Brain networks

Question 1

Default mode network

Answer 1

When relaxed/eyes closed in fMRI, participants start ‘daydreaming’ . Memory network is active

• Functional connectivity analysis shows that the affective enhancement of memory is widespread through the brain.

Retrieving memory requires the whole brain

Question 2

Priming effects

Answer 2

Prior exposure to stimulus influences affective response towards it. When it includes emotional content, the priming effect is a lot stronger

Question 3

Context dependency

Answer 3

When in a particular state, you’re better at remembering information that you acquired in that state
- When drunk at learning and drunk at recall, its a lot better than when sober at recall
- Goes for emotional stimuli as well

Question 4

Stress and memory

Answer 4

Rodent studies using drugs enhanced memory in tasks like maze learning when injected AFTER training
- Improves consolidation
- Also seen in the rat maze, when injected w amphetamine just after initial learning, improved reconsolidation

Glucocorticoids impair memory retention when injected shortly before testing. (stress exposure)
- No effect on acquisition or retention, but on retrieval.
- Similar in humans; stress inducing impairs declerative memory recall (more cortisol, worse memory)

Question 5

Short term memory

Answer 5

Emotional stimuli capture attention and improve short-term memory. Especially threatening

Emotion slows decay of iconic memory; less performance drop w longer cue delay for threatening stimuli.

There is no additional boost at shorter delay

Question 6

Temporal coding

Answer 6

Timeline of memory encoding, element of time and place are encoded by the hippocampus.

Study tried to find the function of timestamping of hippocampus, amygdala and the dlPFC.
= Affective spillover control due to interaction of these areas.

Question 7

Hippo vs amygdala patient

Answer 7

Docter shakes hand w painful pin

Hippo patient
- Next time; don’t remember the doctor but wary to shake hand wo being able to explain why
- Important for explicit learning of fear response

Amygdala patient
- Don’t remember doctor and don’t hesitate shaking hand again.
- implicit fear learning is impaired (even if they explicitly know, they don’t show implicit respons)
- Critical for expression of fear response

Question 8

Emotional tagging study

Answer 8

Pre-conditioning;
- images of two distinct categories, eg animals an tools
- Shown one by one with neutral target inbetween

Pavlovian conditioning;
- Only one category was included w shock (either animal or tool)
- Two conditions

Post-conditioning
- Showed items from two categories again, memory test of which were shown before
- Paired w shock; the category generalised to even pictures that were ONLY shown in the pre-conditioning

Thus; inconsequential information can be retroactively credited as relevant to an event and therefore selectively remebered if related inforation is later associated with an emotional response.