Selectively Interfering With Intrusive but Not Voluntary Memories of a Trauma Film: Accounting for the Role of Associative Memory
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Lau-Zhu A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8579330 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Methods to reduce intrusive memories (e.g., of traumatic events) should ideally spare voluntary memory for the same event (e.g., to report on the event in court). Single-trace memory accounts assume that interfering with a trace should impact both its involuntary and voluntary expressions, whereas separate-trace accounts assume these two can dissociate, allowing for selective interference. This possibility was investigated in 3 experiments. Nonclinical participants viewed a trauma film followed by an interference task (Tetris game-play after reminder cues). Next, memory for the film was assessed with various measures. The interference task reduced the number of intrusive memories (diary-based, Experiments 1 and 2), but spared performance on well-matched measures of voluntary retrieval-free recall (Experiment 1) and recognition (Experiments 1 and 2)-challenging single-trace accounts. The interference task did not affect other measures of involuntary retrieval-perceptual priming (Experiment 1) or attentional bias (Experiment 2). However, the interference task did reduce the number of intrusive memories in a laboratory-based vigilance-intrusion task (Experiments 2 and 3), irrespective of concurrent working memory load during intrusion retrieval (Experiment 3). Collectively, results reveal a robust dissociation between intrusive and voluntary memories, having ruled out key methodological differences between how these two memory expressions are assessed, namely cue overlap (Experiment 1), attentional capture (Experiment 2), and retrieval load (Experiment 3). We argue that the inability of these retrieval factors to explain the selective interference is more compatible with separate-trace than single-trace accounts. Further theoretical developments are needed to account for this clinically important distinction between intrusive memories and their voluntary counterpart. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
| S-EPMC7116494 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundA key mechanism thought to underlie Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is enhanced emotional memory consolidation. Recent evidence in healthy controls revealed that women have greater negative memory consolidation following stress relative to men. This study examined emotional memory consolidation in women and men with PTSD, and in trauma-exposed and non-trauma controls to test the hypothesis that emotionally negative memory consolidation would be greater in women with PTSD.MethodOne hundred and forty-seven men and women (47 with PTSD, 49 trauma-exposed controls, and 51 non-trauma controls) completed an emotional memory task where they looked at negative, neutral and positive images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Delayed recall and an intrusive memory diary were completed two days later.ResultsWomen displayed greater recall, and reported more negative intrusive memories than men. A gender x group interaction effect showed that both women with PTSD and trauma-exposed women reported more intrusive memories than women without trauma exposure or men.ConclusionThis study provided preliminary evidence of sex differences in intrusive memories in those with PTSD as well as those with a history of trauma exposure. Future research should include measures of sex hormones to further examine sex differences on memory consolidation in the context of trauma exposure and PTSD.
| S-EPMC6283557 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background: Women are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than men. Recent research suggests an impact of oral contraceptive (OC) intake on PTSD and intrusive memories, a hallmark symptom of PTSD. Although a majority of women use OCs at some point in their lives, the effects on PTSD pathogenesis are only poorly understood.Objective: In the current paper, we aimed to investigate the impact of OC intake on the acquisition and consolidation of intrusive memories in healthy women after watching a trauma film paradigm.Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of a pooled dataset (N = 437) of two previously conducted and published studies investigating the effect of oxytocin on the development of intrusive memories.Results: Women taking OCs showed an attenuated decline of intrusive memories over time after having watched the trauma film compared to naturally cycling women (F(2.75, 1167) = 3.79, p = .03, ηp2 = .01).Conclusion: These findings indicate that the intake of OCs is associated with the development of intrusive memories after a trauma film paradigm. This indication emphasizes the need to further investigate the complex impact of OCs and gonadal hormones on fear learning processes and PTSD.
| S-EPMC10990444 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Research has shown that high trait anxiety can alter multisensory processing of threat cues (by amplifying integration of angry faces and voices); however, it remains unknown whether differences in multisensory processing play a role in the psychological response to trauma. This study examined the relationship between multisensory emotion processing and intrusive memories over seven days following exposure to an analogue trauma in a sample of 55 healthy young adults. We used an adapted version of the trauma film paradigm, where scenes showing a car accident trauma were presented using virtual reality, rather than a conventional 2D film. Multisensory processing was assessed prior to the trauma simulation using a forced choice emotion recognition paradigm with happy, sad and angry voice-only, face-only, audiovisual congruent (face and voice expressed matching emotions) and audiovisual incongruent expressions (face and voice expressed different emotions). We found that increased accuracy in recognising anger (but not happiness and sadness) in the audiovisual condition relative to the voice- and face-only conditions was associated with more intrusions following VR trauma. Despite previous results linking trait anxiety and intrusion development, no significant influence of trait anxiety on intrusion frequency was observed. Enhanced integration of threat-related information (i.e. angry faces and voices) could lead to overly threatening appraisals of stressful life events and result in greater intrusion development after trauma.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10055-023-00784-1.
