A Slow Cortical Potential Study Of Potential Study Of Emotional Autobiographical Memory Retrieval

Emotional autobiographical memory (AM) was the most dynamic and most challenging area of AM research. There were two arguments in emotional AM retrieval process. First, Conway et who used objects, places and emotional cues to evoke AM and analyzed the synchronize records of EEG changes in slow cortical potentials proved that AM was generative retrieve. Another PET research by Fink et who used sentences to evoke participants' real events and imagined events showed that emotional AM was direct retrieve.In this case, my study was further research on the neural mechanisms of time course and emotional effects as an emotional AM formed in people's mind in the perspective of the cognitive neuroscience.32(14male, 18famele) healthy college students were assigned to recall their AMs according to 50 emotional cues: 25 positive emotional cues and 25 negative ones. EEG changes in slow cortical potentials recorded at the scalp were tracked while participants retrieved positive and negative emotional autobiographical memories and then held them in mind. After the memory retrieval phase, participants were asked to recall the memories and evaluate each of them. The study was to answer the following questions:(1) The role of emotion on memory retrieval was to promote or inhibit; or whether emotional AM retrieve processing was directed retrieve or generate retrieve; (2) Weather lateralization effect caused by different event's emotion valence: a positive emotional AM for the left hemisphere activation, negative AM for the right hemispheric dominance activity; (3)Was there gender difference in emotional AM retrieve processing? The results were as follows:1. The electrophysiological evidence of the study showed that emotional AM retrieval was generative retrieval, but there may be also include direct retrieval. Date from average amplitude of EEG in the SCP showed the following results: a. During the AM retrieve phase, negative slow wave was observed in left frontal and central. This pattern reflects the operation of the working self on the autobiographical knowledge base as a specific memory was generated within the SMS; b. During the AM hold-in-mind phase, negative slow wave was observed in right parietal and posterior temporal, AM knowledge base reflected at the right side. c. During the memory removed form mind, the amplitude of negative slow wave were going to maximum, and then the negative wave reduced to baseline. This reflected each levels of AM knowledge was emerging following the retrieve processing.2. Both positive emotional AM and negative emotional AM shared the same region. Date from average amplitude of EEG in the SCP showed that emotion valence had no significant difference. But people recalled positive emotional AM faster than negative emotional AM, positive AM appeared more negative wave than negative AM when held a memory in mind, and the positive cues were more negative than negative cues in right side. Date from the behavioral analysis showed that positive emotional AM participants recalled were rated more important, more vivid, more recent, and more frequently rehearsed than negative AM. But the negative AM were more emotionally intense than positive, both the difference were significant. These reflected that negative AM was harder to recollect.3. In this study, Female was easier to recall emotional AM. gender differences was significant at the emotional AM retrieve RT. Female was faster than male when they retrieved emotional AM, and the difference was significant; but not in holding phase.