Benoit & Anderson (2012)

Opposing Mechanisms Support the Voluntary Forgetting of Unwanted Memories

Neuron, 76(2), 450-460

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Abstract

Reminders of the past can trigger the recollection of events that one would rather forget. Here, using fMRI, we demonstrate two distinct neural mechanisms that foster the intentional forgetting of such unwanted memories. Both mechanisms impair long-term retention by limiting momentary awareness of the memories, yet they operate in opposite ways. One mechanism, direct suppression, disengages episodic retrieval through the systemic inhibition of hippocampal processing that originates from right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC). The opposite mechanism, thought substitution, instead engages retrieval processes to occupy the limited focus of awareness with a substitute memory. It is mediated by interactions between left caudal and midventrolateral PFC that support the selective retrieval of substitutes in the context of prepotent, unwanted memories. These findings suggest that we are not at the mercy of passive forgetting; rather, our memories can be shaped by two opposite mechanisms of mnemonic control.

Reference

Benoit, R. G., & Anderson, M. C. (2012). Opposing mechanisms support the voluntary forgetting of unwanted memories. Neuron, 76(2), 450–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.07.025

What Rests on This

1 mechanism cites this source. Each finding below is quoted as it appears on that mechanism's own page.

Motivated Forgetting Memory Processes

Definition

Within retrieval suppression, direct suppression (blocking the memory) is distinct from thought substitution (deliberately recalling a replacement memory); the two produce forgetting through opposite routes
Neural substrate

In fMRI, direct suppression reduced hippocampal activity via inhibition originating in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, whereas thought substitution engaged left caudal and mid-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex to retrieve substitute memories