| S-EPMC10442266 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Memory of a traumatic event becomes consolidated within hours. Intrusive memories can then flash back repeatedly into the mind's eye and cause distress. We investigated whether reconsolidation-the process during which memories become malleable when recalled-can be blocked using a cognitive task and whether such an approach can reduce these unbidden intrusions. We predicted that reconsolidation of a reactivated visual memory of experimental trauma could be disrupted by engaging in a visuospatial task that would compete for visual working memory resources. We showed that intrusive memories were virtually abolished by playing the computer game Tetris following a memory-reactivation task 24 hr after initial exposure to experimental trauma. Furthermore, both memory reactivation and playing Tetris were required to reduce subsequent intrusions (Experiment 2), consistent with reconsolidation-update mechanisms. A simple, noninvasive cognitive-task procedure administered after emotional memory has already consolidated (i.e., > 24 hours after exposure to experimental trauma) may prevent the recurrence of intrusive memories of those emotional events.
| S-EPMC4526368 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Intrusive memories often take the form of distressing images that emerge into a person's awareness, unbidden. A fundamental goal of clinical neuroscience is to understand the mechanisms allowing people to control these memory intrusions and reduce their emotional impact. Mnemonic control engages a right frontoparietal network that interrupts episodic retrieval by modulating hippocampal activity; less is known, however, about how this mechanism contributes to affect regulation. Here we report evidence in humans (males and females) that stopping episodic retrieval to suppress an unpleasant image triggers parallel inhibition of mnemonic and emotional content. Using fMRI, we found that regulation of both mnemonic and emotional content was driven by a shared frontoparietal inhibitory network and was predicted by a common profile of medial temporal lobe downregulation involving the anterior hippocampus and the amygdala. Critically, effective connectivity analysis confirmed that reduced amygdala activity was not merely an indirect consequence of hippocampal suppression; rather, both the hippocampus and the amygdala were targeted by a top-down inhibitory control signal originating from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This negative coupling was greater when unwanted memories intruded into awareness and needed to be purged. Together, these findings support the broad principle that retrieval suppression is achieved by regulating hippocampal processes in tandem with domain-specific brain regions involved in reinstating specific content, in an activity-dependent fashion.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Upsetting events sometimes trigger intrusive images that cause distress and that may contribute to psychiatric disorders. People often respond to intrusions by suppressing their retrieval, excluding them from awareness. Here we examined whether suppressing aversive images might also alter emotional responses to them, and the mechanisms underlying such changes. We found that the better people were at suppressing intrusions, the more it reduced their emotional responses to suppressed images. These dual effects on memory and emotion originated from a common right prefrontal cortical mechanism that downregulated the hippocampus and amygdala in parallel. Thus, suppressing intrusions affected emotional content. Importantly, participants who did not suppress intrusions well showed increased negative affect, suggesting that suppression deficits render people vulnerable to psychiatric disorders.
| S-EPMC5511877 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has escalated the global need for remotely delivered and scalable interventions after psychological trauma. A brief intervention involving a computer game as an imagery-competing task has shown promising results for reducing the number of intrusive memories of trauma-one of the core clinical symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. To date, the intervention has only been delivered face-to-face. To be tested and implemented on a wider scale, digital adaptation for remote delivery is crucial. An important first step is to develop digitalized intervention materials in a systematic way based on feedback from clinicians, researchers, and students in preparation for pilot testing with target users.ObjectiveThe first aim of this study is to obtain and analyze qualitative feedback on digital intervention materials, namely two animated videos and two quizzes that explain the target clinical symptoms and provide intervention instructions. The second aim is to refine the digitalized materials based on this feedback.MethodsWe conducted semistructured interviews with 12 participants who had delivered or had knowledge of the intervention when delivered face-to-face. We obtained in-depth feedback on the perceived feasibility of using the digitalized materials and suggestions for improvements. Interviews were assessed using qualitative content analysis, and suggested improvements were evaluated for implementation using a systematic method of prioritization.ResultsA total of three overarching themes were identified from the data. First, participants were highly positive about the potential benefits of using these digital materials for remote delivery, reporting that the videos effectively conveyed key concepts of the symptom and its treatment. Second, some modifications to the materials were suggested for improving clarity. On the basis of this feedback, we made nine specific changes. Finally, participants raised some key challenges for remote delivery, mainly in overcoming the lack of real-time communication during the intervention.ConclusionsClinicians, researchers, and clinical psychology students were overall confident in the use of digitalized materials to remotely deliver a brief intervention to reduce intrusive memories of trauma. Guided by participant feedback, we identified and implemented changes to refine the intervention materials. This study lays the groundwork for the next step: pilot testing remote delivery of the full intervention to trauma survivors.
