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Sleep preferentially enhances memory for emotional components of scenes

Payne, Jessica D ; Stickgold, Robert ; Swanberg, Kelley LU orcid and Kensinger, Elizabeth A (2008) In Psychological Science 19(8). p.8-781
Abstract

Central aspects of emotional experiences are often well remembered at the expense of background details. Previous studies of such memory trade-offs have focused on memory after brief delays, but little is known about how these components of emotional memories change over time. We investigated the evolution of memory for negative scenes across 30 min, 12 daytime hours spent awake, and 12 nighttime hours including sleep. After 30 min, negative objects were well remembered at the expense of information about their backgrounds. Time spent awake led to forgetting of the entire negative scene, with memories of objects and their backgrounds decaying at similar rates. Sleep, in contrast, led to a preservation of memories of negative objects,... (More)

Central aspects of emotional experiences are often well remembered at the expense of background details. Previous studies of such memory trade-offs have focused on memory after brief delays, but little is known about how these components of emotional memories change over time. We investigated the evolution of memory for negative scenes across 30 min, 12 daytime hours spent awake, and 12 nighttime hours including sleep. After 30 min, negative objects were well remembered at the expense of information about their backgrounds. Time spent awake led to forgetting of the entire negative scene, with memories of objects and their backgrounds decaying at similar rates. Sleep, in contrast, led to a preservation of memories of negative objects, but not their backgrounds, a result suggesting that the two components undergo differential processing during sleep. Memory for a negative scene develops differentially across time delays containing sleep and wake, with sleep selectively consolidating those aspects of memory that are of greatest value to the organism.

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author
; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Arousal, Attention, Circadian Rhythm, Emotions, Humans, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Retention, Psychology, Sleep, Wakefulness
in
Psychological Science
volume
19
issue
8
pages
8 - 781
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • pmid:18816285
  • scopus:50249171148
ISSN
0956-7976
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02157.x
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
bfaf72a9-6255-4eed-bba4-bee93c7e9170
date added to LUP
2023-09-18 15:04:58
date last changed
2024-10-05 18:55:03
@article{bfaf72a9-6255-4eed-bba4-bee93c7e9170,
  abstract     = {{<p>Central aspects of emotional experiences are often well remembered at the expense of background details. Previous studies of such memory trade-offs have focused on memory after brief delays, but little is known about how these components of emotional memories change over time. We investigated the evolution of memory for negative scenes across 30 min, 12 daytime hours spent awake, and 12 nighttime hours including sleep. After 30 min, negative objects were well remembered at the expense of information about their backgrounds. Time spent awake led to forgetting of the entire negative scene, with memories of objects and their backgrounds decaying at similar rates. Sleep, in contrast, led to a preservation of memories of negative objects, but not their backgrounds, a result suggesting that the two components undergo differential processing during sleep. Memory for a negative scene develops differentially across time delays containing sleep and wake, with sleep selectively consolidating those aspects of memory that are of greatest value to the organism.</p>}},
  author       = {{Payne, Jessica D and Stickgold, Robert and Swanberg, Kelley and Kensinger, Elizabeth A}},
  issn         = {{0956-7976}},
  keywords     = {{Arousal; Attention; Circadian Rhythm; Emotions; Humans; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Retention, Psychology; Sleep; Wakefulness}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{8--781}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Psychological Science}},
  title        = {{Sleep preferentially enhances memory for emotional components of scenes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02157.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02157.x}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}