Remembering in the Real World: Effects of Emotion

记忆是人类的一个重要特征，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。记忆对我们的自我感和幸福感的中心地位使它成为科学研究的一种现象。众所周知，我们的许多经历都记不住。哪些因素影响我们记忆的强度和准确性？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使用实验室环境（例如，使用研究和检索的单词或图片）。在实验室之外，我们的自传体经历是复杂的，多感官的，它们在时间和空间中展开。尽管在我们的生活中，情感自传体记忆的频率很高，但相对于基于实验室的研究，对这种记忆的实证研究却很少。拟议的研究计划的目的是填补这一空白，在文献中，通过检查如何记住相对于中性的情绪自传体记忆。更具体地说，这项研究将解决关键问题，即从情感体验中记住哪些类型的细节，以及这些细节是否准确。在这样做的时候，这项工作的目的是在主导该领域的两种观点之间做出裁决。一种观点认为，情绪增强了对一件事的记忆。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，但其余的细节更容易被遗忘。除了自传体记忆的“纸笔”测试外，脑成像（即，功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）将被用来研究情感自传体记忆在大脑中的表现方式，即通过比较个体记忆情感和中性自传体记忆时的激活模式。参与记忆的关键神经回路将被检查，特别是一个称为海马体的区域。功能性磁共振成像的高分辨率版本将使我们能够“放大”这个结构，以详细检查它的贡献。这项研究不仅提供了关于情绪和记忆之间相互作用的基础知识，还可以在实验室科学和现实生活现象之间提供急需的桥梁。因此，这项工作具有很大的潜力，为情绪记忆的理论模型提供信息，这些模型与认知，认知神经科学和行为神经科学领域高度相关。此外，这里提出的研究计划将为加拿大HQP提供强大而多方面的技能，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.