| S-EPMC7939943 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundAdditional interventions are needed for survivors of psychological trauma because of several barriers to and limitations of existing treatment options (eg, need to talk about the trauma in detail). Case studies are an important step in exploring the development of novel interventions, allowing detailed examination of individual responses to treatment over time. Here, we present a case study that aims to test a novel intervention designed to disrupt memory reconsolidation, taking a single-symptom approach by focusing on intrusive memories of a traumatic event.ObjectiveThis study aims to examine a novel brief cognitive intervention to reduce the number of intrusive memories of trauma in an Icelandic setting and to extend previous studies by examining long-term effects for up to 3 months. The intervention was guided by a clinical psychologist and comprised a brief memory reminder, followed by Tetris gameplay with mental rotation, targeting one memory at a time in each session.MethodsThis was a single case study in Iceland with a woman in her 50s (drawn from an epidemiological study of trauma) with subthreshold posttraumatic stress disorder and a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder. The participant had four different intrusive memories from a traumatic event that happened in her childhood. The primary outcome was the change in the number of intrusive memories from baseline to intervention phase and to follow-ups. The number of intrusions was monitored in a daily diary for 4 weeks preintervention, 8 weeks during the intervention, and 1 week at 1-month and 3-month follow-ups. Intrusions were targeted one by one over six intervention sessions, creating four repetitions of an AB design (ie, length of baseline A and intervention phase B varied for each memory). We examined changes in both the total number of intrusions (summed across all four memories) and individually for each memory. In addition, we explored whether having fewer intrusive memories would have an impact on functioning, posttraumatic stress, and depression or anxiety symptoms.ResultsThe total number of intrusions per week was 12.6 at baseline, 6.1 at the intervention phase (52% reduction from baseline), 3.0 at the 1-month follow-up (76% reduction), and 1.0 at the 3-month follow-up (92% reduction). Reductions in the symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression were observed postintervention. Sleep, concentration, stress, and functioning improved. The participant considered the gameplay intervention acceptable and helpful in that she found that the memories disappeared while she was playing.ConclusionsThis guided brief cognitive intervention reduced the number of intrusive memories over the intervention phase and follow-ups. The brief memory reminder was well tolerated, removing the need to discuss trauma in detail. The next steps require an extension to more cases and exploring remote delivery of the intervention.
| S-EPMC8603162 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Oxytocin administration during a trauma analogue has been shown to increase intrusive memories, which are a core symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it is unknown whether oxytocin influences the acquisition or the consolidation of the trauma. The current study investigates the effect of the activation of the oxytocin system during the consolidation of an analogue trauma on the formation of intrusive memories over four consecutive days and whether this effect is influenced by individual neurobiological, genetic, or psychological factors. We conducted a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study in 217 healthy women. They received either a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) or placebo after exposure to a trauma film paradigm, which reliably induces intrusive memories. We used a general random forest to examine a potential heterogeneous treatment effect of oxytocin on the consolidation of intrusive memories. Furthermore, we used a poisson regression to examine whether salivary alpha amylase activity (sAA) as a marker of noradrenergic activity and cortisol response to the film, polygenic risk score (PRS) for psychiatric disorders, and psychological factors influence the number of intrusive memories. We found no significant effect of oxytocin on the formation of intrusive memories (F(2, 543.16) = 0.75, p = 0.51, ηp2 = 0.00) and identified no heterogeneous treatment effect. We replicated previous associations of the PRS for PTSD, sAA and the cortisol response on intrusive memories. We further found a positive association between high trait anxiety and intrusive memories, and a negative association between the emotion regulation strategy reappraisal and intrusive memories. Data of the present study suggest that the consolidation of intrusive memories in women is modulated by genetic, neurobiological and psychological factors, but is not influenced by oxytocin. Trial registration: NCT03875391.
| S-EPMC9899212 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Intrusive memories of trauma are recurrent distressing sensory-perceptual impressions of the traumatic event that enter consciousness spontaneously and unwanted. They often contain the worst moment/s ('hotspots') of the trauma memory and have primarily been studied in clinical populations after real trauma. Intrusive memories can also be studied using analogue trauma as an 'experimental psychology model'. Little is known about the features of analogue trauma hotspots. Here we report an ancillary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial. Seventy non-clinical participants viewed a trauma film containing COVID-19 related footage. Features of hotspots/intrusive memories of the film were explored using linguistic analysis and qualitative content coding. Participants reported on average five hotspots (M = 9.5 words/hotspot). Akin to hotspots soon after real trauma, analogue hotspots/intrusions primarily contained words related to space. Most contained sensory features, yet few cognitions and emotions. Results indicate that features of analogue trauma hotspots mirror those of hotspots soon after real trauma, speaking to the clinical validity of this 'experimental psychology model'.ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04608097, registered on 29/10/2020.
| S-EPMC9052176 | biostudies-literature