Neural mechanisms of reconsolidation blockade in humans

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Lars Schwabe
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2009 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 158251458

Reconsolidation refers to the process in which a memory is rendered transiently labile after its reactivation. Recent findings suggest that the β-adrenergic antagonist Propranolol can impede the reconsolidation and thus reduce the strength of intrusive memories believed to cause the symptomatology in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. However, the neural mechanisms mediating the blockade of emotional memory reconsolidation through Propranolol remain largely unexplored. The present study aims to close this gap. Aversive memories will be established using a fear conditioning paradigm. Seven days later, these fear memories will be reactivated and Propranolol will be administered to block reconsolidation. After another three days, the fear conditioning will be tested to investigate if Propranolol was capable of blocking the reconsolidation. Furthermore, it will be assessed whether the Propranolol effect on reconsolidation is context-specific. Dependent variables include skin conductance responses, heart rate, salivary cortisol, and neural activation changes as measured using fMRI. The results of the proposed project will shed light on the mechanisms by which “a blood pressure drug may dim bad memories” (Sci. Am., 2009).

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Canada
• Host: Professor Dr. Jens Pruessner