Emotional memory in anxiety: Behavioral and electrophysiological data

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Recognition memory in anxiety is crucial since association with past experience is particularly important to manage emotional situations. A recognition bias can be the first step in cognitive anxiogenic distortions. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of anxiety on recognition memory, including consolidation and retrieval. This is the first study to date to assess recollection and familiarity through an independentremember/know paradigm in anxious participants, both behaviorally and electrophysiologically. Methods: Two groups of 17 participants with low and high anxiety level performed an experimental task of visual recognition memory, using neutral, pleasant and threatening pictures. The experiment was carried out two times, with an interval of 24 hours. The pattern of recognition was analyzed, behaviorally (through an independent Remember/Know paradigm) and with event-related potentials (ERP). Results: Subjects with higher levels of anxiety developed a bias in recognition of arousing stimuli (threatening and pleasant) compared with less anxiety level group. This bias was observed in the subprocess of familiarity and produced a positive modulation of a parietal late positive component (LPC) at approximately 620 milliseconds of latency. This effect was not found 24 hours later. Limitations: A reduced post-study interval limited the experimental effect on consolidation. Anxiety was assessed only dimensionally. Conclusions: The familiarity bias in recognition found in this experiment is a promising way of explaining the memory distortion in anxiety. The way in which an individual recognizes a situation determines their reaction; the recovery of a past experience is essential to manage the present one. According to the familiarity bias, the anxious subject can recognize the arousing stimuli with accuracy but exhibits difficulty in discriminating whether the item is pleasant or potentially dangerous. In addition, anxious individuals cannot recover contextual information that helps them resolve this conflict. In this regard, the process described could be a symptom as well as a factor that perpetuates the anxiety disorders