Electroencephalographic Study of the Mechanisms of Inhibition of Emotional Memories in Young Healthy Subjects

NCT ID: NCT06891612

Last Updated: 2025-09-03

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 78 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2016-06-13
• Study Completion Date: 2019-04-12

Brief Summary

Forgetfulness has long been considered a pathology of memory. However, the brain's voluntary suppression of certain unpleasant memories is essential for building a healthy memory. This suppression capacity can be measured using the "Think/No-Think" (TNT) paradigm.However, while the areas involved in these processes of suppression are now well described, the nature and temporal dynamics of the processes of inhibition and orientation of attention is still poorly defined. The aim of this study is to describe the nature of the attentional and inhibitory mechanisms involved in the suppression of emotionally negative memories, and their temporal articulation using electroencephalography (EEG). To this end, we will use a model of memory deletion derived from a perceptual attentional task and simulating the deletion phase in order to control the nature and timing of the processes involved. This approach will allow us to observe the presence of correspondences between the responses measured during the attentional test simulating the suppression and the actual phase of suppression, for which we cannot control the nature of the operations undertaken by the subject. In addition, we will assess the emotional response through physiological measures of autonomic nervous system activity (heart rate and electrodermal response) immediately after the TNT phase or one day later, which will allow us to evaluate the influence of memory suppression mechanisms on their emotional content.

From a practical point of view, this study is organized into 3 groups of participants (healthy young adults). Each group will perform a perceptual attentional test and a TNT task, which will be preceded and followed by a measure of emotional response. Group 1 will allow us to test our main hypothesis from a behavioral point of view, as well as to calibrate the attentional task and its consistency with the TNT task. Group 2 will carry out the same tests but during an EEG examination to decode the temporal dynamics of attention states during the process of memory suppression. Group 3 will perform these same tests with a 24-hour interval between the TNT phase and the emotional assessment to estimate the effect of a retention period on forgetfulness functions.

The description of these mechanisms and their physiological correlates will allow us to better understand how this ability to voluntarily control the flow of thoughts associated with negative memories is implemented, and thus to better understand the alterations in this capacity that can be observed during certain mental pathologies such as anxiety or depression.

Conditions

Anxiety; Depression; Cognitive Control

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

healthy participant 24 h delayed recall

24 h delayed recall

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive Assessments

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive Assessments

Eye-tracking

Intervention Type: DEVICE

measurement of the points of gaze

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain

Electrocardiography (ECG)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

measurement of the electrical activity of the heart

pretest healthy participants

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive Assessments

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive Assessments

Eye-tracking

Intervention Type: DEVICE

measurement of the points of gaze

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain

Electrocardiography (ECG)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

measurement of the electrical activity of the heart

healthy participant 10 min delayed recall

10 min delayed recall

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive Assessments

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive Assessments

Eye-tracking

Intervention Type: DEVICE

measurement of the points of gaze

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain

Electrocardiography (ECG)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

measurement of the electrical activity of the heart

Interventions

Cognitive Assessments

Cognitive Assessments

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eye-tracking

measurement of the points of gaze

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Electrocardiography (ECG)

measurement of the electrical activity of the heart

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Male or female aged between 18 and 35 years
• Affiliated to a social security scheme
• Having French as their mother tongue
• Right-handed
• High school graduate or equivalent
• Having signed a written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

• Pregnancy in progress, pregnancy test will be performed
• Person deprived of liberty by judicial or administrative decision
• Person hospitalized without consent and not subject to legal protection measures, and person admitted to a health or social care facility for purposes other than research
• Minor
• Adults subject to legal protection measure (guardianship, curatorship or judicial protection), adults unable to express their consent and not subject to protection measure
• Person subject to an exclusion for another research
• History of a neurological, psychiatric disorders, or head trauma with loss of consciousness for more than an hour
• History of cancer over the last 5 years, with the exception of squamous cell carcinomas of the skin
• Presence or history of chronic alcoholism or drug addiction
• Taking medications that may alter cognitive and/or brain function (decision of the principal investigator)
• Presence of visual and/or auditory disorders sufficiently significant to affect the progress of the tests
• Contraindications to electroencephalography
• Presentation of unpleasant images that are too emotionally disturbing for the participant (by decision of the physician)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 35 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

Service de neurologie CHU de Caen

Caen, , France

Countries

France

References

Legrand N, Etard O, Vandevelde A, Pierre M, Viader F, Clochon P, Doidy F, Peschanski D, Eustache F, Gagnepain P. Long-term modulation of cardiac activity induced by inhibitory control over emotional memories. Sci Rep. 2020 Sep 14;10(1):15008. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-71858-2.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 32929105 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

C15-70

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id