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How suppressing retrieval reduces the unconscious influence of unwanted memories, via neocortical inhibition [67]. (A) Adaptation of the think/no-think (TNT) procedure (67). After learning word–object associations, participants either repeatedly retrieved (think) or suppressed (no-think) objects, using direct suppression [88,93]. On the final test, participants viewed objects distorted by noise that were gradually revealed, and participants indicated when they could identify the distorted object. (B) Suppressing retrieval activated the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (i), and reduced activity in fusiform gyrus (ii) (effective connectivity analyses established that the former modulated the latter). (C) Behavioural and neural aftereffects of suppressing visual memories. All objects showed repetition priming (speeded identification time), relative to novel objects, but this was reduced for suppressed objects (i). Similarly, all studied objects showed neural priming (reduced neural activity) in fusiform gyrus and the lateral occipital complex, relative to novel objects, but this was partially reversed for suppressed objects (ii). Negative coupling between DLPFC and fusiform gyrus predicted the magnitude of the reversal in neural priming on the final perceptual identification test (iii). Abbreviations: DCM, Dynamic Causal Modelling; MGF, middle frontal gyrus; ROI, region of interest.

How suppressing retrieval reduces the unconscious influence of unwanted memories, via neocortical inhibition [67]. (A) Adaptation of the think/no-think (TNT) procedure (67). After learning word–object associations, participants either repeatedly retrieved (think) or suppressed (no-think) objects, using direct suppression [88,93]. On the final test, participants viewed objects distorted by noise that were gradually revealed, and participants indicated when they could identify the distorted object. (B) Suppressing retrieval activated the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (i), and reduced activity in fusiform gyrus (ii) (effective connectivity analyses established that the former modulated the latter). (C) Behavioural and neural aftereffects of suppressing visual memories. All objects showed repetition priming (speeded identification time), relative to novel objects, but this was reduced for suppressed objects (i). Similarly, all studied objects showed neural priming (reduced neural activity) in fusiform gyrus and the lateral occipital complex, relative to novel objects, but this was partially reversed for suppressed objects (ii). Negative coupling between DLPFC and fusiform gyrus predicted the magnitude of the reversal in neural priming on the final perceptual identification test (iii). Abbreviations: DCM, Dynamic Causal Modelling; MGF, middle frontal gyrus; ROI, region of interest.

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Not all memories are equally welcome in awareness. People limit the time they spend thinking about unpleasant experiences, a process that begins during encoding, but that continues when cues later remind someone of the memory. Here, we review the emerging behavioural and neuroimaging evidence that suppressing awareness of an unwelcome memory, at en...

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... in Cognitive Sciences xxx xxxx, Vol. xxx, No. x TICS-1316;No. of Pages 14 of visual objects, downregulation is also observed in fusi- form regions known to be critical for perceptual awareness of objects (Figure 3Bii) [67]. Interestingly, on later percep- tual identification tests, participants find it more difficult to see previously suppressed objects in visual noise, com- pared with either baseline or think objects (Figure 3Ci), showing that motivated forgetting also impairs implicit memory [66,67]. ...
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... No. x TICS-1316;No. of Pages 14 of visual objects, downregulation is also observed in fusi- form regions known to be critical for perceptual awareness of objects (Figure 3Bii) [67]. Interestingly, on later percep- tual identification tests, participants find it more difficult to see previously suppressed objects in visual noise, com- pared with either baseline or think objects (Figure 3Ci), showing that motivated forgetting also impairs implicit memory [66,67]. Echoing this impaired perception, neural aftereffects are observed in the same fusiform cortex regions downregulated during retrieval suppression: no- think objects show reduced neural priming (Figure 3Cii). ...
Context 3
... on later percep- tual identification tests, participants find it more difficult to see previously suppressed objects in visual noise, com- pared with either baseline or think objects (Figure 3Ci), showing that motivated forgetting also impairs implicit memory [66,67]. Echoing this impaired perception, neural aftereffects are observed in the same fusiform cortex regions downregulated during retrieval suppression: no- think objects show reduced neural priming (Figure 3Cii). Given that neural priming is considered a signature of perceptual memory [102], this finding suggests that per- ceptual memory traces were disrupted by inhibitory [67]. ...

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