NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Cortex. 2013 Mar;49(3):819-26. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.02.012. Epub 2012 Mar 8.
The anticipation of highly aversive events is associated with measurable defensive activation, and both animal and human research suggests that stress-inducing contexts can facilitate memory. Here, we investigated whether encoding stimuli in the context of anticipating an aversive shock affects recognition memory. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured during a recognition test for words that were encoded in a font color that signaled threat or safety. At encoding, cues signaling threat of shock, compared to safety, prompted enhanced P2 and P3 components. Correct recognition of words encoded in the context of threat, compared to safety, was associated with an enhanced old-new ERP difference (500-700 msec; centro-parietal), and this difference was most reliable for emotional words. Moreover, larger old-new ERP differences when recognizing emotional words encoded in a threatening context were associated with better recognition, compared to words encoded in safety. Taken together, the data indicate enhanced memory for stimuli encoded in a context in which an aversive event is merely anticipated, which could assist in understanding effects of anxiety and stress on memory processes.
对高度厌恶事件的预期与可测量的防御激活有关，动物和人类研究都表明，应激诱导的情境可以促进记忆。在这里，我们研究了在预期厌恶冲击的情境中对刺激进行编码是否会影响识别记忆。在识别测试中，对用表示威胁或安全的字体颜色编码的单词进行了事件相关电位（ERP）测量。在编码过程中，与安全信号相比，提示威胁性冲击的线索引发了增强的 P2 和 P3 成分。与在安全情境中编码的单词相比，在威胁情境中编码的单词的正确识别与增强的旧-新 ERP 差异（500-700 msec；中央-顶叶）相关，并且这种差异在情绪单词上最为可靠。此外，在识别以威胁情境编码的情绪单词时，ERP 差异越大，与在安全情境中编码的单词相比，识别效果越好。总之，这些数据表明，在仅仅预期到厌恶事件的情境中对刺激进行编码会增强记忆，这有助于理解焦虑和压力对记忆过程的影响。
