Emotional modulation of implicit and explicit memory systems

Duke University, Durham NC

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Memories for emotional events constitute the core of our personal history, yet little is known about the[unreadable] neurocognitive mechanisms that mediate the influence of emotion on memory in the human brain. The[unreadable] proposed research uses modern cognitive neuroscience techniques to elucidate how emotion processing[unreadable] networks interface with memory systems and executive control regions to enhance both explicit (declarative)[unreadable] and implicit (non-declarative) forms of human memory. To achieve this aim, behavioral and functional[unreadable] magnetic resonance imaging studies of healthy adults will be combined with behavioral and intracranial[unreadable] event-related potential studies of epileptic patients during memory encoding tasks for stimuli that vary in their[unreadable] emotional salience. We hypothesize that emotional retention advantages in explicit memory depend on[unreadable] interactions between the amygdala and medial temporal lobe memory system (MMS), and that these effects[unreadable] will also involve extrastriate, parietal, and prefrontal cortex (RFC) regions according to executive functions[unreadable] related to perception/attention, working memory, and semantic processing. We further predict that emotional[unreadable] retention advantages in implicit memory, as measured by perceptual priming, depend on interactions[unreadable] between the amygdala and sensory neocortex in a modality-specific manner. Finally, we expect that[unreadable] conscious attempts to regulate one's emotions have a greater impact on explicit than implicit memory and[unreadable] are implemented by influences of cognitive control regions of the PFC and anterior cingulate on activity in the[unreadable] amygdala and MMS as a function of the effectiveness and type of regulation strategy deployed.[unreadable] The proposed research has specific clinical implications for understanding how epilepsy affects brain[unreadable] structures that form memories for emotional experiences, and the extent to which epileptic patients can use[unreadable] cognitive strategies to alter their emotional memories. This research has relevance for public health more[unreadable] broadly in that it can help understand how emotional memories become dysfunctional in a variety of[unreadable] neurologic disorders. New insights into these clinical conditions will be gained by providing a detailed[unreadable] account of the dynamic interplay between emotion, memory, and executive control systems in the human[unreadable] brain.