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Emotional learning selectively and retroactively strengthens memories for related events
Open accessAbstract
Neurobiological models of long-term memory propose a mechanism by which initially weak memories are strengthened through subsequent activation that engages common neural pathways minutes to hours later. This synaptic tag-and-capture model has been hypothesized to explain how inconsequential information is selectively consolidated following salient experiences. Behavioural evidence for tag-and-capture is provided by rodent studies in which weak early memories are strengthened by future behavioural training. Whether a process of behavioural tagging occurs in humans to transform weak episodic memories into stable long-term memories is unknown. Here we show, in humans, that information is selectively consolidated if conceptually related information, putatively represented in a common neural substrate, is made salient through an emotional learning experience. Memory for neutral objects was selectively enhanced if other objects from the same category were paired with shock. Retroactive enhancements as a result of emotional learning were observed following a period of consolidation, but were not observed in an immediate memory test or for items strongly encoded before fear conditioning. These findings provide new evidence for a generalized retroactive memory enhancement, whereby inconsequential information can be retroactively credited as relevant, and therefore selectively remembered, if conceptually related information acquires salience in the future.
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“Moreover, the present VR setup allowed us to project the same 3D virtual scenes during the encoding and retrieval sessions, providing us arguably with a level of experimental control that is comparable to examinations of classical word/picture-based recognition paradigms [99–102], which are typically used to study memory.”
From First-person view of one’s body in immersive virtual reality: Influence on episodic memory (2019) · cites this paper as [100]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Dunsmoor, J. E., Murty, V. P., Davachi, L., & Phelps, E. A.
- Affiliations
- New York University (US)
- Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (US)
- Corresponding author
- Davachi, Lila
- Phelps, Elizabeth A.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2015-01-21
- Volume
- 520
- Issue
- 7547
- Pages
- 345-348
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- PMC
- PMC4432479
- OpenAlex
- W2067886794
- Cited by
- 332
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 15
- FWCI
- 20.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH074692, R01 MH047692, R01MH097085, T32MH019524)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (F31 DA036361, F32DA036361)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Keywords
- retrograde amnesia, emotional learning, fear conditioning, episodic memory consolidation, memory reconsolidation, synaptic tagging and capture
- MeSH terms
- Conditioning, Classical, Emotions, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Models, Neurological, Neural Pathways, Photic Stimulation, Mental Recall, Time Factors, Recognition, Psychology, Young Adult, Memory, Long-Term, Memory, Episodic
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