger prefrontal control mechanisms remains unknown. Here we acquired neuroimaging data with both high spatial and temporal resolution as participants suppressed specific memories. We found that the anterior cingulate cortex detects the need for memory control, responding both proactively to early warning signals about unwelcome content and reactively to intrusive thoughts themselves. When unwanted traces emerge in awareness, anterior cingulate communicates with prefrontal cortex and triggers top-down inhibitory control over the hippocampus through specific neural oscillatory networks.
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10
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Chen S, Mao X, Wu Y. Can't stop thinking: The role of cognitive control in suppression-induced forgetting. Neuropsychologia 2022; 172:108274. [PMID: 35623449 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The ability to control unwanted memories is essential for emotional regulation and maintaining mental health. Previous evidence indicates that suppressing retrieval, which recruits executive control mechanisms to prevent unwanted memories entering consciousness, can cause forgetting, termed suppression-induced forgetting (SIF). Because these executive mechanisms involve multiple mental operations, their effects may be limited by individuals' capacity limitation of cognitive control. Here, we tested the hypothesis that cognitive control capacity (CCC, estimated by the backward masking majority function task) is an important factor that predicts SIF. Participants were assigned to two groups based on the median CCC and performed the think/no-think task with electrophysiological signals recorded. The results showed that the SIF effect was observed only in the high CCC group but not in the low CCC group. In accordance, repeated suppression attempts also resulted in a steeper reduction in intrusive thoughts in the high CCC group. Furthermore, ERP analysis revealed a decrease in recollection-related late parietal positivity (LPP) under the no-think condition in the high CCC group, indicating successful avoidance of recall. A mediation analysis revealed that the reduced intrusive memories mediated the effect of CCC on SIF. These findings suggest that suppressing retrieval could reduce traces of the unwanted memories, making them less intrusive and harder to recall. More importantly, successful SIF is constrained by the capacity of cognitive control which may be used to ensure the coordination of multiple cognitive processes during suppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suya Chen
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
| | - Xinrui Mao
- Collage of Elementary Education, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100871, China.
| | - Yanhong Wu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Key Laboratory of Machine Perception, Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
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11
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Meyer AK, Benoit RG. Suppression weakens unwanted memories via a sustained reduction of neural reactivation. eLife 2022; 11:71309. [PMID: 35352679 PMCID: PMC8967383 DOI: 10.7554/elife.71309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Aversive events sometimes turn into intrusive memories. However, prior evidence indicates that such memories can be controlled via a mechanism of retrieval suppression. Here, we test the hypothesis that suppression exerts a sustained influence on memories by deteriorating their neural representations. This deterioration, in turn, would hinder their subsequent reactivation and thus impoverish the vividness with which they can be recalled. In an fMRI study, participants repeatedly suppressed memories of aversive scenes. As predicted, this process rendered the memories less vivid. Using a pattern classifier, we observed that suppression diminished the neural reactivation of scene information both globally across the brain and locally in the parahippocampal cortices. Moreover, the decline in vividness was associated with reduced reinstatement of unique memory representations in right parahippocampal cortex. These results support the hypothesis that suppression weakens memories by causing a sustained reduction in the potential to reactivate their neural representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann-Kristin Meyer
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Roland G Benoit
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
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12
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Anderson MC, Floresco SB. Prefrontal-hippocampal interactions supporting the extinction of emotional memories: the retrieval stopping model. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:180-195. [PMID: 34446831 PMCID: PMC8616908 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01131-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2021] [Revised: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Neuroimaging has revealed robust interactions between the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus when people stop memory retrieval. Efforts to stop retrieval can arise when people encounter reminders to unpleasant thoughts they prefer not to think about. Retrieval stopping suppresses hippocampal and amygdala activity, especially when cues elicit aversive memory intrusions, via a broad inhibitory control capacity enabling prepotent response suppression. Repeated retrieval stopping reduces intrusions of unpleasant memories and diminishes their affective tone, outcomes resembling those