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Intentional Forgetting of Autobiographical Memories: Current Neuroimaging Evidence and Moving Towards an Integrationist EEG-fMRI Approach

Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Intentional Forgetting (INF) is one of many human memory processes which has gathered academic intrigue in emergent literature. Understood as a conscious and voluntary cognitive effort to suppress the recall of, or remove certain memories, INF has been extensively studied in associative paradigms. However, its application to autobiographical memory (AM) remains under-investigated, especially within neuroimaging studies. First, we summarize existing neuroimaging literature on intentional forgetting of autobiographical memories (INF-AM). Upon reviewing, we found evidence to be fragmented, providing no clear consensus around the neural bases of INF-AM. We argue this fragmentation is, in part, a result of a reliance on single-modality applications of electroencephalograph (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methodology. EEG and fMRI, however, are complementary in their respective temporal and spatial superiority. Subsequently, we propose the application of an EEG-fMRI integrationist approach to INF-AM. We discuss how its application may help address conceptual, paradigm-level, and methodological concerns. Since human AM and the process of forgetting are inherently longitudinal, we contrast the popular cross-sectional design with a longitudinal alternative. We then present the application of the integrationist approach to longitudinal INF-AM designs. Though cognizant of the limitations that may accompany such an approach, we present the integrationist approach as a much needed and promising way forward in decoding the neuroscience of INF-AM.Keywords: intentional forgetting, autobiographical memory, neuroimaging, EEG-fMRI, integrationist
DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/45brz_v3
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7220903430
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