Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (SARMAC)

Wednesday, July 21, 2021 23:00-24:00 London Time


Multifaceted influences of emotion on memory

Chairs: Daniela J. Palombo (University of British Columbia) & Christopher R. Madan (University of Nottingham)

Although much of what we encounter is forgotten, some experiences are retained and remembered vividly. It is well established that emotion plays an important role in determining what experiences are retained versus disregarded from memory—with some emotional experiences preserved in memory in perpetuity. Still, research suggests that emotion does not simply lead to relative enhancements for emotional material but can also produce trade-offs for temporal or adjacent items, wherein the emotional aspects of an event are remembered at the expense of non-emotional content. More recent research—discussed in a talk by Dr. Christopher Madan—has revealed in more detail the intricacies of emotion-mnemonic interactions by demonstrating that emotion can affect not just what is remembered per se but the precision or quality of a memory. Moreover, emotional effects do not occur in isolation as they can ‘spill over’ to other information encountered before or after an emotional experience as well, biasing our later attitudes and preferences for that information. Such biases will be highlighted in talks by Drs. Daniela Palombo and Christopher Madan. Although the effects of emotion can be linked to a multitude of cognitive processes that take place at encoding (attention, perception, etc.), it is well known that post-encoding processes are also at play. Indeed, sleep plays a prominent role in the fate of emotional memories, with new research suggesting targeted effects of sleep and sleep loss on the prioritization of selective mnemonic information, as discussed in Dr. Tony Cunningham’s talk. In parallel, brain imaging studies using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been valuable in elucidating the neural pathways that underpin emotional memory phenomena. Dr. Stephanie Leal’s talk will highlight advancements in this area of research with an emphasis on the importance of medial temporal lobe subregions. Together, the speakers in this symposium will highlight developments and trends in the field of emotional memory and the potential promise this research holds for understanding mnemonic alterations in key clinical populations, including depression- and anxiety-based disorders.

Emotional modulation of pattern separation: clinical applications

Stephanie L. Leal (Rice University)

Pattern separation, the ability to independently store similar experiences, is a crucial facet of episodic memory. The hippocampus possesses unique circuitry that is computationally capable of resolving mnemonic interference by using pattern separation. Emotional arousal, mediated by the amygdala, is known to modulate episodic memory. We have developed an emotional mnemonic discrimination task that taxes hippocampal pattern separation and is sensitive to memory alterations in memory and mood disorders. I will discuss our findings from applying this task in healthy and depressed young adults as well as discuss recent findings applying emotion regulation strategies to modulate emotional memory in depression.

Christopher R. Madan (University of Nottingham)

When positive or negative events occur in a context, memory can be reflected in how positively or negatively we judge that context, and also by whether, upon later remembering that emotional event, we can bring to mind the specific context in which it occurred. We examined each of these forms of associative memory. Participants intentionally formed associations between famous places and positive, negative, or neutral pictures. We examined (1) how affect may summate over experiences and (2) how affect may influence memory precision for associated places. Findings demonstrate that affect can be transferred through episodic associations and influence learning.

Sleep and Sleep Loss in the Processing of Emotional Memories

Tony J. Cunningham (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Harvard Medical School; Boston College)

Sleep is critical for the processing and consolidation of information into long-term memory. However, the effect of sleep is not universal to all experiences, with certain influences, such as emotion, driving preferential processing. Here, I will discuss the impact of sleep and both manipulated and clinical sleep loss on the perception and processing of emotional information. Specifically, I will focus on demonstrations of the role of sleep using complex emotional stimuli in laboratory-settings (e.g. emotional trade-off) that better reflects our real-world experiences of emotional episodic events. I will discuss the ecological-relevance of these findings for healthy and clinical cohorts alike.

Guilty by association: Transfer of negative valence in episodic memory

Daniela J. Palombo (University of British Columbia)

Emotion affects what we perceive and subsequently remember in myriad and complex ways. Indeed, emotion enhances some aspects of remembering, while impairing others. Emotion can also bias our later attitudes and preferences such as when the coincident pairing of a negative stimulus with a neutral one reduces one’s preference for that neutral stimulus upon subsequent encounter—a ‘transfer of negative valence’ (TNV) effect. In this talk, I will elucidate the circumstances in which TNV is most robust. Moreover, I will show that TNV occurs even when episodic memory fails. In doing so, I will highlight the multifaceted nature of emotional memory.