achieved by the extinction of conditioned emotional responses. Despite this resemblance, the role of inhibitory fronto-hippocampal interactions and retrieval stopping broadly in extinction has received little attention. Here we integrate human and animal research on extinction and retrieval stopping. We argue that reconceptualising extinction to integrate mnemonic inhibitory control with learning would yield a greater understanding of extinction's relevance to mental health. We hypothesize that fear extinction spontaneously engages retrieval stopping across species, and that controlled suppression of hippocampal and amygdala activity by the prefrontal cortex reduces fearful thoughts. Moreover, we argue that retrieval stopping recruits extinction circuitry to achieve affect regulation, linking extinction to how humans cope with intrusive thoughts. We discuss novel hypotheses derived from this theoretical synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael C Anderson
- MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Stan B Floresco
- Department of Psychology, and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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13
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EEG evidence that morally relevant autobiographical memories can be suppressed. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:1290-1310. [PMID: 35986196 PMCID: PMC9622558 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-01029-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Remembering unpleasant events can trigger negative feelings. Fortunately, research indicates that unwanted retrieval can be suppressed to prevent memories from intruding into awareness, improving our mental state. The current scientific understanding of retrieval suppression, however, is based mostly on simpler memories, such as associations between words or pictures, which may not reflect how people control unpleasant memory intrusions in everyday life. Here, we investigated the neural and behavioural dynamics of suppressing personal and emotional autobiographical memories using a modified version of the Think/No-Think task. We asked participants to suppress memories of their own past immoral actions, which were hypothesised to be both highly intrusive and motivating to suppress. We report novel evidence from behavioural, ERP, and EEG oscillation measures that autobiographical memory retrieval can be suppressed and suggest that autobiographical suppression recruits similar neurocognitive mechanisms as suppression of simple laboratory associations. Suppression did fail sometimes, and EEG oscillations indicated that such memory intrusions occurred from lapses in sustained control. Importantly, however, participants improved at limiting intrusions with repeated practice. Furthermore, both behavioural and EEG evidence indicated that intentional suppression may be more difficult for memories of our morally wrong actions than memories of our morally right actions. The findings elucidate the neurocognitive correlates of autobiographical retrieval suppression and have implications for theories of morally motivated memory control.
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14
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Bian Z, Yang R, Yang X, Liu Y, Gao X, Chen H. Influence of negative mood on restrained eaters' memory suppression of food cues: An event-related potentials study. Appetite 2021; 164:105269. [PMID: 33872752 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Revised: 04/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Negative mood has been found to be a critical trigger for overeating in restrained eaters. The ability to suppress thinking of palatable food cues is crucial to control hedonic eating; nevertheless, little research has been conducted to explore inhibitory control in cognitive processes among restrained eaters. To address this gap, this study primed restrained eaters with negative (n = 23) or neutral emotions (n = 24) and applied a Think/No-think paradigm to explore their retrieval facilitation/suppression ability for food cues, while recording Electroencephalogram (EEG) data. Results indicated that the recall rate of the No-think condition (retrieval suppressing task) was higher than the Think condition (retrieval task). Negative affect did not influence the recall rate, but it did evoke smaller N2 amplitudes, larger P2 and P3 amplitudes, as well as late positive component (LPC) amplitudes. Among these components, P2 evoked by the No-think and Think conditions was larger than the perceptual control condition. Our findings suggested that in negative moods, restrained eaters need to allocate more attentional resources to suppress food cues. The findings further demonstrated that the influence of negative moods appeared at an early stage of cognitive processing and caused a resource depletion in memory suppression. This research provides a neurophysiological basis for understanding emotional influences on the process of restrained eaters' inhibition control for external food cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziming Bian
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Runlan Yang
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xinmeng Yang
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yong Liu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xiao Gao
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Research Center of Psychology and Social Development in Chong Qing, China.
| | - Hong Chen
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Research Center of Psychology and Social Development in Chong Qing, China.
