CAREER:Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotional Memory

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Labar and colleagues will conduct a five-year CAREER award that combines event-related potential (ERP), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and patient-based studies to investigate the impact of emotional cues during memory encoding and retrieval tasks in human subjects. The long term scientific goal of the project is to reveal insights into the organization of large-scale brain networks that link emotional stimuli to long-term memory. Memories for emotional episodes are intricately associated with our autobiographical experience, yet little is known about the brain mechanisms involved in encoding and retaining emotional events in memory. Arousal and valence dimensions of emotion are hypothesized to differentially impact memory functions. Arousal effects on memory are predicted to be mediated by an amygdala-centered frontolimbic network, whereas valence effects on memory are predicted to be mediated by a semantic network centered on lateral frontotemporal cortex. Specific experiments are planned to delineate the scope of the amygdala's contribution to arousal-mediated memory processes, and to identify the frontotemporal semantic networks that regulate emotional valence effects on memory organization. The known role of the amygdala and associated frontolimbic regions will be extended along three lines of inquiry: (1) performance on new implicit emotional memory tasks, (2) arousalmediated attentional effects at encoding, and (3) retrieval of autobiographical and non-autobiographical emotional memories. The contribution of semantic networks to emotional memory will be evaluated for affectively valenced and categorized neutral stimuli in three domains: (1) explicit memory organization, (2) subsequent memory effects, and (3) retrieval biases. Collectively, these studies will provide experimental support for the applicant's overarching goal of developing a comprehensive 2-factor neuropsychological model of emotional memory. In parallel with the research plan, an educational curriculum will be executed to advance the study of affective neuroscience. Because cognitive neuroscience applications to studying human emotion are relatively new, appropriate educational tools are not available and must be created. Recent developments in a university-wide initiative in cognitive neuroscience at Duke University provide the applicant with a means to incorporate topics on emotion through a two-tiered approach. (1) Development of undergraduate and graduate courses that disseminate the fundamental principles of affective neuroscience, emphasizing human-based approaches, and (2) training in research methodologies through laboratory-based independent study and research practical opportunities. A final goal of the educational initiative is to write an affective neuroscience textbook to educate students and interested professionals more broadly. The integration of these educational and research plans should help poise the applicant to make unique career contributions to the modern study of cognitive-emotional interactions in the brain