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Updated: Jul 16, 2026
15:57
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
Published on: May 4, 2011
Affective enhancement of working memory is maintained in depression
Susanne Schweizer1, Lauren Navrady2, Lauren Breakwell1
1Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Medical Research Council.
Emotion (Washington, D.C.)
|April 14, 2017
Summary
Affective information improved working memory capacity (WMC) performance, even with depressogenic content. This effect was not modulated by depression symptoms or major depressive disorder (MDD).
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Working memory capacity (WMC) is crucial for daily functioning.
- Depression is associated with executive processing difficulties.
- The impact of affective information on WMC in depression is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how affective information influences WMC performance.
- To examine if depression symptoms or major depressive disorder (MDD) modulate this effect.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments were conducted using neutral words and either neutral or depressogenic sentences.
- Participants judged sentences on semantic accuracy or self-reference.
- WMC was assessed in the context of processing these sentences.
Main Results:
- WMC performance was significantly better when processing depressogenic sentences compared to neutral sentences.
- No evidence was found that depression symptoms or MDD modulated the WMC enhancement effect.
Conclusions:
- Affective (depressogenic) information may enhance WMC, irrespective of depression status.
- Findings challenge cognitive theories suggesting a differential impact of negative information on WMC in depression.
- Further research is needed to understand the cognitive mechanisms underlying WMC and depression.
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