Suppressing Unwanted Memories Reduces Their Unconscious Influence via Targeted Cortical Inhibition

Gagnepain, Pierre; Henson, Richard N.; Anderson, Michael C.

doi:10.1037/e633262013-141

Cited by 19 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The findings strongly support these hypotheses. Comparing activation for Suppress versus Imagine trials confirmed that suppressing future imaginings does indeed recruit brain regions typically associated with memory suppression (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34) (Fig. 5A).…”

Section: Future Suppression Engages Brain Systems Involved In Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…This mechanism recruits right dlPFC, which originates an inhibitory signal that down-regulates activation in brain regions supporting both retrieval and episode-construction processes. Paralleling the suppression of recently acquired memories (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34), the regions targeted by future suppression included the HC, a structure that is fundamental for the retrieval of past episodes and the construction of coherent future and fictitious events (20,21).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We then configured four model families (each entailing all three basic models) that systematically varied the connections that could be modulated during suppression (similar to refs. 28,29,33) (Fig. 6A).…”

Section: Future Suppression Engages Brain Systems Involved In Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The winning model family thus entailed a modulation of the connection from the dlPFC to regions likely involved in episodic simulation. We then compared the models within that family and thus examined whether the dlPFC modulated the HC (as previously shown during suppression of simple verbal and visual memories) (28,29,33) or whether it also modulated the vmPFC. Critically, BMS deemed those models to be overwhelmingly superior that featured modulation of both HC and vmPFC targets rather than just a modulation of single sites (EP > 0.99).…”

Section: Future Suppression Engages Brain Systems Involved In Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When confronted with an unwelcome reminder, people can suppress retrieval of the associated unwanted memory (27)(28)(29). Such suppression is thought to be achieved by down-regulating brain regions supporting memory storage and retrieval, via modulatory influence of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Reducing future fears by suppressing the brain mechanisms underlying episodic simulation

Benoit

Davies

Anderson

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Imagining future events conveys adaptive benefits, yet recurrent simulations of feared situations may help to maintain anxiety. In two studies, we tested the hypothesis that people can attenuate future fears by suppressing anticipatory simulations of dreaded events. Participants repeatedly imagined upsetting episodes that they feared might happen to them and suppressed imaginings of other such events. Suppressing imagination engaged the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which modulated activation in the hippocampus and in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Consistent with the role of the vmPFC in providing access to details that are typical for an event, stronger inhibition of this region was associated with greater forgetting of such details. Suppression further hindered participants’ ability to later freely envision suppressed episodes. Critically, it also reduced feelings of apprehensiveness about the feared scenario, and individuals who were particularly successful at down-regulating fears were also less trait-anxious. Attenuating apprehensiveness by suppressing simulations of feared events may thus be an effective coping strategy, suggesting that a deficiency in this mechanism could contribute to the development of anxiety.

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Section: Future Suppression Engages Brain Systems Involved In Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 59%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Future Suppression Engages Brain Systems Involved In Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Future Suppression Engages Brain Systems Involved In Retrievalmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Reducing future fears by suppressing the brain mechanisms underlying episodic simulation

Benoit

Davies

Anderson

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Investigating the mediating effect of working memory on intentional forgetting in dysphoria

Noreen

Cooke

Ridout

2019

Psychological Research

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Our aim was to determine if deficits in intentional forgetting that are associated with depression and dysphoria (subclinical depression) could be explained, at least in part, by variations in working memory function. Sixty dysphoric and 61 nondysphoric participants completed a modified version of the think/no-think (TNT) task and a measure of complex working memory (the operation span task). The TNT task involved participants learning a series of emotional cue-target word pairs, before being presented with a subset of the cues and asked to either recall the associated target (think) or to prevent it from coming to mind (no think) by thinking about a substitute target word. Participants were subsequently asked to recall the targets to all cues (regardless of previous recall instructions). As expected, after controlling for anxiety, we found that dysphoric individuals exhibited impaired forgetting relative to the non-dysphoric participants. Also as expected, we found that superior working memory function was associated with more successful forgetting. Critically, in the dysphoric group, we found that working memory mediated the effect of depression on intentional forgetting. That is, depression influenced forgetting indirectly via its effect on working memory. However, under conditions of repeated suppression, there was also a direct effect of depression on forgetting. These findings represent an important development in the understanding of impaired forgetting in depression and also suggest that working memory training might be a viable intervention for improving the ability of depressed individuals to prevent unwanted memories from coming to mind.

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Dynamic internal states shape memory retrieval

et al. 2020

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Why do we sometimes easily retrieve memories, but other times appear to forget them? We often look to our external environment for retrieval cues, but another way to optimize memory retrieval is to be in a mental state, or mode, that prioritizes access to our internal representation of the world. Such a 'retrieval mode' was proposed by Endel Tulving (1983), who considered it a neurocognitive state in which one keeps the goal of memory retrieval in mind. Building on Tulving's proposal, we review converging evidence from multiple lines of research that emphasize the importance of internal states in the instantiation of retrieval modes that optimize successful remembering. We identify three key factors that contribute to a retrieval mode by modulating either the likelihood or the content of retrieval: (1) an intention to remember or forget (either in the present or the future), (2) attentional selection of goalrelevant memories and suppression of distractors, and (3) fluctuating levels of acetylcholine in the hippocampus. We discuss empirical evidence that these internal states individually influence memory retrieval and propose how they may interact synergistically. Characterizing these dynamic internal factors is an important key for unlocking our understanding of the organization and accessibility of our memories.

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Suppressing Unwanted Memories Reduces Their Unconscious Influence via Targeted Cortical Inhibition

Cited by 19 publications

References 42 publications

Reducing future fears by suppressing the brain mechanisms underlying episodic simulation

Reducing future fears by suppressing the brain mechanisms underlying episodic simulation

Investigating the mediating effect of working memory on intentional forgetting in dysphoria

Dynamic internal states shape memory retrieval

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