Age differences in emotional reactions: Arousal and age-relevance count.

Streubel, Berit; Kunzmann, Ute

doi:10.1037/a0023424

Cited by 64 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Whereas valence does not seem to affect recognition of high arousing excerpts, it modifies recognition of low arousing stimuli such that positive excerpts were better recognized than negative excerpts. This result highlights the relevance of valence for low arousing excerpts in immediate testing, in line with Streubel and Kunzmann (2011), who suggest that the positivity bias on emotional reaction may be restricted to low arousing stimuli. Moreover, our finding is in agreement with Kensinger (2008), who also found an interaction whereby more positive non-arousing words were remembered relative to negative non-arousing words for older adults, but no valence effect was found for high arousing words.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Emotional memory for musical excerpts in young and older adults

Alonso

Dellacherie

Samson

2015

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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The emotions evoked by music can enhance recognition of excerpts. It has been suggested that memory is better for high than for low arousing music (Eschrich et al., 2005; Samson et al., 2009), but it remains unclear whether positively (Eschrich et al., 2008) or negatively valenced music (Aubé et al., 2013; Vieillard and Gilet, 2013) may be better recognized. Moreover, we still know very little about the influence of age on emotional memory for music. To address these issues, we tested emotional memory for music in young and older adults using musical excerpts varying in terms of arousal and valence. Participants completed immediate and 24 h delayed recognition tests. We predicted highly arousing excerpts to be better recognized by both groups in immediate recognition. We hypothesized that arousal may compensate consolidation deficits in aging, thus showing more prominent benefit of high over low arousing stimuli in older than younger adults on delayed recognition. We also hypothesized worst retention of negative excerpts for the older group, resulting in a recognition benefit for positive over negative excerpts specific to older adults. Our results suggest that although older adults had worse recognition than young adults overall, effects of emotion on memory do not seem to be modified by aging. Results on immediate recognition suggest that recognition of low arousing excerpts can be affected by valence, with better memory for positive relative to negative low arousing music. However, 24 h delayed recognition results demonstrate effects of emotion on memory consolidation regardless of age, with a recognition benefit for high arousal and for negatively valenced music. The present study highlights the role of emotion on memory consolidation. Findings are examined in light of the literature on emotional memory for music and for other stimuli. We finally discuss the implication of the present results for potential music interventions in aging and dementia.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Emotional memory for musical excerpts in young and older adults

Alonso

Dellacherie

Samson

2015

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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“…Second, previous behavioral results show that positive stimuli are generally more difficult to interpret, due to the lack of consistency of subjective ratings for positive pictures with the normative ratings in the older participants (St. Jacques et al, 2010). Such inconsistencies are even more evident when considering arousal, as older adults tend to rate low-arousing pleasant pictures as more pleasant than high-arousing pleasant pictures (Streubel and Kunzmann, 2011). Thus, it would be difficult to meaningfully interpret the fMRI data based on the behavioral results.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study examining age-differences in the relation between valence and arousal ratings (Keil and Freund, 2009) showed that in young adults both pleasantness and unpleasantness increased with emotional arousal, whereas in older adults low-arousing stimuli were experienced as most pleasant, and the high-arousing ones as most unpleasant. Finally, a study investigating age-differences in emotional reactions to stimuli differing in arousal and age-relevance (Streubel and Kunzmann, 2011) showed that older adults rated unpleasant low-arousing pictures as less unpleasant compared to young adults, while there were no age-related differences in unpleasant ratings for unpleasant pictures that were high in arousal. Despite these inconsistent findings, these behavioral studies indicate that age-related changes are more likely to influence the response to stimuli low in arousal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of arousal in the spontaneous regulation of emotions in healthy aging: a fMRI investigation

2014

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Despite ample support for enhanced affective well-being and emotional stability in healthy aging, the role of potentially important dimensions, such as the emotional arousal, has not been systematically investigated in neuroimaging studies. In addition, the few behavioral studies that examined effects of arousal have produced inconsistent findings. The present study manipulated the arousal of pictorial stimuli to test the hypothesis that preserved emotional functioning in aging is modulated by the level of arousal, and to identify the associated neural correlates. Young and older healthy participants were presented with negative and neutral pictures, which they rated for emotional content, while fMRI data were recorded. There were three main novel findings regarding the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of negative pictures with different levels of arousal in young and older adults. First, the common engagement of the right amygdala in young and older adults was driven by high arousing negative stimuli. Second, complementing an age-related reduction in the subjective ratings for low arousing negative pictures, there were opposing patterns of activity in the rostral/ventral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the amygdala, which showed increased vs. decreased responses, respectively, to low arousing negative pictures. Third, increased spontaneous activity in the ventral ACC/ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in older adults was linked to reduced ratings for low arousing negative pictures. Overall, these findings advance our understanding of the neural correlates underlying processing of negative emotions with different levels of arousal in the context of enhanced emotional functioning in healthy aging. Notably, the results support the idea that older adults have emotion regulation networks chronically activated, in the absence of explicit induction of the goal to regulate emotions, and that this effect is specific to low arousing negative emotions.

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“…Also arguing against the amygdala-decline account are findings that that the age-by-valence positivity effect interactions in memory and pleasantness ratings are stronger for low than high arousal emotional words (Kensinger, 2008, Streubel and Kunzmann, 2011). Likewise, younger and older adults showed similar amygdala activation in response to high arousal negative stimuli but for low arousal negative stimuli older adults showed decreased amygdala activity compared with younger adults, along with increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (Dolcos et al, 2014).…”

Section: Relations Between Emotional Processing In Aging and Brain Fumentioning

confidence: 99%

The Affective Neuroscience of Aging

Mather

2016

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

229

215

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While aging is associated with clear declines in physical and cognitive processes, emotional functioning fares relatively well. Consistent with this behavioral profile, two core emotional brain regions, the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, show little structural and functional decline in aging, compared with other regions. However, emotional processes depend on interacting systems of neurotransmitters and brain regions that go beyond these structures. This review examines how age-related brain changes influence processes such as attending to and remembering emotional stimuli, regulating emotion, recognizing emotional expressions, empathy, risk taking, impulsivity, behavior change and attentional focus.

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Age differences in emotional reactions: Arousal and age-relevance count.

Cited by 64 publications

References 52 publications

Emotional memory for musical excerpts in young and older adults

Emotional memory for musical excerpts in young and older adults

The role of arousal in the spontaneous regulation of emotions in healthy aging: a fMRI investigation

The Affective Neuroscience of Aging

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