Behavioral and Electrophysiological Correlates of Inhibition in Episodic Memory
(2011)- Abstract
- Forgetting can be highly functional when unwanted or irrelevant memory representations interfere with cognitive or motivational goals. Current theory assumes that forgetting can be brought about by the intentional or unintentional inhibition of interfering memory representations. In four studies, the present thesis investigated this claim by employing behavioral testing, and neuroimaging methods based on the electroencephalogram (EEG), event-related potentials (ERPs) and EEG oscillations.
Studies I-III employed adaptations of the think/no-think paradigm. Participants first engage in paired associate learning. Then, during the think/no-think phase, one member of the paired items (cues) is repeatedly presented with the instruction... (More) - Forgetting can be highly functional when unwanted or irrelevant memory representations interfere with cognitive or motivational goals. Current theory assumes that forgetting can be brought about by the intentional or unintentional inhibition of interfering memory representations. In four studies, the present thesis investigated this claim by employing behavioral testing, and neuroimaging methods based on the electroencephalogram (EEG), event-related potentials (ERPs) and EEG oscillations.
Studies I-III employed adaptations of the think/no-think paradigm. Participants first engage in paired associate learning. Then, during the think/no-think phase, one member of the paired items (cues) is repeatedly presented with the instruction to retrieve (think condition) or suppress (no-think condition) the associated target item. Study I showed that intentional suppression can reduce subsequent recognition memory performance for no-think items. This finding suggests that intentional suppression leads to a reduction of item memory strength by inhibition. Correct recognition of no-think items was accompanied by late positive ERPs, implying more effortful post-retrieval monitoring processes. Study II investigated ERPs during the think/no-think phase. In no-think trials, we observed a reduction of parietal positive-going ERPs between 500-600 ms, indicating that intentional suppression hampered the conscious recollection of unwanted memories. In addition, intentional suppression correlated with a pronounced negative ERP amplitude peak between 350-450 ms and a positive ERP slow wave at frontal electrode sites from 700-1000 ms. The negative peak correlated with a N2 ERP component observed in a stop-signal-task in the same participants, suggesting that memory suppression and motor stopping recruit similar inhibitory control networks. Study III explored the influence of memory strength, task-switching, suppression strategy, and compliance on the ERP correlates of memory suppression. A decrease of item memory strength over the time course of the think/no-think phase reflected in more negative going ERPs between 225-450 ms after cue onset. Besides mirroring the findings of Study I, the results also implied that negative going ERP components, assumed to reflect inhibitory control processes, may be superimposed on such neural correlates of strength reduction. The frontal positive slow-wave as observed in Study II was found to be enhanced after a switch from think to no-think trials, suggesting that the think/no-think manipulation also entails task switching processes reflecting in neural markers of executive control. Finally, a direct suppression strategy and higher compliance correlated with more negative going ERPs throughout the epoch.
Memory inhibition can aid the very act of remembering. Trying to retrieve a particular experience or fact often leads to the activation of other currently irrelevant memories. In order to remember the desired information, inhibitory control mechanisms are thought to be recruited in order to dampen the strength of interfering memories. Study IV was designed to track inhibition to the brain networks housing the traces of interfering memories. Participants learned abstract shapes that were paired with two different colors, one appearing in the left and the other in the right visual half-field. Subsequently, participants practiced retrieval of one color, selecting it over the other, competing color. In a final recall test, memory for competing colors was impaired. Between 90-430 ms, we observed an increase of oscillatory power in the alpha/beta band of the EEG at posterior electrode sites over the brain hemisphere housing the sensory representation of the competitor. In the light of strong evidence connecting EEG alpha/beta oscillation to inhibition, we regard this finding as direct neural evidence for the inhibition of interfering memories during selective retrieval.
