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Investigating the Neural Mechanisms of Aware and Unaware Fear Memory with fMRI
Published on: October 6, 2011
Effects of unconscious processing on implicit memory for fearful faces.
Jiongjiong Yang1, Xiaohong Xu, Xiaoya Du
1Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China. yangjj@pku.edu.cn
Plos One
|March 17, 2011
Summary
Unconsciously processed emotional stimuli, like fearful faces, enhance memory. This effect on implicit memory occurs after both short and long delays, regardless of conscious awareness.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Memory Research
Background:
- Emotional stimuli are processed without conscious awareness.
- The influence of unconscious emotional stimuli on implicit memory over time is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of unconsciously processed emotional stimuli on implicit memory.
- To measure subliminal affective priming and long-term priming effects.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Measured subliminal affective priming using masked fearful/neutral faces and subsequent target face judgments.
- Experiment 2: Assessed long-term priming with masked fearful/neutral faces during encoding, followed by expression judgments after a delay.
Main Results:
- A fearful prime face accelerated reactions to fearful targets unconsciously (Experiment 1).
- A significant priming effect for fearful faces was observed after a delay, irrespective of awareness (Experiment 2).
- Neutral faces did not show a similar priming effect.
Conclusions:
- Unconsciously processed emotional stimuli enhance emotional memory across both short and long delays.
- Emotion enhances memory processing regardless of conscious encoding of stimuli.
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