Sleep and memory – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

What You Choose to Remember Shapes Memory More Than Emotion

A new study reveals that intentional memory control—deciding what to remember or forget—is more powerful than emotional influence when forming long-term memories. Participants were more likely to recall words they were told to remember than those carrying emotional weight, even though emotion sometimes strengthened recall or caused false memories. Interestingly, sleep itself did not enhance memory performance, though certain sleep brain waves, such as sleep spindles, were linked to better recall of emotional material. These findings suggest that conscious intention plays a stronger role than emotion or sleep in shaping what the brain stores and forgets. ….[READ]