Aging reduces EEG markers of recognition despite intact performance: Implications for forensic memory detection

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

Anderson

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Erp Correlates Of Autobiographical Memory Suppression and In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

EEG evidence that morally relevant autobiographical memories can be suppressed

Satish

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

Anderson

et al. 2022

Self Cite

“…The data was recorded during the covid-19 pandemic and the participants were wearing face masks throughout the experiment which necessitated excluding the 15 electrodes covering the face. The EEG data was pre-processed offline using the EEGLAB toolbox in MATLAB with a standard pipeline (see Hellerstedt et al 2021 for a study using a similar pipeline) and the steps and settings were pre-registered. The data was recorded with Cz as reference and was re-referenced offline to the average of the left and the right mastoid electrodes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can neural correlates of encoding explain the context dependence of reward-enhanced memory?

Bekinschtein

Talmi

2022

Preprint

Self Cite

Selective encoding can be studied by manipulating how valuable it is for participants to remember specific stimuli, for instance by varying the monetary reward participants receive for recalling a particular stimulus in a subsequent memory test. It would be reasonable for participants to strategically attend more to high-reward items compared to low-reward items in mixed list contexts, but to attend both types of items equally in pure list contexts, where all items are of equal value. Reward-enhanced memory may be driven by automatic dopaminergic interactions between reward circuitry and the hippocampus and thus be insensitive to list context; or it may be driven by meta-cognitive strategies, and thus context-dependent. We contrasted these alternatives by manipulating list composition, and tracked selective encoding through multiple EEG measures of attention and rehearsal. Reward-enhanced memory depended on list composition: recall of high-reward items was increased in mixed, but not pure, lists. This result and aspects of the recall dynamics confirm predictions of the eCMR (emotional Context Maintenance and Retrieval) model. The power of steady-state visual evoked potentials was lower for high-reward items regardless of list composition, suggesting that high reward decreased visual processing of the stimuli and that ssVEPs may index the modulation of context-to-item associations predicted by eCMR. By contrast, reward modulated the amplitude of Late Positive Potential and Frontal Slow Wave only in mixed lists, mimicking the memory results. Taken together, the results provide evidence for the involvement of both automatic and strategic processes in how selective encoding shapes eventual memory.

“…The distribution of significant clusters in time, space and frequency dimensions was then used to determine when, where and in which EEG frequencies the conditions differed. However, it is important to note that the precise edges and peaks of effects in the spatiotemporal and frequency dimensions cannot be determined with this method (see Maris & Oostenveld, 2007;Hellerstedt et al, 2021;Sassenhagen & Draschkow, 2019) for a detailed explanation of the cluster-based permutation test analysis.…”

Section: Eeg Statistical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This Think > No-Think positive difference for morally right memories was most reliable around 500-600ms post-stimulus onset and peaked across central and frontal regions. Although ERP modulations indexing the suppression of recollection often peak over the left parietal scalp (e.g., Bergström et al, 2009aBergström et al, , 2009b, recall-related ERPs can be spread across the whole scalp (e.g., Hellerstedt et al, 2021) and are known to emerge from around 500ms after a reminder is encountered (Staresina & Wimber, 2019). Therefore, the ERP positivity for retrieving compared to suppressing morally right memories likely indexes differences in recollection-related activity for these memories, whereas control over recollection may not have been as successful for morally wrong memories during these initial attempts at suppression.…”

Section: Erp Correlates Of Autobiographical Memory Suppression and In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

EEG evidence that morally relevant autobiographical memories can be suppressed

Satish

Anderson

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

Remembering unpleasant events can trigger negative feelings. Fortunately, research indicates that unwanted memories can be suppressed to prevent them from intruding into awareness, improving our mental state. The current scientific understanding of memory suppression is, however, 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.