Recalling fearful memories shortly before receiving psychological therapy could help people to diminish long-held fears.

Once retrieved, a memory can be disrupted before it is reconsolidated — returned to long-term storage in the brain. In a study of people with a lifelong fear of spiders, Johannes Björkstrand and his colleagues at Uppsala University in Sweden presented volunteers with pictures of spiders to activate their fear memory. They then performed exposure therapy (repeatedly showing pictures of spiders) either 10 minutes later, during memory reconsolidation, or six hours later, after reconsolidation had finished.

In a comparison of the two groups the following day, those who were treated at 10 minutes showed reduced activation in the amygdala — a brain area that mediates fear — while viewing pictures of spiders. They were also more likely to choose to view a picture of a spider in exchange for money.

Curr. Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.022 (2016)