Memory consolidation reconfigures neural pathways involved in the suppression of emotional memories.

Yunzhe Liu,Chao Liu,Yuejia Luo,Shaozheng Qin,Jianhui Wu,Wanjun Lin,Peter J. Bayley

doi:10.1038/ncomms13375

Abstract

The ability to suppress unwanted emotional memories is crucial for human mental health. Through consolidation over time, emotional memories often become resistant to change. However, how consolidation impacts the effectiveness of emotional memory suppression is still unknown. Using event-related fMRI while concurrently recording skin conductance, we investigated the neurobiological processes underlying the suppression of aversive memories before and after overnight consolidation. Here we report that consolidated aversive memories retain their emotional reactivity and become more resistant to suppression. Suppression of consolidated memories involves higher prefrontal engagement, and less concomitant hippocampal and amygdala disengagement. In parallel, we show a shift away from hippocampal-dependent representational patterns to distributed neocortical representational patterns in the suppression of aversive memories after consolidation. These findings demonstrate rapid changes in emotional memory organization with overnight consolidation, and suggest possible neurobiological bases underlying the resistance to suppression of emotional memories in affective disorders.

Highlights

The ability to suppress unwanted emotional memories is crucial for human mental health
We addressed this question using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging memory suppression task coupled with overnight consolidation, which included memory acquisition, TNT and post-scan testing phases (Fig. 1a–c)
To further our understanding of how aversive memories become resistant to voluntary suppression after overnight consolidation, we investigated multivoxel activity patterns associated with individual aversive memories in newly acquired and overnight consolidation conditions

Summary

Introduction

The ability to suppress unwanted emotional memories is crucial for human mental health. We show a shift away from hippocampal-dependent representational patterns to distributed neocortical representational patterns in the suppression of aversive memories after consolidation These findings demonstrate rapid changes in emotional memory organization with overnight consolidation, and suggest possible neurobiological bases underlying the resistance to suppression of emotional memories in affective disorders. Emotional memories often become more resistant to suppression most likely through a process of consolidation in which sleep is thought to play a vital role[7,9,10]. It remains unknown how consolidation impacts the effectiveness of voluntary suppression of unwanted emotional memories. We addressed this question using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) memory suppression task coupled with overnight consolidation, which included memory acquisition, TNT and post-scan testing phases (Fig. 1a–c)

Methods

Results

Conclusion