Agren et al. (2012)

Disruption of Reconsolidation Erases a Fear Memory Trace in the Human Amygdala

Science, 337(6101), 1550-1552

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Abstract

Memories become labile when recalled. In humans and rodents alike, reactivated fear memories can be attenuated by disrupting reconsolidation with extinction training. Using functional brain imaging, we found that, after a conditioned fear memory was formed, reactivation and reconsolidation left a memory trace in the basolateral amygdala that predicted subsequent fear expression and was tightly coupled to activity in the fear circuit of the brain. In contrast, reactivation followed by disrupted reconsolidation suppressed fear, abolished the memory trace, and attenuated fear-circuit connectivity. Thus, as previously demonstrated in rodents, fear memory suppression resulting from behavioral disruption of reconsolidation is amygdala-dependent also in humans, which supports an evolutionarily conserved memory-update mechanism.

Reference

Agren, T., Engman, J., Frick, A., Björkstrand, J., Larsson, E. M., Furmark, T., & Fredrikson, M. (2012). Disruption of reconsolidation erases a fear memory trace in the human amygdala. Science, 337(6101), 1550-1552. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1223006

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Reconsolidation Memory Processes

Neural substrate

Human fMRI showed that reactivation followed by undisturbed reconsolidation left a memory trace in the basolateral amygdala that predicted later fear, whereas disrupting reconsolidation with extinction abolished that trace and weakened fear-circuit connectivity