Aversive events sometimes turn into intrusive memories. However, prior evidence indicates that such memories can be controlled via a mechanism of retrieval suppression. Here, we test the hypothesis that suppression exerts a sustained influence on memories by deteriorating their neural representations. This deterioration, in turn, would hinder their subsequent reactivation and thus impoverish the vividness with which they can be recalled. In an fMRI study, participants repeatedly suppressed memories of aversive scenes. As predicted, this process rendered the memories less vivid. Using a pattern classifier, we observed that suppression diminished the neural reactivation of scene information both globally across the brain and locally in the parahippocampal cortices. Moreover, the decline in vividness was associated with reduced reinstatement of unique memory representations in right parahippocampal cortex. These results support the hypothesis that suppression weakens memories by causing a sustained reduction in the potential to reactivate their neural representations.

中文翻译：

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抑制通过持续减少神经再激活来削弱不需要的记忆

厌恶的事件有时会变成侵入性的记忆。然而，先前的证据表明，这种记忆可以通过检索抑制机制进行控制。在这里，我们测试了抑制通过恶化记忆的神经表征对记忆施加持续影响的假设。反过来，这种恶化会阻碍它们随后的重新激活，从而使回忆起来的生动性变差。在一项 fMRI 研究中，参与者反复抑制对厌恶场景的记忆。正如预测的那样，这个过程使记忆变得不那么生动。使用模式分类器，我们观察到抑制减少了大脑中全局和海马旁皮质局部场景信息的神经重新激活。而且，生动性的下降与右侧海马旁皮质独特记忆表征的恢复减少有关。这些结果支持抑制通过导致重新激活其神经表征的潜力持续降低来削弱记忆的假设。