Emotional memory in the lab: Using the Trier Social Stress Test to induce a sensory-rich and personally meaningful episodic experience

Freund, Inga Marie; Peters, Jacqueline; Kindt, Merel; Visser, Renée M.

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105971

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Interestingly, negative emotions seem to specifically enhance certain representational formats, with some studies indicating better accessibility of perceptual formats (Kensinger et al 2006(Kensinger et al , 2007. Similar effects may occur for negative emotions induced by psychosocial stress, a particularly ecologically relevant condition (Freund et al 2023). How will affective evaluation and contextual embedding affect neural representations of different stimuli of a stressful episode?…”

Section: Beyond Sensory Formats-affective and Contextual Dimensionsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Representational formats of human memory traces

et al. 2023

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Neural representations are internal brain states that constitute the brain’s model of the external world or some of its features. In the presence of sensory input, a representation may reflect various properties of this input. When perceptual information is no longer available, the brain can still activate representations of previously experienced episodes due to the formation of memory traces. In this review, we aim at characterizing the nature of neural memory representations and how they can be assessed with cognitive neuroscience methods, mainly focusing on neuroimaging. We discuss how multivariate analysis techniques such as representational similarity analysis (RSA) and deep neural networks (DNNs) can be leveraged to gain insights into the structure of neural representations and their different representational formats. We provide several examples of recent studies which demonstrate that we are able to not only measure memory representations using RSA but are also able to investigate their multiple formats using DNNs. We demonstrate that in addition to slow generalization during consolidation, memory representations are subject to semantization already during short-term memory, by revealing a shift from visual to semantic format. In addition to perceptual and conceptual formats, we describe the impact of affective evaluations as an additional dimension of episodic memories. Overall, these studies illustrate how the analysis of neural representations may help us gain a deeper understanding of the nature of human memory.

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Section: Beyond Sensory Formats-affective and Contextual Dimensionsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Representational formats of human memory traces

et al. 2023

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“…A second limitation is that affective updating was only assessed using subjective measures, that is, self-reported valence of the retrieved memory. Subjective reports are the most straightforward and common measures for assessing experiential phenomena, including the experience of an emotional memory, both in daily life and the clinic (Freund et al, 2023;Kredlow et al, 2022). From the valence ratings, it was evident that our manipulation induced the intended emotions and that participants understood the rating scale.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Modification of episodic memory valence through retrieval-update mechanisms requires a narrative link between events

Visser,

Duken,

Metselaar

et al. 2023

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Many mental health problems stem from negative life experiences. Memories of such experiences are not only distressing in and of themselves, but may also contaminate existing autobiographical memory networks. To date, little is known about the modifiability of previously formed episodic memories, particularly their affective valence. To investigate this, we developed the Modification Of Valence In Episodes (MOVIE) paradigm, modelling rich episodic memories with high experimental control. First, we established that film clips can change the valence of neutral pictures (Experiment 1). In a series of preregistered experiments, we then assessed whether the valence of neutral (Experiment 2) and emotional (Experiment 3-4) memories can be modified when retrieval is followed by a new emotional experience, and if so, if this experience needs to be related to the memory (Experiment 4). Across experiments, participants first encoded memories of film scenes, representing lifelike experiences. The next day, they retrieved each episode and rated their feelings, before viewing a valence-incongruent scene from the same film. A day later, participants again retrieved and rated day-1 memories. Collectively, results indicated that the valence of previously formed episodic memories can change when memory retrieval is followed by a new emotional experience compared to when memories are merely retrieved. Importantly, updating was only observed when episodes were from the same film, highlighting the importance of narratives in memory binding. Insights into how memories transform with new experiences is critical for understanding why adverse experience sometimes lead to pervasive problems, and may simultaneously be harnessed for treatment innovation.

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