Emotion enhances the subjective feeling of remembering, despite lower accuracy for contextual details.

Rimmele, Ulrike; Davachi, Lila; Petrov, Radoslav; Dougal, Sonya; Phelps, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1037/a0024246

Cited by 160 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(105 reference statements)

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“…Across all of our experiments, negative emotion was found to impair associative memory, a finding in accordance with previous reports (Touryan et al 2007;Mather and Knight 2008;Rimmele et al 2011). This robust impairment was unaffected by manipulations to the type of information to be associated (context or item), or the way in which emotional arousal was induced (negative visual images or anticipatory threat of shock).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Retrieval of source information associated with an item, such as an object presented in the periphery of the screen or the color of a border surrounding an item at study, is impaired when the item was emotionally arousing (Kensinger and Schacter 2006;Touryan et al 2007;Mather and Knight 2008;Pierce and Kensinger 2011;Rimmele et al 2011). In contrast, when associations at encoding can be incorporated within the item representation, such as the color of a presented word, memory for the associated information is enhanced by an emotional item (Doerksen and Shimamura 2001;D'Argembeau and Van der Linden 2004;MacKay and Ahmetzanov 2005;Mather and Nesmith 2008;Nashiro and Mather 2011;Schmidt et al 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Negative affect impairs associative memory but not item memory

2014

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The formation of associations between items and their context has been proposed to rely on mechanisms distinct from those supporting memory for a single item. Although emotional experiences can profoundly affect memory, our understanding of how it interacts with different aspects of memory remains unclear. We performed three experiments to examine the effects of emotion on memory for items and their associations. By presenting neutral and negative items with background contexts, Experiment 1 demonstrated that item memory was facilitated by emotional affect, whereas memory for an associated context was reduced. In Experiment 2, arousal was manipulated independently of the memoranda, by a threat of shock, whereby encoding trials occurred under conditions of threat or safety. Memory for context was equally impaired by the presence of negative affect, whether induced by threat of shock or a negative item, relative to retrieval of the context of a neutral item in safety. In Experiment 3, participants were presented with neutral and negative items as paired associates, including all combinations of neutral and negative items. The results showed both above effects: compared to a neutral item, memory for the associate of a negative item (a second item here, context in Experiments 1 and 2) is impaired, whereas retrieval of the item itself is enhanced. Our findings suggest that negative affect impairs associative memory while recognition of a negative item is enhanced. They support dual-processing models in which negative affect or stress impairs hippocampal-dependent associative memory while the storage of negative sensory/perceptual representations is spared or even strengthened.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

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confidence: 99%

Negative affect impairs associative memory but not item memory

2014

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“…Laboratory studies demonstrate that emotional stimuli are not only remembered better but with an enhanced subjective sense of recollection rather than a feeling of familiarity (Rimmele, Davachi, & Phelps, 2012;Rimmele, Davachi, Petrov, Dougal, & Phelps, 2011;Sharot, Delgado, & Phelps, 2004;Ochsner, 2000). Similarly, emotional real-life events are reexperienced with a greater sense of recollection, vividness, and confidence (Sharot, Martorella, Delgado, & Phelps, 2007;Talarico & Rubin, 2003;Neisser et al, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous studies, we found a dissociation between the subjective sense of recollection and memory for details for emotional versus neutral stimuli. Although "remember" judgments were boosted for negative relative to neutral scenes, "remember" responses for negative versus neutral scenes were less often accompanied by correct memory for some contextual details (Rimmele et al, 2011). Arousal may underlie this effect (Mather, 2007), for example, by impairing binding of the contextual detail to the emotional stimulus during encoding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beta-adrenergic Blockade at Memory Encoding, but Not Retrieval, Decreases the Subjective Sense of Recollection

Rimmele

Lackovic

Tobe

et al. 2016

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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Abstract■ Humans remember emotional events not only better but also exhibit a qualitatively distinct recollective experience-that is, emotion intensifies the subjective vividness of the memory, the sense of reliving the event, and confidence in the accuracy of the memory [Phelps, E. A., & Sharot, T. How (and why) emotion enhances the subjective sense of recollection. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 147-152, 2008]. Although it has been demonstrated that activation of the betaadrenergic system, linked to increases in stress hormone levels and physiological arousal, mediates enhanced emotional memory accuracy, the mechanism underlying the increased subjective sense of recollection is unknown. Behavioral evidence suggests that increased arousal associated with emotional events, either at encoding or retrieval, underlies their increased subjective sense of recollection. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, withinsubject design, we showed that reducing arousal at encoding through oral intake of 80-mg of the beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol decreases the subjective sense of recollection for both negative and neutral stimuli 24 hr later. In contrast, administration of propranolol before memory retrieval did not alter the subjective sense of recollection. These results suggest that the neurohormonal changes underlying increased arousal at the time of memory formation, rather than the time of memory retrieval, modulate the subjective sense of recollection. ■

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“…Some researchers found better memory for contextual features of emotional items (e.g., Doerksen & Shimamura, 2001;Mather & Nesmith, 2008;Nashiro & Mather, 2011) and neutral items embedded in arousing contexts (e.g., Guillet & Arndt, 2009;Pierce & Kensinger, 2011), whereas others found impairments in memory performance (e.g., Bisby & Burgess, 2014;Nashiro & Mather, 2011;Rimmele, Davachi, Petrov, Dougal, & Phelps, 2011;Touryan, Marian, & Shimamura, 2007) or no effects (e.g., Koenig & Mecklinger, 2008; when retrieving emotional, relative to neutral, contextual source information (e.g., paired words, background scenes or features). Smith, Dolan, and Rugg (2004) explored ERPs related to immediate recognition of emotionally neutral objects associated with emotional and nonemotional background scenes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Binding neutral information to emotional contexts: Brain dynamics of long-term recognition memory

Ventura‐Bort

Löw

Wendt

et al. 2015

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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There is abundant evidence in memory research that emotional stimuli are better remembered than neutral stimuli. However, effects of an emotionally charged context on memory for associated neutral elements is also important, particularly in trauma and stress-related disorders, where strong memories are often activated by neutral cues due to their emotional associations. In the present study, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate long-term recognition memory (1-week delay) for neutral objects that had been paired with emotionally arousing or neutral scenes during encoding. Context effects were clearly evident in the ERPs: An early frontal ERP old/new difference (300-500 ms) was enhanced for objects encoded in unpleasant compared to pleasant and neutral contexts; and a late centralparietal old/new difference (400-700 ms) was observed for objects paired with both pleasant and unpleasant contexts but not for items paired with neutral backgrounds. Interestingly, objects encoded in emotional contexts (and novel objects) also prompted an enhanced frontal early (180-220 ms) positivity compared to objects paired with neutral scenes indicating early perceptual significance. The present data suggest that emotional-particularly unpleasantbackgrounds strengthen memory for items encountered within these contexts and engage automatic and explicit recognition processes. These results could help in understanding binding mechanisms involved in the activation of trauma-related memories by neutral cues.

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Emotion enhances the subjective feeling of remembering, despite lower accuracy for contextual details.

Cited by 160 publications

References 58 publications

Negative affect impairs associative memory but not item memory

Negative affect impairs associative memory but not item memory

Beta-adrenergic Blockade at Memory Encoding, but Not Retrieval, Decreases the Subjective Sense of Recollection

Binding neutral information to emotional contexts: Brain dynamics of long-term recognition memory

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