The lability of the acquired knowledge: Genesis and rebirth of the studies on the effect of reconsolidation

Abstract

A robust set of evidence demonstrates that, after reactivation, the memories incur a lability state, during which they are susceptible to manipulations that interfere in its content or on the probability of retrieval in the future. This effect, called "reconsolidation", is similar to the period of instability following the learning of new information, classically referred to as a "consolidation". Although the effect of reconsolidation is known for more than 40 years, the topic only received notoriety recently, and since then, an increasing number of scientific publications has elucidated some of the fundamental processes. However, once the theme has been little reported in the Brazilian literature, this article presents a critical review of the literature, which discuss the historical background of the reconsolidation concept, its methods of investigation, scope and prospects for research.