Emotional enhancement effect of memory: Removing the influence of cognitive factors

Sommer, Tobias; Gläscher, Jan; Moritz, Steffen; Büchel, Christian

doi:10.1101/lm.995108

Cited by 50 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…ESM effects for positive pictures were only observed in the anterior hippocampus, weakly extending in amygdala regions (Table S3). These results are generally consistent with previous findings (27,28) and further indicate that the reported brain regions that show genotype-dependent activity differences belong to a network important for emotional memory.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

A genetic variation of the noradrenergic system is related to differential amygdala activation during encoding of emotional memories

Rasch

Spalek

Buholzer

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

135

118

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Emotionally arousing events are typically well remembered, but there is a large interindividual variability for this phenomenon. We have recently shown that a functional deletion variant of ADRA2B, the gene encoding the ␣2b-adrenergic receptor, is related to enhanced emotional memory in healthy humans and enhanced traumatic memory in war victims. Here, we investigated the neural mechanisms of this effect in healthy participants by using fMRI. Carriers of the ADRA2B deletion variant exhibited increased activation of the amygdala during encoding of photographs with negative emotional valence compared with noncarriers of the deletion. Additionally, functional connectivity between amygdala and insula was significantly stronger in deletion carriers. The present findings indicate that the ADRA2B deletion variant is related to increased responsivity and connectivity of brain regions implicated in emotional memory.ADRA2B ͉ fMRI ͉ polymorphism ͉ imaging genetics E nhanced memory for emotionally arousing events is a highly adaptive phenomenon, which helps us to remember both dangerous and favorable situations (1). Under certain conditions, however, this mechanism can also lead to intrusive and persistent traumatic memories of an extremely aversive event, thereby contributing to the development and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (2, 3). Elucidating the mechanisms of emotional memory formation thus represents an important aim of modern neuroscience not only in terms of better understanding basic mnemonic processes, but also with regard to the clinical relevance (4, 5).Studies in rodents have indicated that the amygdala is critically involved in mediating the memory-enhancing effect of emotional arousal (6-8). Specifically, emotional arousal leads to a release of norepinephrine (NE) within the amygdala (9), and it has been shown that such amygdala activation strengthens the storage of many different kinds of information via its widespread network of efferent projections to other brain regions (10). Several human studies support this notion by showing that a pharmacologically induced increase of central noradrenergic transmission enhances memory performance (11-13), whereas a pharmacological blockade of noradrenergic transmission abolishes the enhancement of memory for emotional information and prevents enhanced amygdala activation in response to emotional stimuli (14,15).Recently, we reported that carriers of a functionally relevant deletion variant of ADRA2B, the gene encoding the ␣2b-adrenoreceptor, exhibit enhanced memory for emotional vs. neutral pictures compared with noncarriers (16). In that study, 435 participants were presented with neutral and emotional pictures taken from the international affective picture system (IAPS) (17). Delayed free recall was tested after 10 min, during which participants performed on a working memory task. The finding of increased emotional memory in deletion carriers of ADRA2B was followed up in 202 survivors of the Rwandan civil war who had experienced highly aversive ...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

A genetic variation of the noradrenergic system is related to differential amygdala activation during encoding of emotional memories

