During a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scan, the

participants were shown 96 scenes.

They had a normative rating for valence (emotional value) and arousal
from the International Affective Picture System stimuli set.

The pictures ranged from highly negative (rating of 1.17) to neutral

(rating of 5.44) for valence. They were also rated from tranquil (rating of
1.97) to highly arousing (rating of 7.63) for arousal.

The scenes were randomised across participants. They were shown for
2.88s with an interval of 12.96s before the next one appeared. They
were asked to fixate on a cross on the screen.

The participants were asked to look at the entire picture for all of the
time it was presented and as soon as the cross appeared they had to
rate the picture from 0 (not emotionally intense at all) to 3 (extremely
emotionally intense) by pressing the relevant button with their right hand.
Three weeks after the scans had taken place, the participants were
given an unexpected recognition test.

They viewed all of the scenes that they had previously seen along with
48 new scenes (foils) which matched the valence and arousal scores of
the original scenes.

During the recognition test, the participants were asked whether they
had seen the picture before.

If they said ‘yes’ they were then asked if they remembered with certainty
(coded as remembered) or had a less certain feeling of familiarity (coded
as familiar).

The number of forgotten scenes was also recorded.