A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental methods for modulating intrusive memories following lab-analogue trauma exposure in non-clinical populations.

Experiencing trauma leads to intrusive memories (IMs), a hallmark symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which also occurs transdiagnostically. Understanding why IMs increase or decrease is pivotal in developing interventions to support mental health. In this preregistered meta-analysis (PROSPERO: CRD42021224835), we included 134 articles (131 techniques, 606 effect sizes and 12,074 non-clinical participants) to investigate how experimental techniques alter IM frequency, intrusion-related distress and symptoms arising from lab-analogue trauma exposure.

A spontaneous neural replay account for involuntary autobiographical memories and déjà vu experiences.

Barzykowski and Moulin argue both involuntary autobiographical memories and déjà vu experiences rely on the same involuntary memory retrieval processes but their underlying neurological basis remains unclear. We propose spontaneous neural replay in the default mode network (DMN) and hippocampus as the basis for involuntary autobiographical memories, whereas for déjà vu experiences such transient activation is limited to the DMN.

The road not taken: Common and distinct neural correlates of regret and relief.

Humans anticipate and evaluate both obtained and counterfactual outcomes - outcomes that could have been had an alternate decision been taken - and experience associated emotions of regret and relief. Although many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have examined the neural correlates of these emotions, there is substantial heterogeneity in their results. We conducted coordinate-based ALE and network-based ANM meta-analysis of fMRI studies of experienced regret and relief to examine commonalities and differences in their neural correlates.

Not all discounts are created equal: Regional activity and brain networks in temporal and effort discounting.

Reward outcomes associated with costs like time delay and effort investment are generally discounted in decision-making. Standard economic models predict rewards associated with different types of costs are devalued in a similar manner. However, our review of rodent lesion studies indicated partial dissociations between brain regions supporting temporal- and effort-based decision-making.

Prosocial behavior promotes positive emotion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about humans' physical and mental well-being. In response, there has been an urgent "call to action" for psychological interventions that enhance positive emotion and psychological resilience. Prosocial behavior has been shown to effectively promote well-being, but is this strategy effective during a pandemic when ongoing apprehension for personal safety could acutely heighten self-focused concern? In two online preregistered experiments ( = 1,623) conducted during the early stage of pandemic (April 2020), we examined this question by randomly assigning participants to engage in other- or self-beneficial action.

Prosocial behaviour reduces unwanted intrusions of experimental traumatic memories.

Following trauma exposure, people often experience involuntary intrusions of traumatic memories, i.e., flashbacks.