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. 2011 Sep;6(4):450-9.
doi: 10.1093/scan/nsq061. Epub 2010 Jul 2.

ERP dynamics underlying successful directed forgetting of neutral but not negative pictures

Anne Hauswald  1 , Hannah Schulz, Todor Iordanov, Johanna Kissler
Affiliations

ERP dynamics underlying successful directed forgetting of neutral but not negative pictures

Anne Hauswald et al. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011 Sep.

Abstract

Subjective experience suggests that negatively arousing memories are harder to control than neutral ones. Here, we investigate this issue in an item-cued directed forgetting experiment. Electroencephalogram event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded as participants viewed un-arousing neutral and highly arousing negative photographs, each followed by a cue to remember or forget it. Directed forgetting, that is reduced recognition of 'to-be-forgotten' items, occurred for neutral but not negative pictures. ERPs revealed three underlying effects: first, during picture viewing a late parietal positive potential (LPP) was more pronounced for negative than for neutral pictures. Second, 'remember' cues were associated with larger LPPs than 'forget' cues. Third, an enhanced frontal positivity appeared for 'forget' cues. This frontal positivity was generated in right dorso-lateral prefrontal regions following neutral pictures and in medial frontal cortex following negative pictures. LPP magnitude when viewing negative pictures was correlated with reduced directed forgetting, whereas both the enhanced frontal positivity for forget cues and the larger parietal positivity for remember cues predicted more directed forgetting. This study indicates that both processes of selective rehearsal (parietal positivities) and frontally controlled inhibition contribute to successful directed forgetting. However, due to their deeper incidental processing, highly arousing negative pictures are exempt from directed forgetting.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic display of the design. In the encoding phase, 60 neutral and 60 negative pictures were presented. Half of them were followed by an F-cue (FFF) and the other half by an R-cue (RRR). In the recognition phase, all initially shown pictures were re-presented regardless of their initial instruction (RRR ∼ remember, FFF ∼ forget) in a random sequence with an equal number of distractor pictures that were individually paired for similar content.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Pr and Br for the two item types (neutral, negative) and instructions (F-items indicate forget; R-items indicate remember).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Enhanced LPP during presentation of negative vs neutral pictures. Left: ERPs at CPz in response to either neutral (black) or negative (red) pictures. Right: topography of the ERP difference between neutral and negative pictures.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Frontal positive potential during F-cue presentation following negative or neutral pictures. Left: ERPs at Fz provoked by cues (R-cue, F-cue) following either neutral (ntr) or negative (neg) pictures. Right upper panel: topography of the ERP difference between F-cue and R-cue following either neutral or negative pictures. Right lower panel: estimated cortical activity underlying the above presented ERP differences. Generators of the electrophysiological activity were estimated using a L2-Minimum-Norm Estimate.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Effect on the LPP during R-cue presentation. Left: ERPs at Pz elicited by cues (R-cue, F-cue) following either neutral (ntr) or negative (neg) pictures. Right: topography of the ERP difference between F-cue and R-cue across picture categories.
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