Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Learn Mem. 2024 May 13;31(4). doi: 10.1101/lm.053891.123. Print 2024 Apr.
Emotional stimuli are usually remembered with high confidence. Yet, it remains unknown whether-in addition to memory for the emotional stimulus itself-memory for a neutral stimulus encountered just after an emotional one can be enhanced. Further, little is known about the interplay between emotion elicited by a stimulus and emotion relating to affective dispositions. To address these questions, we examined (1) how emotional valence and arousal of a context image preceding a neutral item image affect memory of the item, and (2) how such memory modulation is affected by two hallmark features of emotional disorders: trait negative affect and tendency to worry. In two experiments, participants encoded a series of trials in which an emotional (negative, neutral, or positive) context image was followed by a neutral item image. In experiment 1 ( = 42), items presented seconds after negative context images were remembered better and with greater confidence compared to those presented after neutral and positive ones. Arousal ratings of negative context images were higher compared to neutral and positive ones and the likelihood of correctly recognizing an item image was related to higher arousal of the context image. In experiment 2 ( = 59), better item memory was related to lower trait negative affect. Participants with lower trait negative affect or tendency to worry displayed higher confidence compared to those with high negative affect or tendency to worry. Our findings describe an emotional "carry-over" effect elicited by a context image that enhances subsequent item memory on a trial-by-trial basis, however, not in individuals with high trait negative affect who seem to have a general memory disadvantage.
情绪刺激通常会被高度自信地记住。然而，除了对情绪刺激本身的记忆之外，人们对于紧随情绪刺激之后出现的中性刺激的记忆是否可以增强，目前还不得而知。此外，人们对于由刺激引起的情绪与与情感倾向相关的情绪之间的相互作用知之甚少。为了解决这些问题，我们研究了（1）在中性项目图像之前的上下文图像的情绪效价和唤醒度如何影响对项目的记忆，以及（2）情绪障碍的两个显著特征：特质负性情绪和担忧倾向如何影响这种记忆调制。在两项实验中，参与者对一系列试验进行了编码，其中一个情绪（负面、中性或正面）的上下文图像后面跟着一个中性的项目图像。在实验 1（n = 42）中，与呈现中性和正面上下文图像之后相比，呈现负面上下文图像之后的项目被更好地记住并且具有更高的记忆信心。与中性和正面的上下文图像相比，负面上下文图像的唤醒度评分更高，正确识别项目图像的可能性与上下文图像的唤醒度相关。在实验 2（n = 59）中，更好的项目记忆与较低的特质负性情绪有关。特质负性情绪或担忧倾向较低的参与者与特质负性情绪或担忧倾向较高的参与者相比，具有更高的记忆信心。我们的研究结果描述了一种由上下文图像引起的情绪“延续”效应，这种效应会在每次试验的基础上增强随后的项目记忆，然而，对于那些似乎具有一般记忆劣势的高特质负性情绪的个体则没有影响。
