Resting-State Functional Connectivity Correlates of Emotional Memory Control under Cognitive load in Subclinical Anxiety

TL;DR

This study investigates how subclinical anxiety influences neural mechanisms of emotional memory control under cognitive load, revealing distinct resting-state connectivity patterns linked to suppression and recall of positive and negative memories.

Contribution

It identifies specific brain connectivity profiles associated with emotional memory suppression and recall under load, moderated by subclinical anxiety, advancing understanding of emotional regulation.

Findings

Suppression of positive memories linked to reduced anterior cingulate connectivity.

Suppression of negative memories associated with increased posterior parietal to occipital connectivity.

Anxiety modulates prefrontal connectivity during emotional memory control.

Abstract

Volitional memory control supports adaptive cognition by enabling intentional suppression of goal-irrelevant, interfering memories and recall of goal-relevant memories. Neural mechanisms of suppression and recall have been studied largely in isolation, and their operation under concurrent working memory load in the context of subclinical anxiety remains unclear. We examined control of emotionally valenced memories in 47 healthy participants with varying levels of subclinical anxiety under dual-task conditions involving directed suppression and recall while concurrently performing a secondary task imposing visual working memory load. Cognitive efficiency in controlling dual-task memory-linked interference, measured by the Balanced Integration Score (BIS), showed no differences between suppression and recall, across emotions, or by anxiety. Intrinsic functional brain networks measured by seed-to-voxel resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) revealed dissociable rsFC profiles linked to cognitive control across emotional valences, moderated by anxiety. Efficient suppression of positive memories correlated with reduced connectivity between anterior cingulate cortex and posterior perceptual-midline regions, and diminished hippocampal-frontal pole coupling. Efficient suppression of negative memories correlated with increased posterior parietal to lateral occipital connectivity. Anxiety moderated associations between cognitive control and prefrontal connectivity during suppression of positive memories and recall of positive and neutral memories. Direct comparisons revealed stronger hippocampal-thalamic rsFC during suppression versus recall of positive memories. Together, these findings delineate neural correlates of volitional emotional memory control under cognitive load and suggest that subclinical anxiety shapes these networks selectively