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15
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Kerrén C, Bramão I, Hellerstedt R, Johansson M. Strategic retrieval prevents memory interference: The temporal dynamics of retrieval orientation. Neuropsychologia 2021; 154:107776. [PMID: 33549585 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Revised: 12/20/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Resolving interference between overlapping memories is crucial to remember the past. This study tests the novel prediction that orienting search focus benefits goal-relevant retrieval by reducing competition from unwanted memories. In a modified retrieval-practice paradigm, participants encoded word-pairs in one of two encoding tasks. Critically, to evaluate whether this retrieval orientation (RO) reduces memory interference, target and competitor memories were always related to different encoding tasks. At retrieval, instructions were provided for half of the blocks with the intention to bias remembering towards items encoded with one of the ROs. Behavioural data show that adopting an RO improved target accessibility, strengthened the testing effect, and reduced retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) of competitors. Specifically, RIF - typically attributed to inhibitory control of memory interference - was prominent when no retrieval orientation (NRO) instruction was provided. Furthermore, a neural correlate of RO was calculated by training a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to discriminate the electroencephalographic (EEG) spatial brain patterns correspondent to the two ROs over the time course of selective retrieval. RO was characterised by increases in the theta and decreases in the beta frequency band, evident both before and after category-cue onset. While the pre-cue RO reinstatement effect predicted both immediate retrieval-practice success and later target accessibility, the post-cue effect predicted disengagement of inhibitory control, such that participants showing a stronger RO reinstatement effect showed lower levels of RIF. These data suggest that strategically orienting search focus during retrieval both increases target memory accessibility and reduces memory interference, which consequently protects related memories from inhibition and later forgetting. Furthermore, they also highlight the roles of theta and beta oscillations in establishing and maintaining a task-relevant bias towards target memory representations during competitive memory retrieval.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Inês Bramão
- Department of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden
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16
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Liu W, Kohn N, Fernández G. Probing the neural dynamics of mnemonic representations after the initial consolidation. Neuroimage 2020; 221:117213. [PMID: 32739553 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Revised: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 07/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Memories are not stored as static engrams, but as dynamic representations affected by processes occurring after initial encoding. Previous studies revealed changes in activity and mnemonic representations in visual processing areas, parietal lobe, and hippocampus underlying repeated retrieval and suppression. However, these neural changes are usually induced by memory modulation immediately after memory formation. Here, we investigated 27 healthy participants with a two-day functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study design to probe how established memories are dynamically modulated by retrieval and suppression 24 h after learning. Behaviorally, we demonstrated that established memories can still be strengthened by repeated retrieval. By contrast, repeated suppression had a modest negative effect, and suppression-induced forgetting was associated with individual suppression efficacy. Neurally, we demonstrated item-specific pattern reinstatements in visual processing areas, parietal lobe, and hippocampus. Then, we showed that repeated retrieval reduced activity amplitude in the ventral visual cortex and hippocampus, but enhanced the distinctiveness of activity patterns in the ventral visual cortex and parietal lobe. Critically, reduced activity was associated with enhanced representation of idiosyncratic memory traces in the ventral visual cortex and precuneus. In contrast, repeated memory suppression was associated with reduced lateral prefrontal activity, but relative intact mnemonic representations. Our results replicated most of the neural changes induced by memory retrieval and suppression immediately after learning and extended those findings to established memories after initial consolidation. Active retrieval seems to promote episode-unique mnemonic representations in the neocortex after initial encoding but also consolidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Liu
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | - Nils Kohn
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Guillén Fernández
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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17
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Castiglione A, Aron AR. Unwanted Memory Intrusions Recruit Broad Motor Suppression. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 33:119-128. [PMID: 33078991 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Quickly preventing the retrieval of (inappropriate) long-term memories might recruit a similar control mechanism as rapid action-stopping. A very specific characteristic of rapid action-stopping is "global motor suppression": When a single response is rapidly stopped, there is a broad skeletomotor suppression. This is shown by the technique of TMS placed over a task-irrelevant part of the primary motor cortex (M1) to measure motor-evoked potentials. Here, we used this same TMS method to test if rapidly preventing long-term memory retrieval also shows this broad skeletomotor suppression effect. Twenty human participants underwent a Think/No-Think task. In the first phase, they learned word pairs. In the second phase, they received the left-hand word as a cue and had to either retrieve the associated right-hand word ("Think") or stop retrieval ("No-Think"). At the end of each trial, they reported whether they had experienced an intrusion of the associated memory. Behaviorally, on No-Think trials, they reported fewer intrusions than Think trials, and the reporting of intrusions decreased with practice. Physiologically, we observed that the motor-evoked potential, measured from the hand (which was irrelevant to the task), was reduced on No-Think trials in the time frame of 300-500 msec, especially on trials where they did report an intrusion. This unexpected result contradicted our preregistered prediction that we would find such a decrease on No-Think trials where the intrusion was not reported. These data suggest that one form of executive control over (inappropriate) long-term memory retrieval is a rapid and broad stop, akin to action-stopping, that is triggered by the intrusion itself.
