Resilience after trauma: The role of memory suppression

Abstract

In the aftermath of trauma, little is known about why the unwanted and unbidden recollection of traumatic memories persists in some individuals but not others. We implemented neutral and inoffensive intrusive memories in the laboratory in a group of 102 individuals exposed to the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks and 73 nonexposed individuals, who were not in Paris during the attacks. While reexperiencing these intrusive memories, nonexposed individuals and exposed individuals without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could adaptively suppress memory activity, but exposed individuals with PTSD could not. These findings suggest that the capacity to suppress memory is central to positive posttraumatic adaptation. A generalized disruption of the memory control system could explain the maladaptive and unsuccessful suppression attempts often seen in PTSD, and this disruption should be targeted by specific treatments.

Memory suppression and its deficiency in psychological disorders: A focused meta-analysis.

“…These data thus corroborate prior evidence from individual studies that had reported a negative association between SIF and trait anxiety (Benoit et al, 2016;Waldhauser et al, 2018), poor thought control ability (Catarino et al, 2015), depressed mood (Zhang et al, 2016), or rumination (Fawcett et al, 2015). Moreover, a similar pattern has been reported on indirect measures of memory performance (Hertel et al 2018) and implicit tests (Mary et al, 2020). The pattern is also consistent with several studies that similarly associated clinical phenomena with related deficient control processes at retrieval (e.g., GAD, Kircanski et al, 2016; clinical depression, Groome & Sterkaj, 2008; substance-related and addictive disorders, Stramaccia, Penolazzi, Monego, Manzan, Castelli, & Galfano, 2017;eating disorders, Stramaccia, Penolazzi, Libardi, Genovese, Castelli, Palomba, & Galfano).…”

Long-term modulation of cardiac activity induced by inhibitory control over emotional memories

“…However, both nonintrusive and intrusive reminders require the deployment of control resources, and may generate a high level of physiological inhibition. The additional control demand triggered by intrusive memories and usually associated with hippocampal topdown processes in a connectivity pattern 16,23,27,97 may not manifest itself in the oscillatory dynamics observed at the scalp level. Moreover, memory intrusions and their reflexive inhibition are both presumed to be brief and transient, as suggest by event-related potential results 98 .…”

The impairing effect of acute stress on the intentional forgetting of future fears and its moderation by working memory capacity

“…In the presence of stress-related psychopathology, it has been shown that the efficacy in suppressing unwanted memories is reduced (Hertel and Gerstle, 2003;Joorman et al, 2005;Mary et al., 2020; Nørby, 2018). Moreover, meta-analytical evidence indicates, more generally, that individuals with problems of controlling intrusive thoughts are deficient in suppressing memories (Stramaccia et al, 2019).…”

“…Intentional memory control serves as an adaptive emotion regulation strategy, fostering the retrieval of positive memories and inducing the forgetting of other memories that pose a threat to our integrity and well-being (e.g., fear-related memories; Nørby; 2018). The inability to control fear-related memories plays a key role in the development and maintenance of stress-related psychopathology, observable as intrusive and worrying thoughts in anxiety and mood disorders (Hertel and Gerstle, 2003;Joormann et al, 2005;Mary et al, 2020). Despite these far-reaching implications, the factors that influence our capacity to intentionally control our future fears are largely unknown.…”