AUTHOR=Strange Bryan, Kroes Marijn, Fan Judith, Dolan Raymond TITLE=Emotion Causes Targeted Forgetting of Established Memories JOURNAL=Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience VOLUME=4 YEAR=2010 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00175 DOI=10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00175 ISSN=1662-5153 ABSTRACT=Reconsolidation postulates that reactivation of a memory trace renders it susceptible to disruption by treatments similar to those that impair initial memory consolidation. Despite evidence that implicit, or non-declarative, human memories can be disrupted at retrieval, a convincing demonstration of selective impairment in retrieval of target episodic memories following reactivation is lacking. In human subjects, we demonstrate that if reactivation of a verbal memory, through successful retrieval, is immediately followed by an emotionally aversive stimulus, a significant impairment is evident in its later recall. This effect is time-dependent and persists for at least 6 days. Thus, in line with a reconsolidation hypothesis, established human episodic memories can be selectively impaired following their retrieval.