We conducted several experiments, all with the aim to contribute to innovative, science-based therapies for trauma-related mental disorders. The main experiment involved a 3-day paradigm to examine the link between the neural profile of emotional memory consolidation and subsequent voluntary and involuntary memory for distressing film clips. To this end, we applied ‘multi-voxel correlation structure’ (a multivariate fMRI analysis technique developed to capture both the spatial and temporal information underlying complex emotional events) in order to assess the persistence of film-related activity in post-encoding and post-reactivation rest periods. Furthermore, we applied ‘multi-voxel pattern analysis’ to decode the reoccurrence of ‘hotspot’ moments (the worst moments that are likely to come back as intrusions in the following week) in post-encoding brain activity. This enabled us to relate the degree to which film-specific neural activity patterns persist during post-film rest periods to how well individuals remember details of the clip (voluntary recall) a week later, and to the frequency of intrusive memories that they recorded in a daily diary.
The results of this work have been presented at several national and international conferences, e.g. the 25th annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society in Boston, and will soon be submitted for publication in a scientific journal. A main theory paper on the malleability of emotional memory was also published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (
https://www.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0209(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)). Another theoretical paper on how cognitive science has contributed to our understanding of the development and treatment of intrusive memories of trauma was published in Clinical Psychology Review (
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2018.08.005(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)).
In addition, we continue the development of new analytical tools to address the first question in greater depth, asking about the nature of the possible dissociation between involuntary and voluntary memory. This will help us in the future to better understand neural mechanisms underlying the weakening of involuntary emotional memory.
Another, more translational, experiment looked at how we can use competing task methodology shortly after a distressing event to weaken intrusive emotional memory. It investigated the feasibility of delivering such interventions via people's smartphones during critical time-windows of memory malleability (Figure 1). This experiment provided the necessary groundwork for ongoing studies in Sweden on the scalability of simple-to-deliver psychological interventions for trauma-related symptoms.
Exploitation of the results includes a contribution to our understanding of trauma-related symptoms and psychological treatment innovation. Regular meetings between scientists and clinicians alongside public engagement activities foster this.
