Forgetting at the Push of a Button: Impairing Reconsolidation of Instrumental Memories

Material below summarizes the article Reduction in Responding for Sucrose and Cocaine Reinforcement by Disruption of Memory Reconsolidation, published on April 29, 2015, in eNeuro and authored by Marc T. J. Exton-McGuiness, and Jonathan L. C. Lee.

Reconsolidation is the process by which memories are updated with new information. The retrieval of an existing memory, if combined with the inclusion of new information, necessitates this reconsolidation process in order to update it.

However, reconsolidation can also be disrupted to produce amnesia. While erasing memories may seem undesirable, not all memories are beneficial. Disorders such as post-traumatic stress and addiction are believed to be underpinned by harmful, or maladaptive, memories. Disruption of these maladaptive memories by interfering with reconsolidation may provide a novel avenue for clinical treatments.