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18
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Harrington MO, Ashton JE, Sankarasubramanian S, Anderson MC, Cairney SA. Losing Control: Sleep Deprivation Impairs the Suppression of Unwanted Thoughts. Clin Psychol Sci 2020; 9:97-113. [PMID: 33552705 PMCID: PMC7820573 DOI: 10.1177/2167702620951511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Unwanted memories often enter conscious awareness when individuals confront reminders. People vary widely in their talents at suppressing such memory intrusions; however, the factors that govern suppression ability are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that successful memory control requires sleep. Following overnight sleep or total sleep deprivation, participants attempted to suppress intrusions of emotionally negative and neutral scenes when confronted with reminders. The sleep-deprived group experienced significantly more intrusions (unsuccessful suppressions) than the sleep group. Deficient control over intrusive thoughts had consequences: Whereas in rested participants suppression reduced behavioral and psychophysiological indices of negative affect for aversive memories, it had no such salutary effect for sleep-deprived participants. Our findings raise the possibility that sleep deprivation disrupts prefrontal control over medial temporal lobe structures that support memory and emotion. These data point to an important role of sleep disturbance in maintaining and exacerbating psychiatric conditions characterized by persistent, unwanted thoughts.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Michael C. Anderson
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
| | - Scott A. Cairney
- Department of Psychology, University of York
- York Biomedical Research Institute, University of York
- Scott A. Cairney, Department of Psychology, University of York E-mail:
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19
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Ashton SM, Benoit RG, Quaedflieg CWEM. The impairing effect of acute stress on suppression-induced forgetting of future fears and its moderation by working memory capacity. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2020; 120:104790. [PMID: 32771889 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Unwanted imaginations of future fears can, to some extent, be avoided. This is achieved by control mechanisms similar to those engaged to suppress and forget unwanted memories. Suppression-induced forgetting relies on the executive control network, whose functioning is impaired after exposure to acute stress. This study investigates whether acute stress affects the ability to intentionally control future fears and, furthermore, whether individual differences in executive control predict a susceptibility to these effects. The study ran over two consecutive days. On day 1, the working memory capacity of one hundred participants was assessed. Thereafter, participants provided descriptions and details of fearful episodes that they imagined might happen in their future. On day 2, participants were exposed to either the stress or no-stress version of the Maastricht Acute Stress Test, after which participants performed the Imagine/No-Imagine task. Here, participants repeatedly imagined some future fears and suppressed imaginings of others. Results demonstrated that, in unstressed participants, suppression successfully induced forgetting of the episodes' details compared to a baseline condition. However, anxiety toward these events did not differ. Acute stress was found to selectively impair suppression-induced forgetting and, further, this effect was moderated by working memory capacity. Specifically, lower working memory predicted a susceptibility to these detrimental effects. These findings provide novel insights into conditions under which our capacity to actively control future fears is reduced, which may have considerable implications for understanding stress-related psychopathologies and symptomatologies characterized by unwanted apprehensive thoughts.
