National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Leaning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China.
Brain Imaging Behav. 2018 Aug;12(4):1053-1066. doi: 10.1007/s11682-017-9778-8.
The emotional aspect of autobiographical memories (AMs) is associated with self-related processing, which plays an important role in mental health. However, the emotional consistency dimension of AMs and its neural underpinnings remain largely unexplored. Twenty-five healthy participants were involved in this study. Participants were first asked to recall important AMs and assess the emotional ratings of each AM. Four weeks later, they were asked to retrieve the details of both positive and negative AMs during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. Behavioral results showed that the emotional valence of negative memories changed more strongly than positive memories over time (i.e., lower consistency). fMRI data showed that the activation level of the precuneus was positively correlated with self-rating valence consistency in the positive AM condition. Additionally, the precuneus connected to a key region of the self-referential network, the medial prefrontal cortex, in both the positive and negative AM conditions. Finally, the precuneus showed stronger connections with the inferior parietal lobule when comparing the positive with the negative AM conditions. Our results suggest that the precuneus is a key area of emotional consistency in positive AMs; this brain area may be involved in the maintenance of a positive self-image by strengthening positive AMs.
自传体记忆（AMs）的情感方面与自我相关的处理有关，这在心理健康中起着重要作用。然而，AMs 的情感一致性维度及其神经基础在很大程度上仍未得到探索。本研究纳入了 25 名健康参与者。首先，要求参与者回忆重要的 AMs 并评估每个 AM 的情感评分。四周后，他们在功能磁共振成像（fMRI）扫描期间被要求检索积极和消极 AM 的详细信息。行为结果表明，负面记忆的情感效价随时间变化的变化强于积极记忆（即一致性降低）。fMRI 数据显示，在积极 AM 条件下，楔前叶的激活水平与自我评分效价一致性呈正相关。此外，楔前叶与内侧前额叶皮层这一自我参照网络的关键区域在积极和消极 AM 条件下均有连接。最后，当比较积极和消极 AM 条件时，楔前叶与下顶叶之间的连接更强。我们的研究结果表明，楔前叶是积极 AM 中情感一致性的关键区域；该脑区可能通过增强积极 AM 来维持积极的自我形象。
