Schedule of Events | Search Abstracts | Invited Symposia | Symposia | Poster Sessions | Data Blitz

Memory suppression training improves sleep qualities and mental health outcomes

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Xibo ZUO¹ (u3011276@connect.hku.hk), Xiao YI¹, Keying LIU², Xiaoqing HU¹; ¹Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China, ²Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Introduction: Memory control refers to the ability to voluntarily control the retrieval of unwanted memories. Previous research has shown that three-day memory control training can improve mental health among healthy individuals. Here, we investigated whether training the voluntary control of unwanted autobiographical memories could benefit mental health among individuals with subthreshold insomnia symptoms. Methods: Fifty-two participants at high risk of insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index > 10) completed a two-week, six-session Think/No-Think training, targeting the control of unwanted autobiographical memories. Participants completed mental health questionnaires, an 8-minute eye-closed and eye- open EEG task one day before and after training. Participants were randomly assigned to either the suppress-negative group (n=30, aged 24.4(3.6)) or the suppress-neutral group (n=22, aged 25.6(4.1)). Results: Preliminary results revealed significant Group by Time interactions for subjective sleep quality, negative affect, rumination, pre-sleep cognitive arousal, and eyes-closed broad beta power (16-40 Hz) (Fs(1,50)>4.60, P<.037). Post hoc comparisons showed that the suppress-negative group showed significantly improved sleep quality, reduced negative affect, rumination, pre-sleep cognitive arousal, and eyes-closed broad beta power (ts(50)>2.51, P<.022), whereas the suppress-neutral group only showed improved sleep quality (t(50)=2.21, P=.032) but not other benefits (ts(50)<1.94, P>.058). Moreover, greater eyes-closed broad beta power reduction was associated with greater sleep quality improvement in the suppress-negative group (rho=0.48, p=.007). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that a 2-week, 6-session memory control training mitigates emotional and physiological dysfunctions, supporting its potential as an accessible intervention to improve mental health outcomes even among individuals with subthreshold insomnia.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Monitoring & inhibitory control