SynthesisPsychopharmacology2018
Modulation of naturalistic maladaptive memories using behavioural and pharmacological reconsolidation-interfering strategies: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical and 'sub-clinical' studies.
Synthesis in Psychopharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Consolidation/reconsolidation therapies for the prevention and treatment of PTSD and re-experiencing: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Impairing memory reconsolidation with propranolol in healthy and clinical samples: a meta-analysis.Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPNPooled it
- Effect of Motor Interference Therapy on Distress Related to Traumatic Memories: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Feasibility Trial.Brain and behavior · 2024Trial
- The effect of motor interference therapy in traumatic memories: A pilot study.Brain and behavior · 2021Trial
- Ketamine can reduce harmful drinking by pharmacologically rewriting drinking memories.Nature communications · 2019Trial
- Synaptic Plasticity-Intrinsic Excitability and Antidepressant Discovery.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Windows of change: Revisiting temporal and molecular dynamics of memory reconsolidation and persistence.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Review
- Examining memory reconsolidation as a mechanism of nitrous oxide's antidepressant action.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Review
- Article
- The rhythm of memory. Does theta frequency audio/visual flicker improve recall?Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2025Article
- The clinically relevant MEK inhibitor mirdametinib combined with D-cycloserine and prediction error disrupts fear memory in PTSD models.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Dual-step pharmacological intervention for traumatic-like memories: implications from D-cycloserine and cannabidiol or clonidine in male and female rats.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Post-retrieval stress impairs subsequent memory depending on hippocampal memory trace reinstatement during reactivation.Science advances · 2024Article
- Memory persistence: from fundamental mechanisms to translational opportunities.Translational psychiatry · 2024Review
- Hitting the Rewind Button: Imagining Analogue Trauma Memories in Reverse Reduces Distressing Intrusions.Cognitive therapy and research · 2024Article
- Heat exposure following encoding can interfere with subsequent recognition memory.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Review
- Effects of Cannabis on PTSD Recovery: Review of the Literature and Clinical Insights.Current addiction reports · 2022Article
- The effects of post-learning alcohol ingestion on human motor memory consolidation.The European journal of neuroscience · 2022Article
- A Case for Translation From the Clinic to the Laboratory.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundConsolidated memories can undergo enduring modification through retrieval-dependent treatments that modulate reconsolidation. This represents a potentially transformative strategy for weakening or overwriting the maladaptive memories that underlie substance use and anxiety/trauma-related disorders. However, modulation of naturalistic maladaptive memories may be limited by 'boundary conditions' imposed on the reconsolidation process by the nature of these memories.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses of behavioural and pharmacological studies examining retrieval-dependent modulation of reward- and threat-related memories in (sub) clinical substance use and anxiety/trauma, respectively.
resultsOf 4938 publications assessed for eligibility, 8 studies of substance use and 10 of anxiety (phobia)- and trauma-related symptoms were included in the meta-analyses. Overall, the findings were in the predicted direction, with most studies favouring the 'retrieval + treatment' condition. However, the magnitude of effects was dependent upon the nature of treatment, with pharmacological interventions showing a medium-sized effect (g = 0.59, p = 0.03) and behavioural treatments, a relatively small effect (g = 0.32, p = 0.10) in studies of phobia/trauma. Among studies of substance use, post-retrieval behavioural interventions yielded a larger effect (g = 0.60, p < 0.001) relative to pharmacological treatments (g = - 0.03, p = 0.91), with treatment type being a statistically significant moderator (χ
conclusionModification of naturalistic maladaptive memories during reconsolidation appears to be a viable treatment strategy for substance use and phobias/trauma disorders. However, high levels of heterogeneity and methodological variation limit the strength of conclusions that can be drawn from the reviewed studies at this stage.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.