Newly acquired memories encoded during wakefulness are spontaneously re-activated during sleep, resulting in synaptic potentiation and strengthening of the re-activated traces. Targeted memory reactivation (TMR) typically involves a period of initial learning in the presence of an olfactory or auditory contextual cue, coupled with later presentation of the cue during sleep to ostensibly facilitate memory reactivation and consolidation. Numerous studies have found evidence of improved task performance subsequent to cue-induced neuronal replay, however application of TMR to treatment of naturally acquired, clinically significant fear has been limited.
The present study will will provide a rigorous test of TMR's efficacy as an augmentative strategy for exposure therapy. It is hypothesized that participants who sleep in the presence of the same odor that they are exposed to during exposure therapy will exhibit reduced fear at follow up, relative to participants who sleep in the presence of a different odor, or a non-odorous control.
