Remembering in the Real World: Effects of Emotion

记忆是人类的一项关键壮举--关系到我们如何看待自己，以及我们如何做出影响我们未来的决定。记忆对我们的自我和幸福感的中心性，使其作为科学研究的一种现象具有根本的重要性。众所周知，我们的许多经历都不会被记住。哪些因素会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通过实验室环境(例如，使用学习和提取的单词或图片)来研究的。在实验室之外，我们的自传经历是复杂的和多感官的，它们在时间和空间中展开。尽管情感自传体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，关于这种类型的记忆的实证研究很少。这项拟议的研究计划的目的是通过研究情感自传体记忆相对于中性记忆是如何被记忆的，来填补文献中的这一空白。更具体地说，这项研究将解决关键问题，即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做出裁决。一种观点认为，情绪可以增强对某一事件的记忆。另一种观点认为，虽然情感体验的某些方面会在记忆中得到加强，即那些对体验来说是“核心”的方面，但剩下的细节更有可能被遗忘。除了自传体记忆的“纸和笔”测试外，还将使用大脑成像(即功能磁共振成像；fMRI)来研究情绪自传体记忆在大脑中是如何表现的，即通过比较个体记住情绪自传体记忆和中性自传体记忆时的激活模式。我们将检查与记忆有关的关键神经回路，特别是一个被称为海马体的区域。一个高分辨率的功能磁共振成像版本，将使我们能够“放大”这一结构，以详细检查其贡献。这项研究不仅提供了关于情绪和记忆之间相互作用的基本知识，还可以在实验室科学和现实生活现象之间提供一座亟需的桥梁。因此，这项工作具有极大的潜力来提供情绪记忆的理论模型，这些模型仍然与认知、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配备强大和多方面的技能集，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.