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Affiliation(s)
- S M Ashton
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
| | - R G Benoit
- Max Planck Research Group: Adaptive Memory, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - C W E M Quaedflieg
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
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20
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Legrand N, Etard O, Vandevelde A, Pierre M, Viader F, Clochon P, Doidy F, Peschanski D, Eustache F, Gagnepain P. Long-term modulation of cardiac activity induced by inhibitory control over emotional memories. Sci Rep 2020; 10:15008. [PMID: 32929105 PMCID: PMC7490349 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71858-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Efforts to exclude past experiences from conscious awareness can lead to forgetting. Memory suppression is central to affective disorders, but we still do not really know whether emotions, including their physiological causes, are also impacted by this process in normal functioning individuals. In two studies, we measured the after-effects of suppressing negative memories on cardiac response in healthy participants. Results of Study 1 revealed that efficient control of memories was associated with long-term inhibition of the cardiac deceleration that is normally induced by disgusting stimuli. Attempts to suppress sad memories, by contrast, aggravated the cardiac response, an effect that was closely related to the inability to forget this specific material. In Study 2, electroencephalography revealed a reduction in power in the theta (3-8 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz) and low-beta (13-20 Hz) bands during the suppression of unwanted memories, compared with their voluntary recall. Interestingly, however, the reduction of power in the theta frequency band during memory control was related to a subsequent inhibition of the cardiac response. These results provide a neurophysiological basis for the influence of memory control mechanisms on the cardiac system, opening up new avenues and questions for treating intrusive memories using motivated forgetting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Legrand
- Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Olivier Etard
- Service d'Explorations Fonctionnelles du Système Nerveux, CHU de Caen, Caen, France
- Imagerie et Stratégies Thérapeutiques de la Schizophrénie, Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, ISTS EA 7466, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Anaïs Vandevelde
- Imagerie et Stratégies Thérapeutiques de la Schizophrénie, Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, ISTS EA 7466, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Melissa Pierre
- Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Fausto Viader
- Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Patrice Clochon
- Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Franck Doidy
- Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Denis Peschanski
- European Center for Sociology and Political Science (CESSP), Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne, HESAM Université, EHESS, CNRS, UMR8209, Paris, France
| | - Francis Eustache
- Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France
| | - Pierre Gagnepain
- Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Caen, France.
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21
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Abstract
Over the past century, psychologists have discussed whether forgetting might arise from active mechanisms that promote memory loss to achieve various functions, such as minimizing errors, facilitating learning, or regulating one's emotional state. The past decade has witnessed a great expansion in knowledge about the brain mechanisms underlying active forgetting in its varying forms. A core discovery concerns the role of the prefrontal cortex in exerting top-down control over mnemonic activity in the hippocampus and other brain structures, often via inhibitory control. New findings reveal that such processes not only induce forgetting of specific memories but also can suppress the operation of mnemonic processes more broadly, triggering windows of anterograde and retrograde amnesia in healthy people. Recent work extends active forgetting to nonhuman animals, presaging the development of a multilevel mechanistic account that spans the cognitive, systems, network, and even cellular levels. This work reveals how organisms adapt their memories to their cognitive and emotional goals and has implications for understanding vulnerability to psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael C Anderson
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge. Cambridge CB2 7EF, United Kingdom;
| | - Justin C Hulbert
- Psychology Program, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504, USA
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22
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Castiglione A, Wagner J, Anderson M, Aron AR. Preventing a Thought from Coming to Mind Elicits Increased Right Frontal Beta Just as Stopping Action Does. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:2160-2172. [PMID: 30806454 PMCID: PMC6458912 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2018] [Revised: 01/20/2019] [Accepted: 01/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
