Losing memories during sleep after targeted memory reactivation

Simon, Katharine; Gómez, Rebecca L.; Nadel, Lynn

doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2018.03.003

Cited by 30 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In prior TMR studies, cues during sleep have generally improved recall 19,23 , whereas here the cues apparently reactivated memory-suppression instructions so as to produce a decline in recall accuracy. These results are in line with those from another study that used TMR to induce forgetting based on a different directed-forgetting procedure 20 . Taken together, our studies provide compelling evidence that manipulation of memory processing during sleep may be used to weaken memories in certain contexts.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…First, the directed-forgetting sound used by Simon and colleagues gained its meaning in the context of one memory task and the critical memories reactivated during sleep came from another task. Also, the design used by Simon and colleagues 20 could not rule out the possibility that this sound influenced memory storage due to general memory interference. In other words, forgetting may have arisen due to a specific action of the cue or due to a generically disruptive effect of a sound from a different memory task.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our data can be explained by assuming that TBF-c sounds presented during sleep reactivated both memories for the associated images and memories for forgetting actions. Simon et al 20 presented a generic forget cue and an item cue conjointly, rather than using a TMR cue with a pre-established association with specific items. The two studies thus used different procedures with different limitations, but together the results provide strong support for the idea that an active, forgetting action can be engaged using TMR.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Targeted memory reactivation during sleep boosts intentional forgetting of spatial locations

Schechtman

Witkowski

Lampe

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Although we experience thousands of distinct events on a daily basis, relatively few are committed to memory. the human capacity to intentionally control which events will be remembered has been demonstrated using learning procedures with instructions to purposely avoid committing specific items to memory. in this study, we used a variant of the item-based directed-forgetting procedure and instructed participants to memorize the location of some images but not others on a grid. these instructions were conveyed using a set of auditory cues. then, during an afternoon nap, we unobtrusively presented a cue that was used to instruct participant to avoid committing the locations of some images to memory. After sleep, memory was worse for to-be-forgotten image locations associated with the presented sound relative to those associated with a sound that was not presented during sleep. We conclude that memory processing during sleep can serve not only to secure memory storage but also to weaken it. Given that intentional suppression may be used to weaken unpleasant memories, such sleep-based strategies may help accelerate treatments for memory-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Out of the multitude of events humans experience each day, relatively few are retained as declarative memories to support subsequent recall or recognition. Whereas forgetting has often been viewed as a negative, its adaptive role has gained prominence 1. Additionally, control over memory processes, including the retrieval of intrusive memories, has been hypothesized to support emotional regulation 2. Deficits in the capacity to actively suppress intrusive memories has been associated with disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder 3. Forgetting involves the passive decay of memories 4,5 , but inhibitory neurocognitive mechanisms may also contribute to declining recollective abilities. This effect, termed active forgetting, is supported by adaptive, flexible processes that suppress memory-related brain networks 6-8. Possible mechanisms for active forgetting range from prefrontal inhibition 6 on the systems level to dopaminergic forgetting cells 7 and neurogenesis 8 on the cellular level. Most of these models are similar in that they involve a newly acquired, learning-like process that targets core memory structures or cells and suppresses them. An outstanding question is whether these inhibitory circuits, established through suppression learning, are strengthened during sleep, as is the case for declarative and nondeclarative memories generally 9. Several memory paradigms, such as extinction and "Think-No Think" 10 , have attempted to model active forgetting by using intentional, motivated suppression of memories. Another paradigm, item-based directed forgetting, involves exposure to remember-or forget-instructions directly after exposure to an item. To-be-forgotten (TBF) items are later recalled at lower rates relative to to-be-remembered (TBR) items 11 , an effect putatively mediated, in part, by active inhibitory proce...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Targeted memory reactivation during sleep boosts intentional forgetting of spatial locations

Schechtman

Witkowski

Lampe

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although TMR is typically used to strengthen episodic memory, a recent study demonstrated that it is also possible to use TMR to impair episodic memory by cueing study participants during sleep with a tone linked to an intention to forget 29 . This study combined TMR with another class of memory-editing techniques often called motivated or directed forgetting, which we will broadly term 'memory control' .…”

Section: Review Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory editing from science fiction to clinical practice

Phelps

Hofmann

2019

Nature

131

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Science fiction notions of altering problematic memories are starting to become reality as techniques emerge through which unique memories can be edited. Here we review memory-editing research with a focus on improving the treatment of psychopathology. Studies highlight two windows of memory vulnerability: initial storage, or consolidation; and restorage after retrieval, or reconsolidation. Techniques have been identified that can modify memories at each stage, but translating these methods from animal models to humans has been challenging and implementation into clinical therapies has produced inconsistent benefits. The science of memory editing is more complicated and nuanced than fiction, but its rapid development holds promise for future applications.

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“…These results suggest that TMR may work differently with emotional memories, selectively weakening rather than strengthening them, possibly a consequence of fear conditioning and extinction relying on different neural pathways (Tovote, Fadok, & Lüthi, 2015). These findings have practical implications for clinical settings in which TMR could be used to modify fearful memories in psychological disorders such as anxiety and PTSD (see also Simon, Gómez, & Nadel, 2018). In fact, since individuals are asleep during TMR, they are unaware of CS re-exposure, and thus this technique might be preferable to traditional exposure therapies during wakefulness whereby anxiety symptoms can be worsened (Meuret, Siedel, Rosenfield, Hofmann, & Rosenfield, 2012).…”

Section: Consolidationmentioning

confidence: 99%