Memories for negative life experiences play a key role in our mental health and are processed by the sleeping brain. Here, we attempted to bias the sleeping brain towards processing a more adaptive version of a negative autobiographical memory during a nap using targeted memory reactivation (TMR). Forty-seven participants (23.6±5.5 years old; 68% female) provided details about one negative and one neutral life experience and provided self-report ratings on arousal to each memory (0=very calm; 10=very aroused) and distress to the dominant emotion associated with their negative memory (0=no distress; 10=extreme distress). They completed an imagery rescripting intervention for their negative memory during which they heard a repetitive sound cue and a similar procedure for their neutral memory during which they heard a different cue. All participants were then allowed a 2-hour PSG-monitored nap opportunity in the lab and were randomized to hear either the sound cue associated with their negative (n=22) or neutral (n=18) memory (i.e., to have one memory “targeted” for reactivation); participants who got less than 15 minutes of non-REM sleep were reclassified into a “wake” group (n=7). After the nap and one week later, participants repeated arousal and distress ratings. Arousal to both negative and neutral memories decreased after the interventions and nap period (β=-1.64, p< 0.0001) and remained lower one week later (β=-1.51, p< 0.0001), but this did not depend on whether the memory was cued via TMR. Similarly, emotional distress decreased after imagery rescripting (β=-2.98, p< 0.0001) and decreased further after the nap period (β=-1.00, p=0.04), but this reduction did not depend on TMR cueing. Participants in the wake group appeared to show a different pattern in which distress to dominant emotions increased after the nap period, but this difference was not significant in the current sample. TMR did not enhance the arousal- and distress-reducing effects of imagery rescripting, but a nap did appear to further reduce emotional distress. Further research on the benefits of sleep and TMR on processing negative autobiographical memories is warranted.
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