Mammarella Nicola, Di Domenico Alberto, Fairfield Beth
Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy.
Department of Psychological, Health and Territorial Sciences, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy.
Exp Gerontol. 2016 Sep;82:120-4. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2016.06.011. Epub 2016 Jun 25.
Better memory for positive information compared to negative and neutral information has been repeatedly associated with successful aging. The main psychological explanations for this so-called "positivity effect" in memory principally rely on emotional, motivational, and cognitive mechanisms that make older adults' cognition highly sensitive to positive information according to ultimate goals of well-being. However, emerging evidence also delineates a genetic profile for positivity effects in memory, which may render some older adults more prone than others to encoding and remembering positive memories. First, we present a brief overview of behavioral and neuroimaging studies about the positivity effect in aging. Subsequently, we report studies on candidate genes associated with positive memories. In particular, we review work to date on several candidate genes that are sensitive to stimulus valence such as ADRA2B, COMT, and 5HTTLPR. Finally, we propose that the future approach to the study of genetic correlates of positivity effects in memory should also include mitochondrial functioning (TOMM40). Altogether, the study of genetics and cell biology of positivity effects in memory can help us to reveal the underlying bottom-up pathways to positive affect in healthy aging.
与消极和中性信息相比，对积极信息有更好的记忆，这一直与成功老龄化相关。对记忆中这种所谓“积极效应”的主要心理学解释主要依赖于情感、动机和认知机制，这些机制根据幸福的最终目标，使老年人的认知对积极信息高度敏感。然而，新出现的证据也描绘了记忆中积极效应的基因特征，这可能使一些老年人比其他人更容易编码和记住积极记忆。首先，我们简要概述一下关于衰老中积极效应的行为和神经成像研究。随后，我们报告与积极记忆相关的候选基因的研究。特别是，我们回顾了迄今为止关于几个对刺激效价敏感的候选基因的研究，如ADRA2B、COMT和5HTTLPR。最后，我们提出，未来对记忆中积极效应的基因相关性的研究方法还应包括线粒体功能（TOMM40）。总之，对记忆中积极效应的遗传学和细胞生物学研究可以帮助我们揭示健康老龄化中积极情绪潜在的自下而上的途径。
