Hangovers also apply to feelings. Strong emotions have a prolonged impact on memory: trivial events also form memories.
Moments of great joy are sometimes compared to drunkenness. The image could be fairer than poets imagine. Because the hangover also exists for the emotions. And according to a study published in Nature Neuroscience, it influences the way our memory is forged. In any case, this is the conclusion brought by researchers from New York University (United States).
Neutral or strong images
50 people in good mental health have agreed to take part in this project. All were placed in front of a first series of images, supposed to arouse emotion. The volunteers’ reaction was measured using two tests: skin conductance and a functional MRI, which analyzes brain activity in real time. After 10 to 30 minutes of waiting, a second series of photographs was projected. For one group, the images this time were neutral, presenting scenes from everyday life. The other group underwent a more thorough test: banal scenes, then charged with emotion, were presented.
These participants then waited six hours before seeing the team again. This time, they were offered a memory test. It related to the images viewed several hours previously. The scientific literature has established a fact: emotionally charged events are remembered better than those which do not evoke strong feelings. The reality could be more nuanced.
A prolonged impact
Among the volunteers, not all have the same memory of the neutral images viewed. One group, in particular, remembers it more: that made up of people who exhibited a strong emotional reaction at first. Strong feelings would therefore have the capacity to induce physiological changes and inside the brain over a prolonged period. This internal “hangover” state affects the way the body processes information.
“In view of these results, it is clear that our cognition is strongly influenced by previous experiences and, specifically, that moods can persist for a long time,” concludes Lila Davachi, who co-authored this study. Thus, events which do not cause a particular state but which follow a strong emotional moment are better recorded. Functional MRI provides an explanation for this phenomenon. The brain remains in an emotional state for 20 to 30 minutes after the peak.
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