The impairing effect of acute stress on suppression-induced forgetting of future fears and its moderation by working memory capacity
The impairing effect of acute stress on suppression-induced forgetting of future fears and its moderation by working memory capacity
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DOI：
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104790
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发表时间：
2020-10-01
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Quaedflieg, C. W. E. M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ashton, S. M.;Benoit, R. G.;Quaedflieg, C. W. E. M.
在某种程度上，对未来恐惧的多余想象是可以避免的。这是通过类似于抑制和忘记不想要的记忆的控制机制来实现的。压抑诱导的遗忘依赖于执行控制网络，该网络的功能在暴露于急性压力后受到损害。这项研究调查了急性压力是否会影响有意控制未来恐惧的能力，此外，执行控制的个体差异是否预示着对这些影响的易感性。这项研究连续两天进行。在第一天，评估了100名参与者的工作记忆容量。此后，参与者提供了他们想象中未来可能发生的可怕事件的描述和细节。在第二天，参与者被暴露在应激或非应激版本的马斯特里赫特急性应激测试中，之后参与者执行想象/非想象任务。在这里，参与者反复想象一些未来的恐惧，而压抑对其他人的想象。结果表明，在非应激参与者中，与基线条件相比，压抑成功地导致了对事件细节的忘记。然而，对这些事件的焦虑并没有什么不同。研究发现，急性应激选择性地削弱了压抑诱导的遗忘，而且，这种影响被工作记忆容量所缓和。具体地说，较低的工作记忆预示着对这些有害影响的易感性。这些发现为我们主动控制未来恐惧的能力降低的情况提供了新的见解，这可能对理解与压力相关的精神病理学和以不必要的担忧思维为特征的症状有相当大的影响。
Unwanted imaginations of future fears can, to some extent, be avoided. This is achieved by control mechanisms similar to those engaged to suppress and forget unwanted memories. Suppression-induced forgetting relies on the executive control network, whose functioning is impaired after exposure to acute stress. This study investigates whether acute stress affects the ability to intentionally control future fears and, furthermore, whether individual differences in executive control predict a susceptibility to these effects. The study ran over two consecutive days. On day 1, the working memory capacity of one hundred participants was assessed. Thereafter, participants provided descriptions and details of fearful episodes that they imagined might happen in their future. On day 2, participants were exposed to either the stress or no-stress version of the Maastricht Acute Stress Test, after which participants performed the Imagine/No-Imagine task. Here, participants repeatedly imagined some future fears and suppressed imaginings of others. Results demonstrated that, in unstressed participants, suppression successfully induced forgetting of the episodes' details compared to a baseline condition. However, anxiety toward these events did not differ. Acute stress was found to selectively impair suppression-induced forgetting and, further, this effect was moderated by working memory capacity. Specifically, lower working memory predicted a susceptibility to these detrimental effects. These findings provide novel insights into conditions under which our capacity to actively control future fears is reduced, which may have considerable implications for understanding stress-related psychopathologies and symptomatologies characterized by unwanted apprehensive thoughts.