title: Failing to forget: inhibitory-control deficits compromise memory suppression in posttraumatic stress disorder.
abstract: Most people have experienced distressing events that they would rather forget. Although memories of such events become less intrusive with time for the majority of people, those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are afflicted by vivid, recurrent memories of their trauma. Often triggered by reminders in the daily environment, these memories can cause severe distress and impairment. We propose that difficulties with intrusive memories in PTSD arise in part from a deficit in engaging inhibitory control to suppress episodic retrieval. We tested this hypothesis by adapting the think/no-think paradigm to investigate voluntary memory suppression of aversive scenes cued by naturalistic reminders. Retrieval suppression was compromised significantly in PTSD patients, compared with trauma-exposed control participants. Furthermore, patients with the largest deficits in suppression-induced forgetting were also those with the most severe PTSD symptoms. These results raise the possibility that prefrontal mechanisms supporting inhibitory control over memory are impaired in PTSD.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom ana.catarino@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catarino
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Freie Universität Berlin.
authors.forename: Charlotte S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Küpper
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Aliza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Werner-Seidler
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dalgleish
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council, Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom Behavioural and Clinical Neurosciences Institute, University of Cambridge.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: PTSD; forgetting; inhibitory control; memory suppression; thought control; trauma
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