In the stop-signal task, an electrophysiological signature of action-stopping is increased early right frontal beta band power for successful vs. failed stop trials. Here we tested whether the requirement to stop an unwanted thought from coming to mind also elicits this signature. We recorded scalp EEG during a Think/No-Think task and a subsequent stop signal task in 42 participants. In the Think/No-Think task, participants first learned word pairs. In a second phase, they received the left-hand word as a reminder and were cued either to retrieve the associated right-hand word ("Think") or to stop retrieval ("No-Think"). At the end of each trial, participants reported whether they had experienced an intrusion of the associated memory. Finally, they received the left-hand reminder word and were asked to recall its associated target. Behaviorally, there was worse final recall for items in the No-Think condition, and decreased intrusions with practice for No-Think trials. For EEG, we reproduced increased early right frontal beta power for successful vs. failed action stopping. Critically, No-Think trials also elicited increased early right frontal beta power and this was stronger for trials without intrusion. These results suggest that preventing a thought from coming to mind also recruits fast prefrontal stopping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Castiglione
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Johanna Wagner
- Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience, Institute for Neural Computation, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Michael Anderson
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Adam R Aron
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
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23
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Motivated forgetting increases the recall time of learnt items: Behavioral and event related potential evidence. Brain Res 2020; 1729:146624. [PMID: 31881184 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2019.146624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Revised: 12/01/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
We investigated modulation of the recall time in a motivated forgetting (MF) paradigm and the neural manifestation of it through event related potential (ERP) analysis. We studied whether compared to failed attempts in suppression, partial success can potentiate control mechanisms and this might manifest, neurally as modulation of ERP components related to conscious recollection, and behaviorally as delayed recall of learnt items. We employed a modified version of the Think\No-Think paradigm with dominant number of No-Think words (cued to forget). We defined a forgetting index as FI = Final Recall Time-Initial Recall Time. The MF trials were separated into three conditions according to their corresponding FI; Forget, Delayed Recall, and Recall conditions. The findings revealed significant late ERP effects in terms of a late parietal positivity (LPP), modulated by the item condition, that appeared to reflect the consequence of conscious suppression on actual retrieval of stored memory. Over the same topographic location, FI was negatively correlated with the LPP amplitude, demonstrating the consequence of inhibition processing during MF in modulating the recall time. The negative correlation between LPP and FI provides evidence that increased recall time due to MF is also related to reduced activity, probably in the hippocampal-parietal network, corresponding to recollection of suppressed memories.
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24
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Davidson P, Hellerstedt R, Jönsson P, Johansson M. Suppression-induced forgetting diminishes following a delay of either sleep or wake. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2019.1705311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Per Davidson
- Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Robin Hellerstedt
- Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
| | - Peter Jönsson
- School of Education and Environment, Centre for Psychology, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden
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25
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Taubenfeld A, Anderson MC, Levy DA. The impact of retrieval suppression on conceptual implicit memory. Memory 2019; 27:686-697. [PMID: 30522403 PMCID: PMC6425914 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2018.1554079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Accepted: 11/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
When people suppress retrieval of episodic memories, it can induce forgetting on later direct tests of memory for those events. Recent reports indicate that suppressing retrieval affects less conscious, unintentional retrieval of unwanted memories as well, at least on perceptually-oriented indirect tests. In the current study we examined how suppressing retrieval affects conceptual implicit memory for the suppressed content, using a category verification task. Participants studied cue-target words pairs in which the targets were exemplars of 22 semantic categories, such as vegetables or occupations. They then repeatedly retrieved or suppressed the targets in response to the cues for some of those pairs. Afterwards, they were exposed to the targets intermixed with novel items, one at a time, and asked to verify the membership of each of the words in a semantic category, as quickly as possible. Judgment response times to studied words were faster than to unstudied exemplars, reflecting repetition priming, as has been previously observed. Strikingly, the beneficial effects of prior exposure on response time were eliminated for targets that had been suppressed. Follow-up explicit memory tests also demonstrated that retrieval suppression continued to disrupt episodic recall for the items that had been just been re-exposed on the category verification test. These findings support the contention that the effects of retrieval suppression are not limited to episodic memory, but also affect indirect expressions of those memories on conceptually oriented tests, raising the possibility that underlying semantic representations of suppressed content are affected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Assaf Taubenfeld
- Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Michael C. Anderson
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel A. Levy
- Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel
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26
