title: Cue-independent memory impairment by reactivation-coupled interference in human declarative memory.
abstract: Memory is a dynamic process. While memory becomes increasingly resistant to interference after consolidation, a brief reactivation renders it unstable again. Previous studies have shown that interference, when applied upon reactivation, impairs the consolidated memory, presumably by disrupting the reconsolidation of the memory. However, attempts have failed in disrupting human declarative memory, raising a question about whether declarative memory becomes unstable upon reactivation. Here, we used a double-cue/one-target paradigm, which associated the same target with two different cues in initial memory formation. Only one cue/target association was later reactivated and treated with behavioral interference. Our results showed, for the first time, that reactivation-coupled interference caused cue-independent memory impairment that generalized to other cues associated with the memory. Critically, such memory impairment appeared immediately after interference, before the reconsolidation process was completed, suggesting that common manipulations of reactivation-coupled interference procedures might disrupt other processes in addition to the reconsolidation process in human declarative memory.
authors.affiliation: Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biology at the School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Zijian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, and Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Zhijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biology at the School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Biqing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Huaqian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, and Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address: wuyh@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yanhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Biology at the School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address: yrao@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000069077:Memory Consolidation; D057567:Memory, Long-Term; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Declarative memory; Interference; Reactivation; Reconsolidation