NEGATIVE FACIAL EXPRESSIONS - BUT NOT VISUAL SCENES - ENHANCE HUMAN

WORKING MEMORY IN YOUNGER AND OLDER PARTICIPANTS

Flávia Schechtman Belham , Maria Clotilde H. Tavares , Corina Satler , Ana Garcia, Rosângela C. Rodrigues , Soraya L. de Sá
Canabarro1 and Carlos Tomaz

INTRODUCTION Important Questions: 

• As the title explains this study involves
researchers studying how emotional processing Where is cognitive processing present in
and visuospatial working memory (VSWM) relate this study?
concerning young adults (YA) and older adults - this research concludes that regardless of
(OA) age, mental cognition is affected by
• In a preliminary study (study 1) researchers emotional processing
found that emotional processing was not - Researchers determined that there was
significantly affected by visual scenes/objects better performance in memory performance
Above is a diagram of how the SDRST works
and so they decided to focus on facial when negative facial expressions were
expressions present. 
RESULTS
• The researchers then did a spatial delayed
• The researchers used a mixed-design ANOVA test with a p
recognition span task with facial expressions - What can we conclude from this?
value of 0.05.
 positive, negative, and neutral. - If the participants are introduced to
• No significant difference was found between men and
women negative stimuli, regardless of their age, they
METHODS AND MATERIALS will react with greater accuracy.
• Young adults outperformed older adults
Participants:
• Negative facial expressions produced higher accuracy in
• 26 YA Difficulties in the study?
correct responses than positive facial expressions and only
• 13 women After realizing the first images (objects and
slightly higher accuracy in comparison to neutral
• 13 men scenes) did not produce a particular emotion
expressions
• 25 OA researchers decided they needed to use facial
• Neutral expressions did not differ from positive
• 11 women expression so that there was a direct
expressions
• 14 men correlation between facial expressions and
• All participants had at least 13 years of emotion. 
education
• They had no records of psychiatric episodes and What study would be good as a next step?
were not on psychotropic medication It would be interesting to work with long-term
• Ethical guidelines were met (subjects were not memory and facial expressions. Researchers
informed of every detail of this study) could carry out a study with approximately 20
• Normal vision or corrected-to-normal vision and images of celebrities showing a specific facial
hearing was required expression and after a longer period of time
• Older adults had to reach a certain score on the test the participants to see if they could
Mini-mental State examination and Geriatric match the facial expression with the right
Depression scale celebrity

Images:
• Coloured facial photographs - just faces were
displayed
• 7 images of happiness
• 2 images of anger
• 2 images of neutral expressions

Spatial Delayed Recognition Span Task (SDRST):

• Measures working memory
DISCUSSION
• Practice trial(s)  was with geometric shapes
• The Negativity Bias was present in the results, showing
• On screen the participant must identify the
that negative facial expression were easily remembered in
location of the stimulus and identify by touching
comparison to positive and neutral expressions
the location on the touch screen
• Negative expressions attract more attention to their
• A new stimulus appears in a random location
location and generate a more
every trial
prompt behavioral response 
• Every time the answer is correct a new stimulus
• Negative expressions illicit a withdrawal response because
is added to the array REFERENCE:
the expressions seem to be threatening or contaminating
• Trials only continue until 8 stimuli are Belham, F. S., Tavares, M. C., Satler, C.,
• No interaction between age and emotion, suggesting
identified or until a unsuccessful answer was Garcia, A., Rodrigues, R. C., Canabarro, S. L.,
that negative emotion can benefit the working memory
recorded & Tomaz, C. (2017). Negative Facial
performance of both YA just as much as OA
• Right answers got a positive auditory signal while Expressions – But Not Visual Scenes – Enhance
• Absence of the positivity effect in OA may have been
incorrect answers got a negative (bass) auditory Human Working Memory in Younger and Older
due to the difficulty of the task
signal Participants. Frontiers in Pharmacology,8.
• Being in a negative emotional state has also been shown
• Stimuli were given for 1 sec for YA, 5 sec for OA doi:10.3389/fphar.2017.00668
to improve cognition