Rasch

Spalek

Buholzer

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

135

118

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“…Harris & Pashler, 2005;Kensinger & Corkin, 2004), before synaptic consolidation has been completed (Alberini and Kandel, 2015); a finding for which the modulation model cannot account. The correlation between activations in the MTL that correspond to the EEM effect could support either immediate or delayed EEM, and have indeed been shown to correlate with EEM in immediate memory tests (Kensinger and Corkin, 2004;Sommer et al, 2008). An emerging body of research (Mather, Clewett, Sakaki, & Harley, 2015;Talmi, 2013) seeks to specifically explain the correlates of the immediate EEM effect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…They used a variety of stimuli and experimental tasks: e.g. positive and negative words and a remember/know recognition test (Dewhurst & Parry, 2000); taboo and neutral words and free recall (Hadley & MacKay, 2006;Schmidt & Saari, 2007); positive, negative and neutral words in recognition (Sommer et al, 2008; note -only pure lists were included); and negative/arousing (non-taboo) and neutral pictures and free recall (Talmi, Schimmack, et al, 2007;Talmi, Luk et al, 2007;Talmi & McGarry, 2012). Here we used picture stimuli, and all our emotional pictures were negative and arousing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Once any of these controls is relaxed, the EEM effect reappears. Here we focus on the list composition effect on EEM (Buchanan, Etzel, Adolphs, & Tranel, 2006;Dewhurst & Parry, 2000;Hadley & MacKay, 2006;MacKay et al, 2004;Schmidt & Saari, 2007;Sommer et al, 2008;Talmi, Schimmack, et al, 2007;Talmi, Luk et al, 2007;Talmi & McGarry, 2012), namely, on what happens when instead of encoding emotional and neutral items separately ("pure lists") the two item types are encoded and tested together with neutral items ("mixed lists"). We have previously shown that the EEM effect is only observed in the latter condition (Talmi, Luk et al, 2007;Talmi & McGarry, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The list-composition effect in memory for emotional and neutral pictures: Differential contribution of ventral and dorsal attention networks to successful encoding

et al. 2016

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The Emotional enhancement of memory (EEM) is observed in immediate free-recall memory tests when emotional and neutral stimuli are encoded and tested together ("mixed lists"), but surprisingly, not when they are encoded and tested separately ("pure lists"). Here our aim was to investigate whether the effect of list-composition (mixed versus pure lists) on the EEM is due to differential allocation of attention. We scanned participants with fMRI during encoding of semantically-related emotional (negative valence only) and neutral pictures. Analysis of memory performance data replicated previous work, demonstrating an interaction between list composition and emotional valence. In mixed lists, neural subsequent memory effects in the dorsal attention network were greater for neutral stimulus encoding, while neural subsequent memory effects for emotional stimuli were found in a region associated with the ventral attention network. These results imply that when life experiences include both emotional and neutral elements, memory for the latter is more highly correlated with neural activity representing goal-directed attention processing at encoding.

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“…Therefore, the multifactor theory proposes that the EEM is not only driven by arousal but also by cognitive characteristics of emotional stimuli that are known to enhance memory performance (Maratos et al, 2000;Sharot and Phelps, 2004;Buchanan et al, 2006;Schmidt and Saari, 2007;Talmi et al, 2007a,b;Sommer et al, 2008). In addition to their semantic relatedness, the attraction of attention and enhanced initial processing of emotional stimuli contribute to the EEM (Schupp et al, 2006;Talmi et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Event-Related Nociceptive Arousal Enhances Memory Consolidation for Neutral Scenes

Schwarze

Bingel²,

Sommer³

2012

J. Neurosci.

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The superior memory for emotional events has been attributed to the beneficial effects of noradrenaline released into the amygdala attributable to arousal. Noradrenaline mediates the effects of different hormones and neurotransmitters, including adrenal stress hormones on consolidation ( Recently, it was highlighted that emotional stimuli elicit not only arousal but also intensify cognitive processes that contribute to the enhanced memory. In particular, the enhanced use of selective attention as well as the greater distinctiveness and semantic relatedness of emotional stimuli influence memory formation (Talmi et al., 2007a). The present study aimed to explore the effects of arousal on memory formation independent of these cognitive factors in an event-related manner. Arousal was induced by the application of a nociceptive stimulus briefly after the presentation of neutral scenes. The results show a purely arousal-driven memory enhancement for the neutral scenes that differs in critical aspects from the superior memory for emotional stimuli. In particular, the enhancement was only evident after consolidation and exclusively based on an increase in item familiarity but not recollection. Moreover, successful memory formation for stimuli followed by arousal was correlated with activity in the parahippocampal cortex but not the amygdala, as is the case for emotional stimuli.

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Emotional enhancement effect of memory: Removing the influence of cognitive factors

Cited by 50 publications

References 40 publications

A genetic variation of the noradrenergic system is related to differential amygdala activation during encoding of emotional memories

A genetic variation of the noradrenergic system is related to differential amygdala activation during encoding of emotional memories

The list-composition effect in memory for emotional and neutral pictures: Differential contribution of ventral and dorsal attention networks to successful encoding

Event-Related Nociceptive Arousal Enhances Memory Consolidation for Neutral Scenes

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