Testing a Model of Competitive Memory Retrieval

描述（由申请人提供）：检索诱发遗忘是由于检索其他类似记忆而导致的记忆遗忘。虽然检索诱发遗忘已经被很好地描述为行为，但其神经机制尚不清楚。这项拟议中的研究利用人体电生理学来监测与检索诱发遗忘相关的大脑活动。模式分类方法将用于跟踪检索过程中记忆的激活。导致遗忘的记忆激活模式将通过随后的遗忘分析被提取出来。提取诱发遗忘的神经网络模拟预测了相对于θ波段振荡的特定记忆激活模式。这些预测将通过检查被遗忘记忆的激活如何依赖于θ波相来验证。拟议的研究还将完善检索诱发遗忘的神经网络模型，将其应用于海马体结构，并使用更现实的抑制形式。了解控制检索诱发遗忘的精确神经机制将帮助我们更好地控制遗忘发生的时间，进而帮助我们设计出更好的治疗创伤后应激障碍（需要更多的遗忘）和年龄相关记忆障碍（需要更少的遗忘）的方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Retrieval-induced forgetting is the forgetting of memories as a result of retrieving other, similar memories. Although retrieval-induced forgetting has been well characterized behaviorally, its neural mechanism is poorly understood. The proposed research uses electrophysiology in humans to monitor the brain activity that correlates with retrieval-induced forgetting. Pattern classification methods will be used to track the activation of memories during retrieval. The pattern of memory activation that leads to forgetting will be extracted using a subsequent forgetting analysis. Neural network simulations of retrieval-induced forgetting predict a specific pattern of memory activation relative to theta band oscillations. These predictions will be tested through examination of how the activation of the to-be-forgotten memories depends on theta phase. The proposed research will also refine the neural network model of retrieval-induced forgetting, by applying it to a hippocampal architecture, and by using more realistic forms of inhibition. Understanding the precise neural mechanisms that govern retrieval-induced forgetting will help us to gain better control over when forgetting occurs, which - in turn - should help us devise better treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (where more forgetting is desirable) and age-related memory disorders (where less forgetting is desirable).