Theta Rhythm In Working Memory Post Valence Stimuli Presentation

While the influence of emotion on long-term memory processes is well-understood, it remains unclear whether the presence of emotional information improves or diminishes working memory (WM) performance. Emotional stimuli may enhance WM by activating attentional systems in the brain. Electrophysiological investigations have determined that brain areas associated with memory and emotion interact via a phenomenon known as the theta rhythm, a common correlate of both WM and emotional processing in the frontal lobe. Participants will have completed a WM task with dot arrays while electrical activity in the brain was recorded with an electroencephalograph (EEG). Scenery face and non-face stimuli (positive, negative, and neutral types) were incorporated throughout the memory task to determine the effects of emotion on both the theta rhythm and subsequent memory performance. Results should show higher task accuracy on trials with emotional components compared to trials without. Additionally, memory performance should be related to the presence of theta reset at different task phases