Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Design and Implementation of an fMRI Study Examining Thought Suppression in Young Women with, and At-risk, for Depression
Published on: May 19, 2015
Overcoming suppression in order to remember: contributions from anterior cingulate and ventrolateral prefrontal
Brice A Kuhl1, Itamar Kahn, Nicole M Dudukovic
1Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2130, USA. bkuhl@stanford.edu
Abstract:
The ability to remember is often compromised by competition from irrelevant memories. However, acts of selective remembering can alter the competitive relationship between memories; memories that are selected against are weakened, whereas those that are retrieved are strengthened. Whereas the weakening of selected-against memories is typically evidenced by subsequently poorer recall of these memories, the present study tested the hypothesis that when previously selected-against memories can subsequently be successfully retrieved, such acts of successful retrieval are associated with engagement of neurobiological mechanisms that serve to detect and overcome competition. Consistent with this hypothesis, fMRI revealed that anteriorcingulate cortex and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex are differentially engaged during successful retrieval of previously selected-against memories, and that their engagement is directly related to the magnitude of weakening that is induced by prior acts of selecting against these memories.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory
Repressed Memory
Implicit Memories
One key aspect of implicit...
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory
Role of Amygdala in Memory
One of the...
Eyewitness Memory
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function like a...

