Reframing the Past: Role of Memory Processes in Emotion Regulation
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REVIEW
Reframing the Past: Role of Memory Processes in Emotion Regulation Rosalie Samide1 · Maureen Ritchey1 Accepted: 9 October 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Background The ability to modulate undesirable emotions is essential for maintaining mental health. Negative emotions can arise both while experiencing and remembering an unpleasant event, which presents a persistent emotion regulation challenge because emotional memories tend to be particularly vivid and enduring. Despite the central role that memories play in our affective lives, little is known about the memory processes supporting successful regulation of emotions associated with long-term memories, which we refer to as retrospective emotion regulation. Methods In this paper, we review the literature on the mechanisms of memory modification, which may contribute to the success of retrospective emotion regulation. In particular, we review rodent and human studies that examine the modification of conditioned fear associations and emotional episodic memories. Conclusions Based on this literature, we conclude that memory reactivation plays a crucial role in memory modification. We discuss further the potential role of memory reactivation in mediating the success of cognitive reappraisal, which may be considered a special case of memory modification. We propose that the completeness, or strength, of reactivation during retrospective emotion regulation will be related to the likelihood of updating an episodic memory, reducing its emotional impact upon later recall. Understanding the role of memory processes in emotion regulation can help to inform research on memory-based treatments for affective disorders. Keywords Emotion regulation · Cognitive reappraisal · Episodic memory · Fear extinction · Reactivation · Reconsolidation
Introduction The ability to appropriately regulate emotions is critical for maintaining mental health (Gross and Muñoz 1995). When an unwanted emotion is triggered, control may be exerted over different cognitive processes in an attempt to reduce the unpleasant feeling. For example, internal or external attention can be reallocated to reduce awareness of the triggering stimulus, cognitive appraisals can modulate the emotional significance, and inward or outward emotional responses can be tempered (Ochsner et al. 2012). However, the need to regulate one’s emotions does not end once the emotion-triggering event is over. Rather, memories for emotional experiences are particularly enduring (Christianson and Loftus * Rosalie Samide [email protected] * Maureen Ritchey [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
1990; Sheldon and Levine 2013; Yonelinas and Ritchey 2015), and thus negative memories can create a persistent emotion regulation challenge. Memory and affective symptoms are intertwined in many psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression (Elzinga and Bremner 2002)— for
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