The impact of taxing working memory on negative and positive memories

This study compared STAIR plus EMDR therapy vs. STAIR plus narrative therapy for PTSD.

Article Abstract

“Background: Earlier studies have shown that horizontal eye movement (EM) during retrieval of a negative memory reduces its vividness and emotionality. This may be due to both tasks competing for working memory (WM) resources. This study examined whether playing the computer game “Tetris” also blurs memory.

Method: Participants recalled negative and positive memories in three conditions: recall only, recall with concurrent EM, and recall with playing Tetris. Before and after these conditions, vividness, emotionality, and physiological startle responses during recall were measured.

Results: A reaction time task showed that EM and Tetris draw on WM, compared to no dual-task. Compared to recall only, EM and Tetris both decreased reported emotionality and startle responses.

Conclusions: The effects of EM and Tetris did not differ, even though the tasks differed in the degree of taxing WM. This suggests that taxing WM and its effects on emotional memories may not be linearly related. Potential clinical implications are discussed.”

—Description from publisher

Article Access

Open Access

Engelhard, I. M., van Uijen, S. L., & van den Hout, M. A. (2010). The impact of taxing working memory on negative and positive memories. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 1(1), 56-63. Open access: https://doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v1i0.5623