Taken together, the results give strong evidence for the claim that undesired memories can be inhibited. Memory inhibition appears to act similar to inhibition in selective attention and motor control. The present thesis mainly aimed at investigating the underlying mechanisms in controlled laboratory settings and has implications for future studies in the field. The findings also contribute to understanding the symptoms and psychological processes in populations that display memory distortions and biases, such as the elderly, and patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Antagandet att människor är förmögna att kontrollera och avsiktligt glömma oönskade minnen har varit kontroversiellt allt sedan Freud (1915/2000) först antog den typen av psykologisk process. Men aktuell experimentell forskning ger ökat belägg för att avsiktligt undertryckande av oönskade minnen faktiskt kan leda till senare glömska (cf. Levy & Anderson, 2002). Resultat från beteende- och hjärnavbildningsstudier visar att detta fenomen är beroende av inhiberande kontrollmekanismer, likt de som är involverade i selektiv uppmärksamhet och kontroll av motorik. Vidare har det föreslagits att liknande kontrollprocesser agerar som ett stöd för att minnas. Minnesframplockning av specifika... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Antagandet att människor är förmögna att kontrollera och avsiktligt glömma oönskade minnen har varit kontroversiellt allt sedan Freud (1915/2000) först antog den typen av psykologisk process. Men aktuell experimentell forskning ger ökat belägg för att avsiktligt undertryckande av oönskade minnen faktiskt kan leda till senare glömska (cf. Levy & Anderson, 2002). Resultat från beteende- och hjärnavbildningsstudier visar att detta fenomen är beroende av inhiberande kontrollmekanismer, likt de som är involverade i selektiv uppmärksamhet och kontroll av motorik. Vidare har det föreslagits att liknande kontrollprocesser agerar som ett stöd för att minnas. Minnesframplockning av specifika erfarenheter eller fakta leder ofta till aktivering av andra irrelevanta minnen. För att minnas önskad information tros inhiberande kontrollmekanismer bli rekryterade oavsiktligt, i syfte att dämpa starka, interfererande minnen.
Föreliggande avhandling undersökte antagandet att inhibering av oönskade minnen kan leda till glömska. För detta ändamål innefattade de rapporterade studierna i avhandlingen beteendetestning samt hjärnavbildningsmetoder baserade på elektroencefalogram (EEG), Event-Related Potentials (ERP) och EEG oscillationer. Det kunde visas att avsiktligt undertryckande av oönskade minnen ledde till senare försämrat minne i den mån att det blev svårare att känna igen tidigare inlärt stimuli.
Vidare antydde ERP-data inspelade under igenkänningstest att korrekt igenkänning av stimuli som skulle undertryckas utlöste mer kontrollerad bearbetning efter minnesframplockning. ERP mätt under själva undertryckandet av oönskade minnen liknade och korrelerade med ERP-aktivitet observerad i en uppgift som krävde inhibitorisk kontroll av motorik. ERP-mönster tydde även på avsiktliga strategier under uppgiften att undertrycka samt att de experimentella metoder som användes för att mäta undertryckande av minne även utlöser andra exekutiva kontrollprocesser som interagerade med inhiberingen av interfererande minnesrepresentationer. I en avslutande studie undersöktes konsekvensen av selektiv minnesframplockning av interfererande minnesrepresentationer. Det framgick av EEG-oscillationer som vanligtvis reflekterar inhibitorisk kontroll i selektiv uppmärksamhet att hågkomst av önskad information ledde till en nedreglering av neural bearbetning i hjärnområden som lagrade interfererande minnesrepresentationer.
