The influence of sex versus sex-related traits on long-term memory for gist and detail from an emotional story

Cahill, Larry; Górski, Łukasz; Belcher, Annabelle M.; Huynh, Quyen

doi:10.1016/j.concog.2003.11.003

Cited by 63 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…As such, they strengthen the argument that a complete understanding of neurobiological mechanisms underlying emotionally influenced memory now requires that we anticipate, and account for, the influence of sex (Shors 1998;Cahill et al 2001) or gender (Cahill et al 2004). …”

Section: Learning and Memory 263mentioning

confidence: 78%

Sex-Related Hemispheric Lateralization of Amygdala Function in Emotionally Influenced Memory: An fMRI Investigation

Cahill¹,

Uncapher²,

Kilpatrick³

et al. 2004

Learn. Mem.

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317

183

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The amygdala appears necessary for enhanced long-term memory associated with emotionally arousing events. Recent brain imaging investigations support this view and indicate a sex-related hemispheric lateralization exists in the amygdala relationship to memory for emotional material. This study confirms and further explores this finding. Healthy men and women underwent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while viewing a series of standardized slides that were rated by the subjects as ranging from emotionally neutral to highly arousing. Two weeks later, memory for the slides was assessed in an incidental recognition test. The results demonstrate a significantly stronger relationship in men than in women between activity of the right hemisphere amygdala and memory for those slides judged as arousing, and a significantly stronger relationship in women than in men between activity of the left hemisphere amygdala and memory for arousing slides. An ANOVA confirmed a significant interaction between sex and hemisphere regarding amygdala function in memory. These results provide the strongest evidence to date of a sex-related hemispheric lateralization of amygdala function in memory for emotional material. Furthermore, they underscore the view that investigations of neural mechanisms underlying emotionally influenced memory must anticipate, and begin to account for, the apparently substantial influence of sex.The amygdala appears crucially involved with enhanced memory associated with emotionally arousing events in both animal (McGaugh 2000) and human (Cahill 2000) subject studies. For example, activity of the human amygdala during encoding of arousing material relates significantly to long-term memory of that material but not to memory of nonarousing material (Cahill et al. 1996(Cahill et al. , 2001Canli et al. 1999Canli et al. , 2000Canli et al. , 2002Hamann et al. 1999). Conversely, bilateral amygdala lesions reduce or abolish enhanced long-term memory associated with emotional arousal, although they do not affect memory for relatively neutral material or affect emotional reactions per se to arousing stimuli .More recently, human brain imaging evidence has begun to reveal a sex-related hemispheric lateralization of amygdala function with respect to memory for emotionally arousing material. For example, in both a glucose PET investigation (Cahill et al. 2001) and an fMRI investigation (Canli et al. 2002), activity of the right, but not left, hemisphere amygdala related significantly to long-term incidental memory for arousing material in men but not in women, whereas activity of the left, but not right, hemisphere amygdala related significantly to memory for arousing material in women but not in men. As noted recently by Pizzagalli and colleagues (2003), such claims about lateralized amygdala function "require systematic replication." Providing such a replication was the first major aim of the present study.Evidence for hemispheric lateralization of brain function derived from brain imaging investigations must ...

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Section: Learning and Memory 263mentioning

confidence: 78%

Sex-Related Hemispheric Lateralization of Amygdala Function in Emotionally Influenced Memory: An fMRI Investigation

Cahill¹,

Uncapher²,

Kilpatrick³

et al. 2004

Learn. Mem.

Self Cite

317

183

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moreover, we found no evidence of differential response to memory modulation via emotional stimuli between genders. Indeed, one recent study also found no effect of gender, but rather a significant effect on emotional memory scores due to sex-role identity (Cahill, Gorski, Belcher, & Huynh, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Positive and negative sources of emotional arousal enhance long-term word-list retention when induced as long as 30min after learning

Nielson

Powless

2007

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

106

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“…In relation to the latter point, the social aspect seems to modulate the differences between women and men. For instance, women seems to have a greater preference for socially-relevant items (e.g., faces and persons vs. scenes) (Proverbio, Adorni, Zani, & Trestianu, 2008;, which suggests that feminine and masculine roles as established by the society, rather than the sex per se, seem to influence these differences in emotional memory (Cahill, Gorski, Belcher, & Huynh, 2004a).…”

Section: Sex-related Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Correlates of Emotional Memories: A Review of Evidence From Brain Imaging Studies

Dolcos

Denkova

Dolcos

2012

An International Journal of Psychological Sciences

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What are the neural markers of encoding and retrieving emotional events with increased efficacy? In recent years, this question has captured the attention of cognitive neuroscientists who fervently engaged in addressing it using a multitude of approaches. The present review discusses evidence from brain imaging studies investigating the neural correlates of the memory-enhancing effect of emotion in healthy human participants. The available evidence points to two main mechanisms: one direct involving the medial temporal lobe (MTL), and the other indirect involving the prefrontal cortex (PFC), among other brain regions. Recent studies also showed that these mechanisms are sensitive to aspects relevant to social interactions, as well as to personality-, sex-and age-related differences. Overall, this evidence provides insights into the brain mechanisms that make emotional memories special, and points to possible alterations that could lead to negative affective biases in encoding and remembering emotional memories observed in affective disorders.

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The influence of sex versus sex-related traits on long-term memory for gist and detail from an emotional story

Cited by 63 publications

References 31 publications

Sex-Related Hemispheric Lateralization of Amygdala Function in Emotionally Influenced Memory: An fMRI Investigation

Sex-Related Hemispheric Lateralization of Amygdala Function in Emotionally Influenced Memory: An fMRI Investigation

Positive and negative sources of emotional arousal enhance long-term word-list retention when induced as long as 30min after learning

Neural Correlates of Emotional Memories: A Review of Evidence From Brain Imaging Studies

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