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Related Experiment Video

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Design and Implementation of an fMRI Study Examining Thought Suppression in Young Women with, and At-risk, for Depression

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Published on: May 19, 2015

Negative emotional experiences arouse rumination and affect working memory capacity.

Antonietta Curci¹, Tiziana Lanciano, Emanuela Soleti

¹Department of Education, Psychology, and Communication, University of Bari "A. Moro"

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)

|June 5, 2013

Summary

Negative emotions trigger rumination, which depletes working memory (WM) resources needed for other tasks. This effect persists over time, impacting daily life and clinical contexts.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Clinical Psychology

Background:

Emotional experiences can lead to persistent, intrusive thoughts.
These ruminative thoughts can interfere with cognitive functions and daily activities.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if negative emotions trigger rumination that drains working memory (WM) resources.
To examine the influence of WM capacity and emotional valence on rumination and WM performance.

Main Methods:

Experimentally induced negative emotions in participants with high and low working memory (WM) capacity.
Measured WM performance using the operation-word memory span test (OSPAN) before and after emotional induction.
Assessed rumination immediately after testing and at a 24-hour delay.

Main Results:

Both individual WM capacity and emotional valence of stimuli affected WM performance and rumination.
Rumination mediated the link between negative emotions and reduced WM performance.
Rumination persisted for at least 24 hours post-induction.

Conclusions:

Ruminative processes deplete WM resources, hindering concurrent task performance.
Rumination is a persistent cognitive consequence of negative emotional experiences.
Findings inform theoretical models of emotion's long-term effects in daily and clinical settings.