Sammantaget ger resultaten starkt stöd för antagandet att oönskade minnen kan inhiberas. Minnesinhibering tycks verka på ett liknande sätt som inhibering vid selektiv uppmärksamhet och inhibering av motorik. Främsta syftet med föreliggande avhandling var att undersöka de underliggande mekanismerna i en kontrollerad laboratoriemiljö och har konsekvenser för framtida studier inom området. Kunskapen bidrar även till förståelsen av symptom och psykologiska processer i populationer som uppvisar minnesförvrängningar och minnesproblem såsom äldre, patienter som lider av posttraumatisk stress (PTSD) och depression. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1963479
- author
- Waldhauser, Gerd LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Anderson, Michael C., MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
- organization
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- memory control, inhibition, EEG, ERP, forgetting
- pages
- 193 pages
- publisher
- Lund University
- defense location
- Humanisthusets hörsal, Helgonabacken 12, Lund
- defense date
- 2011-06-13 09:15:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-7473-138-5
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 8bd2174b-6009-483f-948e-24266d4c1fdb (old id 1963479)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 13:11:54
- date last changed
- 2021-03-08 09:51:13
@phdthesis{8bd2174b-6009-483f-948e-24266d4c1fdb,
abstract = {{Forgetting can be highly functional when unwanted or irrelevant memory representations interfere with cognitive or motivational goals. Current theory assumes that forgetting can be brought about by the intentional or unintentional inhibition of interfering memory representations. In four studies, the present thesis investigated this claim by employing behavioral testing, and neuroimaging methods based on the electroencephalogram (EEG), event-related potentials (ERPs) and EEG oscillations.<br/><br>
Studies I-III employed adaptations of the think/no-think paradigm. Participants first engage in paired associate learning. Then, during the think/no-think phase, one member of the paired items (cues) is repeatedly presented with the instruction to retrieve (think condition) or suppress (no-think condition) the associated target item. Study I showed that intentional suppression can reduce subsequent recognition memory performance for no-think items. This finding suggests that intentional suppression leads to a reduction of item memory strength by inhibition. Correct recognition of no-think items was accompanied by late positive ERPs, implying more effortful post-retrieval monitoring processes. Study II investigated ERPs during the think/no-think phase. In no-think trials, we observed a reduction of parietal positive-going ERPs between 500-600 ms, indicating that intentional suppression hampered the conscious recollection of unwanted memories. In addition, intentional suppression correlated with a pronounced negative ERP amplitude peak between 350-450 ms and a positive ERP slow wave at frontal electrode sites from 700-1000 ms. The negative peak correlated with a N2 ERP component observed in a stop-signal-task in the same participants, suggesting that memory suppression and motor stopping recruit similar inhibitory control networks. Study III explored the influence of memory strength, task-switching, suppression strategy, and compliance on the ERP correlates of memory suppression. A decrease of item memory strength over the time course of the think/no-think phase reflected in more negative going ERPs between 225-450 ms after cue onset. Besides mirroring the findings of Study I, the results also implied that negative going ERP components, assumed to reflect inhibitory control processes, may be superimposed on such neural correlates of strength reduction. The frontal positive slow-wave as observed in Study II was found to be enhanced after a switch from think to no-think trials, suggesting that the think/no-think manipulation also entails task switching processes reflecting in neural markers of executive control. Finally, a direct suppression strategy and higher compliance correlated with more negative going ERPs throughout the epoch. <br/><br>
Memory inhibition can aid the very act of remembering. Trying to retrieve a particular experience or fact often leads to the activation of other currently irrelevant memories. In order to remember the desired information, inhibitory control mechanisms are thought to be recruited in order to dampen the strength of interfering memories. Study IV was designed to track inhibition to the brain networks housing the traces of interfering memories. Participants learned abstract shapes that were paired with two different colors, one appearing in the left and the other in the right visual half-field. Subsequently, participants practiced retrieval of one color, selecting it over the other, competing color. In a final recall test, memory for competing colors was impaired. Between 90-430 ms, we observed an increase of oscillatory power in the alpha/beta band of the EEG at posterior electrode sites over the brain hemisphere housing the sensory representation of the competitor. In the light of strong evidence connecting EEG alpha/beta oscillation to inhibition, we regard this finding as direct neural evidence for the inhibition of interfering memories during selective retrieval.<br/><br>
Taken together, the results give strong evidence for the claim that undesired memories can be inhibited. Memory inhibition appears to act similar to inhibition in selective attention and motor control. The present thesis mainly aimed at investigating the underlying mechanisms in controlled laboratory settings and has implications for future studies in the field. The findings also contribute to understanding the symptoms and psychological processes in populations that display memory distortions and biases, such as the elderly, and patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.}},
author = {{Waldhauser, Gerd}},
isbn = {{978-91-7473-138-5}},
keywords = {{memory control; inhibition; EEG; ERP; forgetting}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Behavioral and Electrophysiological Correlates of Inhibition in Episodic Memory}},
year = {{2011}},
}