Do you remember what you ate the night you learned about the September 11, 2001 attacks? Or the decor in the room when you gave your best man speech at a loved one's wedding? Mundane events experienced before or after an emotionally significant moment can enjoy the same prominent place in our long-term memory thanks to a tagging phenomenon in our neurons, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances.
The exercise is simple: each image presented by the scientists must be classified into its corresponding category. Tool or animal, all 144 images are accepted, but the stakes vary. Some categorizations allow study subjects to win up to five US dollars! The next day, the researchers present them with a surprise memory test. Did you see these images yesterday, or are they new? Not only did the 648 participants remember significantly better the images associated with the biggest rewards, but also the images seen before or after. Emotional events strengthen memories both for things that happened before them – retroactive enhancement – and for things that happened after them – proactive enhancement", explains to Science and Future neuroscientist Leo Chenyang Lin, first author of this work carried out at Boston University (United States).
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