Memory Reactivation & Cognitive Restructuring

Overview:

Cognitive restructuring is an effective clinical intervention used in cognitive behavioral therapy to change thoughts and develop more rational and helpful interpretations of events (Kazantzis et al., 2018). Cognitive restructuring of thoughts about fear conditioning procedures has been shown to reduce experiential and autonomic fear responses in the laboratory (Riao et al., 2013; Shurick et al., 2012). However, this approach does not always provide lasting relief. To improve the efficacy of cognitive restructuring, we aim to deliver memory reactivation, followed by cognitive restructuring, such that the cognitive restructuring occurs in the putative reconsolidation window, thereby serving to update negative threat memories.

We are conducting two studies related to this topic in collaboration with the Phelps Lab and the Center for Brain Science at Harvard University.

Study 1: Memory Reactivation and Cognitive Restructuring for Fear Conditioned Memories

This study uses a category fear conditioning paradigm to investigate the efficacy of memory reactivation paired with cognitive restructuring in reducing physiological responses to fear conditioned stimuli, as assessed using skin conductance data.

Study 2: Memory Reactivation and Cognitive Restructuring for Negative Social Anxiety Memories

This neuroimaging study explores the ability of memory reactivation paired with cognitive restructuring to alter neural representations of social anxiety memories and to reduce negative memory-related feelings, as assessed using fMRI and questionnaire data.