Fear memories require protein synthesis in the amygdala for reconsolidation after retrieval

Recall reopens a memory1

Consolidated fear memories, when reactivated, return to a labile state that needs new protein synthesis to be stored again.

Against the textbook view1

Traditional theories of memory consolidation did not predict this.

Reconsolidation2

Recalling a consolidated memory can make it temporarily unstable, so it must be re-stabilized to persist.

A window for change3

While a memory restabilizes it can be weakened by an amnesic agent or strengthened by memory enhancers.

Updating, not only erasing3

Later work tests whether the window can be used to update maladaptive memories with new information.

A theory of therapeutic change4

Lane, Nadel, Greenberg and colleagues propose that change in many therapies comes from reactivating old memories and adding new emotional experience during reconsolidation.

Not always replicated2

Some studies have failed to disrupt consolidated memories after retrieval; reconsolidation may depend on specific conditions.

Hard to translate5

Kindt (2018): success depends on subtle differences in how the memory is reactivated, which cannot easily be controlled in clinical practice.

Animals, not people1

The original finding is in rats and uses a drug infused directly into the brain.

Memory reconsolidation

How the idea developed and how therapists use it.

Emotion-focused therapy

One of the therapies Lane et al. (2015) explain through reconsolidation; Leslie Greenberg is a co-author.