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López-Caneda E, Crego A, Campos AD, González-Villar A, Sampaio A. The Think/No-Think Alcohol Task: A New Paradigm for Assessing Memory Suppression in Alcohol-Related Contexts. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2018; 43:36-47. [DOI: 10.1111/acer.13916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2018] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo López-Caneda
- Psychological Neuroscience Lab ; Research Center in Psychology (CIPsi); School of Psychology; University of Minho; Braga Portugal
| | - Alberto Crego
- Psychological Neuroscience Lab ; Research Center in Psychology (CIPsi); School of Psychology; University of Minho; Braga Portugal
| | - Ana D. Campos
- Human Cognition Lab ; Research Center in Psychology (CIPsi); School of Psychology; University of Minho; Braga Portugal
| | - Alberto González-Villar
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology ; University of Santiago de Compostela; Galicia Spain
| | - Adriana Sampaio
- Psychological Neuroscience Lab ; Research Center in Psychology (CIPsi); School of Psychology; University of Minho; Braga Portugal
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27
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Salvador A, Berkovitch L, Vinckier F, Cohen L, Naccache L, Dehaene S, Gaillard R. Unconscious memory suppression. Cognition 2018; 180:191-199. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.06.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2016] [Revised: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Salvador
- Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo Universitaire, Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 12 rue de l'école de Médecine, 75006 Paris, France; INSERM, Laboratoire de "Physiopathologie des Maladies Psychiatriques", Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, CPN U894, Institut de Psychiatrie GDR 3557 Paris, France
| | - Lucie Berkovitch
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu 75005 Paris, France
| | - Fabien Vinckier
- Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo Universitaire, Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 12 rue de l'école de Médecine, 75006 Paris, France; INSERM, Laboratoire de "Physiopathologie des Maladies Psychiatriques", Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, CPN U894, Institut de Psychiatrie GDR 3557 Paris, France; Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu 75005 Paris, France; Motivation, Brain and Behavior Lab, Centre de NeuroImagerie de Recherche, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, Paris 75013, France
| | - Laurent Cohen
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu 75005 Paris, France; Assistant Publique Hopitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Groupe Hospitalier Pitie-Salpetriere, Department of Neurology, 47 Bld de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France; Inserm, U1127, CNRS, UMR 7225, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, Paris 75013, France
| | - Lionel Naccache
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu 75005 Paris, France; Assistant Publique Hopitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Groupe Hospitalier Pitie-Salpetriere, Department of Neurology, 47 Bld de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France; Inserm, U1127, CNRS, UMR 7225, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, Paris 75013, France
| | - Stanislas Dehaene
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DSV/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Collège de France, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Raphaël Gaillard
- Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo Universitaire, Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 12 rue de l'école de Médecine, 75006 Paris, France; INSERM, Laboratoire de "Physiopathologie des Maladies Psychiatriques", Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, CPN U894, Institut de Psychiatrie GDR 3557 Paris, France.
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Engen HG, Anderson MC. Memory Control: A Fundamental Mechanism of Emotion Regulation. Trends Cogn Sci 2018; 22:982-995. [PMID: 30122359 PMCID: PMC6198111 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2018.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2018] [Revised: 07/13/2018] [Accepted: 07/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Memories play a ubiquitous role in our emotional lives, both causing vivid emotional experiences in their own right and imbuing perception of the external world with emotional significance. Controlling the emotional impact of memories therefore poses a major emotion-regulation challenge, suggesting that there might be a hitherto unexplored link between the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying memory control (MC) and emotion regulation. We present here a theoretical account of how the mechanisms of MC constitute core component processes of cognitive emotion regulation (CER), and how this observation may help to understand its basic mechanisms and their disruption in psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haakon G Engen
- Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Neuroimaging Center, University Medicine Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
| | - Michael C Anderson
- Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Abstract
After unpleasant events, people often experience intrusive memories that undermine their peace of mind. In response, they often suppress these unwanted memories from awareness. Such efforts may fail, however, when inhibitory control demands are high due to the need to sustain control, or when fatigue compromises inhibitory capacity. Here we examined how sustained inhibitory demand affected intrusive memories in the Think/No-Think paradigm. To isolate intrusions, participants reported, trial-by-trial, whether their preceding attempt to suppress retrieval had triggered retrieval of the memory they intended to suppress. Such counter-intentional retrievals provide a laboratory model of the sort of involuntary retrieval that may underlie intrusive memories. Using this method, we found that longer duration trials increased the probability of an intrusion. Moreover, on later No-Think trials, control over intrusions suddenly declined, with longer trial durations triggering more relapses of items that had been previously been purged. Thus, the challenges of controlling retrieval appear to cause a decline in control over time, due to a change in state, such as fatigue. These findings raise the possibility that characteristics often true of people with psychiatric disorders - such as compromised sleep, and increased demand on control - may contribute to difficulties in suppressing intrusive memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin van Schie
