The role of stress during memory reactivation on intrusive memories
Abstract
Intrusive memories are unwanted recollections that maintain distress in psychological disorders. Increasing evidence suggests that memories that are reactivated through retrieval become temporarily vulnerable to environmental or pharmacological manipulation, including changes in levels of circulating stress hormones. This study investigated the influence of stress during memory reactivation of an emotionally arousing trauma film on subsequent intrusive memories. Three groups of participants (N=63) viewed a trauma film depicting a serious car accident at baseline. Two days later (Time 2), one group received a reactivation induction following a socially evaluated cold pressor test (SECPT; Stress/Reactivation condition), whilst the second group reactivated the memory after a control procedure (Reactivation condition). A third group underwent the SECPT but was not asked to reactivate memory of the trauma film (Stress condition). Two days later (Time 3), all participants received a surprise cued memory recall test and intrusions questionnaire which they completed online. Results showed that those in the Stress/Reactivation group had higher intrusions scores than the other two groups, suggesting that acute stress promotes intrusive memories only when the memory trace is reactivated shortly afterwards. Increased cortisol predicted enhanced intrusive experiences in the Stress/Reactivation condition but not in the other conditions. This pattern of results suggests that acute stress during the reactivation of emotional material impacts on involuntary emotional memories. These findings suggest a possible explanation for the mechanism underlying the maintenance of intrusive memories in clinical disorders.
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Only in the 'stress + reactivation' group did higher cortisol level predict a higher intrusion score.
“Only in the ‘stress + reactivation’ group did higher cortisol level predict a higher intrusion score.”
From Intrusive memories of trauma: A target for research bridging cognitive science and its clinical application (2019) · cites this paper as Cheung, Garber, & Bryant, 2015
The 'stress + reactivation' group had higher intrusion scores than both the 'reactivation only' or 'stress only' groups.
“Results showed that the ‘stress + reactivation’ group had higher intrusion scores than both the ‘reactivation only’ or ‘stress only’ groups”
From Intrusive memories of trauma: A target for research bridging cognitive science and its clinical application (2019) · cites this paper as Cheung, Garber, & Bryant, 2015
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Iyadurai, L., Visser, R. M., Lau-Zhu, A., Porcheret, K., Horsch, A., Holmes, E. A., & James, E. L. (2019) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2018.08.005 · Cited by 255 · see citing works
- Authors
- Cheung, J., Garber, B., & Bryant, R. A.
- Affiliations
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Bryant, Richard A.
- ORCID
- Bryant, Richard A.
- Venue
- Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-09
- Volume
- 123
- Pages
- 28-34
- ISSN
- 1074-7427 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2089412930
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 2.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Australian Research Council (FL0992334)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- intrusive memories, memory reactivation, acute stress, cortisol, emotional memory, trauma film, memory reconsolidation, emotional arousal, stress hormones
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Emotions, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Mental Recall, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Young Adult, Memory, Episodic
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