Brain Activity During Autobiographical Retrieval Is Modulated by Emotion and Vividness: Informing the Role of the Amygdala

Growing evidence indicates that the amygdala contributes to processing both emotional stimuli and highly vivid episodic memories. The present research used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the individual and joint contributions of these dimensions on the neural responses to naturalistic stimuli, namely, autobiographical memories, which vary in terms of associated emotion and the vividness of recollection. In Experiment 1, participants recalled positive and negative personal memories, and memories for which no mention of emotion was made. Events recollected with high vividness showed no effect of emotion, whereas ERPs for events recollected with low vividness differed for both positive and negative memories versus non-emotional memories. The conjoint effects of emotion and vividness reflect the correlation of these variables in everyday life: more emotional memories are more vividly recalled. In Experiment 2, we pursued the interaction of emotion and vividness by asking participants to recall negative high-arousal, negative low-arousal, and emotionally neutral memories. Processing differed by vividness but not by emotion condition. The research implies that focus on the emotional valence associated with a memory, without conjoint consideration of how vividly it is recalled, neglects a critical determinant of neural processes that are modulated by the amygdala during recall of autobiographical memories

Sex-Specific Associations Between Trauma Exposure, Pubertal Timing, and Anxiety in Black Children

Recent research has linked early life stress (ELS), such as trauma exposure, with early puberty. Early puberty has also been identified as a risk factor for poor mental health outcomes. However, these two paths have primarily been examined independently. In addition, more studies have examined these associations in girls than boys, and findings for boys remain mixed. We hypothesized that early puberty (relative to peers) would be positively associated with both prior trauma exposure and concurrent anxiety symptoms. We anticipated that these associations might differ by sex. We tested these hypotheses within a cross-sectional sample of 133 8- to 13-year-old Black girls and boys with trauma exposure. The association between trauma and accelerated pubertal timing was sex-specific: it was positive for girls and negative for boys. We stratified subsequent analyses by sex. Regression analyses indicated that early puberty relative to peers predicted more anxiety symptoms for girls but not boys, after accounting for trauma exposure. A statistical mediation analysis indicated that, for girls, the positive association between trauma exposure and anxiety was partially mediated by pubertal timing. These results indicate that trauma exposure may have sex-specific effects on pubertal timing and anxiety risk in Black children. We also found that, for girls, trauma may increase risk for adverse outcomes by prompting earlier puberty, which is linked to higher anxiety. These findings are consistent with cascading effects of trauma across development, and highlight the need for further study of sex-specific mechanisms