Remembering in the Real World: Effects of Emotion

记忆是人类的一项重要功能，它关系到我们如何看待自己，以及我们如何做出影响未来的决定。记忆对我们的自我意识和幸福感的中心地位赋予了它作为科学研究现象的根本重要性。众所周知，我们的许多经历都不记得了。什么因素影响我们记忆的强度和保真度？有证据表明，情绪是一个关键因素。然而，情绪对记忆的影响在很大程度上是在实验室环境下研究的（例如，使用研究过的和检索过的单词或图片）。在实验室之外，我们的自传式经历是复杂的、多感官的，它们在时间和空间中展开。尽管情感自传式记忆在我们的生活中频繁出现，但相对于基于实验室的研究，对这类记忆的实证研究很少。这项研究计划的目的是填补这一文献空白，通过研究情绪性自传式记忆相对于中性记忆是如何被记住的。更具体地说，这项研究将解决一些关键问题：从情感经历中记住哪些类型的细节，以及这些细节是否准确。在这样做的过程中，这项工作的目的是在主导该领域的两种观点之间进行裁决。一种观点认为，情绪可以增强对事件的记忆。另一种观点认为，虽然情感体验的某些方面在记忆中得到了增强，即那些对体验至关重要的方面，但剩下的细节更有可能被遗忘。除了对自传体记忆进行“纸笔”测试外，还将使用脑成像（即功能性磁共振成像；fMRI）来研究情绪性自传体记忆是如何在大脑中表现出来的，即通过比较个体记忆情绪性自传体记忆和中性自传体记忆时的激活模式。研究人员将检查与记忆有关的关键神经回路，尤其是海马体区域。一个高分辨率版本的功能磁共振成像，将允许我们“放大”这个结构，详细检查它的贡献。这项研究不仅提供了关于情感和记忆之间相互作用的基础知识，而且还可以在实验室科学和现实生活现象之间架起一座急需的桥梁。因此，这项工作具有很大的潜力，可以为与认知、认知神经科学和行为神经科学领域高度相关的情绪记忆理论模型提供信息。此外，这里提出的研究计划将为加拿大HQP提供强大的、多方面的技能，以推动他们的学术轨迹。

Memory is a critical human feat-relevant to how we view ourselves, and how we make decisions that affect our future. The centrality of memory to our sense of self and well-being gives it fundamental importance as a phenomenon for scientific investigation. It is well known that many experiences we have are not remembered. What factors influence the strength and fidelity of our memories? Evidence suggests that emotion is one key factor. However, the effects of emotion on memory have largely been studied using laboratory settings (e.g., using studied and retrieved words or pictures). Outside of the laboratory, our autobiographical experiences are complex and multi-sensory and they unfold in time and space. In spite of the frequency of emotional autobiographical memories in our lives, there is little empirical research on this type of remembering, relative to laboratory-based studies. The aim of the proposed research program is to fill this gap in the literature, by examining how emotional autobiographical memories are remembered relative to neutral ones. More specifically, this research will address key questions about what types of details are remembered from emotional experiences and whether those details are accurate. In doing so, this work aims to adjudicate between two views that dominate the field. One view suggests that emotion enhances memory for an event. Another view suggests that while some aspects of an emotional experience are enhanced in memory, namely those that are `central' to the experience, the remaining details are more likely to be forgotten. In addition to `paper and pencil' tests of autobiographical memory, brain imaging (i.e., functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; fMRI), will be used to investigate how emotional autobiographical memories are represented in the brain, namely by comparing patterns of activation when individuals remember emotional versus neutral autobiographical memories. Key neural circuitry involved in memory will be examined, particularly a region called the hippocampus. A high-resolution version of fMRI, will allow us to `zoom in' on this structure, to examine its contribution in fine detail. This research stands not only to provide fundamental knowledge about the interplay between emotion and memory, it can also provide a much-needed bridge between the science of laboratory and real-life phenomena. Accordingly, this work has great potential to inform theoretical models of emotional memory that remain highly relevant to the fields of cognition, cognitive neuroscience, and behavioral neuroscience. Additionally, the research program proposed here will equip Canadian HQP with a robust and multifaceted skill set to fuel their academic trajectory.