Context reexposure to bolster contextual dependency of emotional episodic memory

Abstract

Contextual overgeneralization of emotional memory is believed to be a core aspect of affective disorders. Identifying methods to restrict emotional memory activation to its original encoding context is therefore of significant clinical interest. Preliminary evidence from rodent research points to a promising approach: reexposure to the context in which fear conditioning took place seems to reduce fear generalization to other contexts. However, it remains unknown which mechanisms underlie these effects, even though such fundamental knowledge is crucial for successful translation to interventions. Importantly, exposure to a context that resembles – but is not identical to – the encoding context may lead to diminished contextual dependency of memory by integration of additional contextual cues. Here, we therefore assessed in a large-scale study (N=180) whether reexposure to the encoding context enhances contextual dependency of episodic memory and whether exposure to a similar context impairs it. We also tested whether such effects are predicted by the strength of memory retrieval during context (re)exposure. The results showed that correct recognition depends on context and that such contextual dependency is lower for emotional than neutral memories, which replicates prior research. However, exposure to the encoding context or a similar context did not affect contextual dependency of emotional or neutral memory. Also, retrieval strength did not predict any effects. Thorough insight into factors underlying the effects of context (re)exposure on contextual dependency seems key to eventually attain a therapeutic memory recontextualization intervention