A new study conducted by the researchers from University of Colorado at Boulder discovered that people may be able to suppress emotional memories, after receiving a proper training.

The study may have implications in finding new methods to treat those suffering from conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression.

In the training phase of the study lead by Boulder doctoral candidate Brendan Depue, the subjects were asked to learn 40 different pairs of pictures. The pictures, which were showed in pair, consisted of a “neutral” human face linked with a disturbing picture such as a car crash, a wounded soldier, a violent crime scene or an electric chair.

After the subjects memorized the pictures, they were fitted with special viewing goggles and placed in MRI scanners at CU’s Health Sciences Center in Denver. Subjects were shown only the face images and asked to either think about, or not think about, the disturbing image previously associated with each face, Depue explained.

At the end of the experiment, they were tested on whether they could still remember all the matched pairs - something they had been able to do with ease before.

The result: Participants had much more trouble remembering paired photos they had tried not to think of in the second phase of the experiment. They had no trouble recalling the other photo match-ups, however.

The results showed the subjects were able to “exert some control over their emotional memories,” said Depue. “By essentially shutting down specific portions of the brain, they were able to stop the retrieval process of particular memories.”

The study indicated the coordination for memory suppression occurred in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, considered by neuroscientists to be the “seat of cognitive control,”

“We have shown in this study that individuals have the ability to suppress specific memories at a particular moment in time through repeated practice,” Depue said. “We think we now have a grasp of the neural mechanisms at work, and hope the new findings and future research will lead to new therapeutic and pharmacological approaches to treating a variety of emotional disorders.”

The study was published in the July 13 issue of Science. Co-authors on the study included CU-Boulder Associate Professor Tim Curran and Professor Marie Banich of the psychology department. All three authors are affiliated with CU-Boulder’s Center for Neuroscience and the Institute of Cognitive Sciences, and Banich also is affiliated with the CU-Denver and Health Sciences Center.