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Inducing amnesia through systemic suppression.

Justin C Hulbert1, Richard N Henson2, Michael C Anderson2,3

  • 1Bard College, Psychology Program, PO Box 5000, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504, USA.

Nature Communications
|March 16, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Intentionally suppressing unwanted memories can cause forgetting of other unrelated experiences, creating an "amnesic shadow." This effect, linked to reduced hippocampal activity, highlights a new form of cognitive amnesia.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Memory Research
  • Neurobiology of Forgetting

Background:

  • Hippocampal damage severely impairs new memory formation.
  • Healthy individuals can experience memory lapses due to temporary disruptions in hippocampal function.
  • Intentional memory suppression (retrieval stopping) involves the lateral prefrontal cortex and reduces hippocampal activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether intentionally suppressing memory retrieval leads to forgetting of unrelated experiences.
  • To characterize the nature and extent of this induced forgetting phenomenon.
  • To explore the neural mechanisms underlying this form of cognitive amnesia.

Main Methods:

  • Participants intentionally suppressed retrieval of specific unwanted memories.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Memory for unrelated experiences from surrounding time periods was assessed.
  • Hippocampal activity was monitored, and the relationship between suppression practice and forgetting was examined.

    • Main Results:

    • Intentional retrieval suppression significantly increased the likelihood of forgetting unrelated memories.
    • This 'amnesic shadow' effect showed a dose-response relationship with suppression and worsened with practice.
    • Reduced hippocampal activity predicted the extent of forgetting, indicating disturbed hippocampal function.

    Conclusions:

    • Retrieval stopping employs a suppression mechanism that broadly disrupts hippocampal processes.
    • Hippocampal stabilization can be strategically interrupted, leading to a novel form of cognitively triggered amnesia.
    • This unrecognized forgetting process may explain memory lapses observed after traumatic events.