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Michael C. Anderson
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Mental reinstatement of encoding context improves episodic remembering. Cortex 2017; 94:15-26. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2017] [Revised: 05/03/2017] [Accepted: 06/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Visual perspective during remembering: ERP evidence of familiarity-based source monitoring. Cortex 2017; 91:157-168. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2016] [Revised: 08/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Parallel Regulation of Memory and Emotion Supports the Suppression of Intrusive Memories. J Neurosci 2017; 37:6423-6441. [PMID: 28559378 PMCID: PMC5511877 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2732-16.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2016] [Revised: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 04/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Intrusive memories often take the form of distressing images that emerge into a person's awareness, unbidden. A fundamental goal of clinical neuroscience is to understand the mechanisms allowing people to control these memory intrusions and reduce their emotional impact. Mnemonic control engages a right frontoparietal network that interrupts episodic retrieval by modulating hippocampal activity; less is known, however, about how this mechanism contributes to affect regulation. Here we report evidence in humans (males and females) that stopping episodic retrieval to suppress an unpleasant image triggers parallel inhibition of mnemonic and emotional content. Using fMRI, we found that regulation of both mnemonic and emotional content was driven by a shared frontoparietal inhibitory network and was predicted by a common profile of medial temporal lobe downregulation involving the anterior hippocampus and the amygdala. Critically, effective connectivity analysis confirmed that reduced amygdala activity was not merely an indirect consequence of hippocampal suppression; rather, both the hippocampus and the amygdala were targeted by a top-down inhibitory control signal originating from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This negative coupling was greater when unwanted memories intruded into awareness and needed to be purged. Together, these findings support the broad principle that retrieval suppression is achieved by regulating hippocampal processes in tandem with domain-specific brain regions involved in reinstating specific content, in an activity-dependent fashion. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Upsetting events sometimes trigger intrusive images that cause distress and that may contribute to psychiatric disorders. People often respond to intrusions by suppressing their retrieval, excluding them from awareness. Here we examined whether suppressing aversive images might also alter emotional responses to them, and the mechanisms underlying such changes. We found that the better people were at suppressing intrusions, the more it reduced their emotional responses to suppressed images. These dual effects on memory and emotion originated from a common right prefrontal cortical mechanism that downregulated the hippocampus and amygdala in parallel. Thus, suppressing intrusions affected emotional content. Importantly, participants who did not suppress intrusions well showed increased negative affect, suggesting that suppression deficits render people vulnerable to psychiatric disorders.
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Hu X, Bergström ZM, Gagnepain P, Anderson MC. Suppressing Unwanted Memories Reduces Their Unintended Influences. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2017; 26:197-206. [PMID: 28458471 PMCID: PMC5390940 DOI: 10.1177/0963721417689881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The ability to control unwanted memories is critical for maintaining cognitive function and mental health. Prior research has shown that suppressing the retrieval of unwanted memories impairs their retention, as measured using intentional (direct) memory tests. Here, we review emerging evidence revealing that retrieval suppression can also reduce the unintended influence of suppressed traces. In particular, retrieval suppression (a) gradually diminishes the tendency for memories to intrude into awareness and (b) reduces memories' unintended expressions on indirect memory tests. We present a neural account in which, during suppression, retrieval cues elicit hippocampally triggered neocortical activity that briefly reinstates features of the original event, which, in turn, are suppressed by targeted neocortical and hippocampal inhibition. This reactivation-dependent reinstatement principle could provide a broad mechanism by which suppressing retrieval of intrusive memories limits their indirect influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoqing Hu
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong
- The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, The University of Hong Kong
| | | | - Pierre Gagnepain
- Normandie Université, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM U1077, CHU de Caen, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Caen, France
| | - Michael C. Anderson
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
- Behavioral and Clinical Neurosciences Institute, University of Cambridge
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