It turns out that the memory power is strengthened when feeling "light fear"

ByRicardo Alguacil

Human memory is different from computer memory, not all details are memorized. Occasionally we can not remember casual events such as "lunch last Friday". On the other hand, though I did not intend to memorize it intentionally, there must be a clause that anyone can feel the experience of "remembering the event in detail" for some reason. The research result that "mild fear is triggered" such as "reinforcement of memory" is published in Nature.

Emotional learning selectively and retroactively strengthens memories for related events: Nature: Nature Publishing Group
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14106.html


Experiencing mild shocks while learning can enhance related memories | The Verge
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7866393/memory-enhancement-electric-shocks-while-learning

According to research papers published in Nature, human memory is proven to strengthen the memory before the moment of fear, triggered by emotions such as "fear". It is possible to selectively memorize past important information by this.

The team of Lila Davachi and others, who is conducting memory research at New York University, gathered 30 adult participants who were not taught the experiment intention to confirm the influence that emotional events have on past memories It was. Participants will be able to show 60 photos divided into 3 categories, one at a time. The first round is random, but the second combination is like a "hammer" followed by "light animals" such as "small animals". The third time I will use the pictures that will not be shocked.


Whether we were shocked from the photograph was measured by participants' amount of perspiration, and it was confirmed that the participants were shocked only the second time. A day later, I tested participants how much I remembered the first to third photographs. Mr. Davachi did not anticipate, but the participants remembered that the second shocked animals and tools came out in the first random photograph. Moreover, improvement was also seen about the memory ability of the third photograph.

Mr. Davachi said, "When I saw animals for the first time, I did not think that it was important information, and the subsequent events made me change the memories retrospectively." The research team knew that improving memory ability after an emotional event had occurred, but he did not believe that past memory reinforcement would be possible. By further studying "selective memory reinforcement" shown by the experimental results, efficient learning methods will be easier to develop, Mr. Davachi said "Alzheimer's patients in the early stages do not want to forget memories of the past that they do not want to forget It may be able to be strengthened. "

ByPunk Marciano

Also. Even if I tested this memory reinforcement effect as soon as I looked at the third photo, I could not see the effect. It took six hours before memory was strengthened after receiving a shock. The research team is planning image inspection of the brain in order to ascertain what kind of change is actually occurring in the brain while memory enhancement occurs. In addition, since the method of "giving a shock" is not ideal, research will be planned in the future to see whether similar stimulus can be obtained with different stimuli.