Neurobiological mechanisms underlying memory bias : from an integrative perspective of cognitive psychology, neuroendocrinology, and neuroscience

Abstract

Memory bias is a cognitive/behavioral tendency to more preferentially encode/retrieve emotionally negative stimuli than non-negative ones, and to show difficulty recalling specific contextual information of an experienced event. It is a form of cognitive bias that contributes to the development and maintenance of stress-related mental disorders, and its modification has been demonstrated to alleviate stress-related symptoms including anxiety and depression. Memory bias is thus a major target of the cognitive bias modification; however, research on memory bias modification has not progressed as expected, since memory complicatedly changes over time. This review discusses the findings of previous research focusing on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying memory bias, towards the development of memory bias modification in the future.