University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Rethink Priorities, CA USA.
Brain Res Bull. 2023 Jan;192:168-174. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2022.11.019. Epub 2022 Nov 25.
Experiments demonstrating post-reactivation amnesia for learned fear in animals have generated a novel and influential hypothesis on the plasticity of memory, usually referred to as memory reconsolidation. The clinical potential of pharmacologically disrupting the process of memory reconsolidation has sparked a wave of interest into whether this phenomenon can also be demonstrated in humans, and ultimately harnessed for therapeutic purposes. In this essay we outline how the work of Karim Nader and colleagues has moved the field forward from a focus on extinction learning to the prospect of disrupting memory reconsolidation. We then review some promising findings on the necessary conditions, as well as potential boundary conditions, of pharmacologically disrupting the process of memory reconsolidation obtained in our laboratory. Even though laboratory experiments in animals and humans suggest that we may be at the brink of a breakthrough in fundamentally changing emotional memories, the necessary and sufficient conditions for targeting and disrupting memory reconsolidation in clinical practice are largely unknown. There is likely no universally effective reactivation procedure for triggering the reconsolidation of clinically significant emotional memories, and the impact of subtle boundary conditions observed in basic experiments compounds this issue. Notwithstanding these challenges, the discovery of changing emotional memory through disrupting the process of memory reconsolidation has unquestionably invigorated the field.
实验证明，动物的习得性恐惧在再激活后会出现遗忘，这为记忆的可塑性提出了一个新颖且有影响力的假说，通常称为记忆再巩固。通过药理学手段干扰记忆再巩固过程的临床应用潜力引发了人们的兴趣浪潮，人们开始探讨这种现象是否也可以在人类身上得到证明，并最终被用于治疗目的。在本文中，我们概述了 Karim Nader 及其同事的工作如何将研究重点从消退学习转移到干扰记忆再巩固的前景上。然后，我们回顾了一些在我们实验室中获得的关于药物干扰记忆再巩固过程的必要条件以及潜在边界条件的有前景的发现。尽管动物和人类的实验室实验表明，我们可能即将在从根本上改变情绪记忆方面取得突破，但在临床实践中针对和干扰记忆再巩固的必要和充分条件在很大程度上仍是未知的。针对具有临床意义的情绪记忆触发再巩固，可能没有普遍有效的再激活程序，而在基础实验中观察到的细微边界条件的影响则加剧了这一问题。尽管存在这些挑战，但通过干扰记忆再巩固过程来改变情绪记忆的发现无疑为该领域注入了新的活力。
