CarderPlanet
Professional
Unpleasant events are not only brighter, but also more often come to mind than those experienced in a calm state. An international team of scientists have found out the possible reasons for this.
Many of us have noticed that stressful situations tend to leave a deeper memory mark than periods of rest and satisfaction. We can remember for a long time how we failed the exam, and forget the details of a measured walk in the park on the same day. On this score, scientists have two hypotheses: the first explains this effect by the fact that both types of events are stored in the brain in completely different ways. The adherents of the second insist that the memory mechanisms are the same in both cases.
To shed light on this issue, scientists from the Ruhr Universities (Germany) and Beijing Pedagogical Universities (China) conducted an experiment with the participation of 64 volunteers and published its results in journal Current Biology. They arranged a stressful interview for 33 participants, and 31 volunteers went through the same experience, but in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
Both subjects were shown 24 different objects, including a cup of coffee, a watch, a marker, and the like. The scientists then scanned the participants' brains using functional MRI. Particular attention was paid to the amygdala of the brain, which is associated with the formation of emotions, in particular fear. It was found that participants who went through stressful interviews had a better memory of the objects shown to them and the people who spoke to them than those who were interviewed calmly.
The authors of the study associate this with the peculiarities of neural representation in the human brain. The mechanisms of memorizing stressful and pleasant events, according to scientists, are the same, but the former leave a larger mark in the memory, as they are more closely "intertwined" with experienced strong emotions in our brain.
Objects that are stored in memory in a neutral state are associated with the hippocampus (this part of the brain is involved in learning), and those that are remembered during strong emotions are probably associated with the amygdala. Scientists emphasize that further research is needed for definitive conclusions. But already now they are expressing the hope that the results obtained will help to better study and, therefore, work with stressful and traumatic memories.
Many of us have noticed that stressful situations tend to leave a deeper memory mark than periods of rest and satisfaction. We can remember for a long time how we failed the exam, and forget the details of a measured walk in the park on the same day. On this score, scientists have two hypotheses: the first explains this effect by the fact that both types of events are stored in the brain in completely different ways. The adherents of the second insist that the memory mechanisms are the same in both cases.
To shed light on this issue, scientists from the Ruhr Universities (Germany) and Beijing Pedagogical Universities (China) conducted an experiment with the participation of 64 volunteers and published its results in journal Current Biology. They arranged a stressful interview for 33 participants, and 31 volunteers went through the same experience, but in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
Both subjects were shown 24 different objects, including a cup of coffee, a watch, a marker, and the like. The scientists then scanned the participants' brains using functional MRI. Particular attention was paid to the amygdala of the brain, which is associated with the formation of emotions, in particular fear. It was found that participants who went through stressful interviews had a better memory of the objects shown to them and the people who spoke to them than those who were interviewed calmly.
The authors of the study associate this with the peculiarities of neural representation in the human brain. The mechanisms of memorizing stressful and pleasant events, according to scientists, are the same, but the former leave a larger mark in the memory, as they are more closely "intertwined" with experienced strong emotions in our brain.
Objects that are stored in memory in a neutral state are associated with the hippocampus (this part of the brain is involved in learning), and those that are remembered during strong emotions are probably associated with the amygdala. Scientists emphasize that further research is needed for definitive conclusions. But already now they are expressing the hope that the results obtained will help to better study and, therefore, work with stressful and traumatic memories.
