Suppressing food-related memories via think/no-think: Effective retrieval inhibition across weight status

Abstract

Inhibitory control plays a critical role in regulating eating behaviour. While previous research focused primarily on motor inhibition (e.g. go/no-go tasks), the role of memory suppression remains underexplored. This study employed a food-specific think/no-think (TNT) paradigm to investigate two questions: (1) whether individuals can intentionally suppress food-related memories, and whether suppression performance is associated with body mass index (BMI); and (2) whether memory suppression reduces subjective food valuation. Sixty-one young female participants completed a TNT task and subsequently rated food items for liking and wanting. Results showed that recall accuracy for suppressed (No-think) items was significantly lower than for both retrieved (Think) and Baseline items, indicating suppression-induced forgetting. However, food-related memory suppression performance was not associated with BMI. Moreover, memory suppression did not significantly alter subjective ratings of liking or wanting. These findings suggest that food-related memories can be deliberately suppressed regardless of BMI, but such suppression may not influence food valuation directly. Further studies are needed to determine whether such memory suppression has any downstream impact on eating behaviour and to identify mechanisms beyond mere changes in valuation.