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-exp

SUBMITTER: Catarino A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4426138 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature