Emotional Memory

Objectives: The current study was designed to examine the features of emotional memory that are associated with posttraumatic stress disorder and to investigate whether emotional memory and neuropsychological function predict the severity of PTSD symptoms. Method: Forty-five domestic violence victims were recruited and separated into the PTSD and N-PTSD groups, and 31 healthy volunteers were recruited as the normal control group. All participants filled out self-report instruments and underwent neuropsychological testing as well as an unexpected memory task (emotional memory questionnaire, EMQ) after watching a film on domestic violence. The questionnaire evaluated the participants' memory of the central aspects of the film (EMQ-C) and the peripheral aspects of the film (EMQ-P). The PTSD group scored lower on the EMQ-C, whereas there were no significant differences for the EMQ-P or neuropsychological measures among the three groups. Additionally, the Modified Card Sorting Test (MCST), category fluency, Verbal Paired Associates and EMQ-C predicted the PTSD symptoms. Both the index of the emotional memory and the perseverative error of MCST are powerful predictors of the severity levels of PTSD symptoms.

This contribution explores Foucault’s heterotopia as a tool
for cultural regeneration, linking physical theatre to the pedagogy of empathy. Through the project “Eterotopie & Memoria Emotiva” by Stefania
Piccolo and Officinae Efesti, the artistic experience becomes a “sensitive
map” in which body, memory and space interconnect to promote social
cohesion and care. These theatrical heterotopias – temporary and generative
spaces – allow personal and collective memories to be reworked into
“Atti poetici di Comunità” and cultural rituals. The article examines how
performative practices transform marginal territories into ecosystems of
meaning, turning slowness and listening into tools for wellbeing. Finally,
the essay proposes “the art of inner travel” as a model for fragile inland
areas. Focusing on the body, it redefines sustainability as a human process,
offering new cultural frameworks for inhabiting and caring for vulnerable
places.

The present study is entitled "Linguistic Strategies of Learning Persian Language to Kurdish Learners". It aims to examine the role of learning strategies (direct and indirect language strategies) in second language teaching and their relationship with second language teaching and learning plans.
The participants for this study consist of students of the Persian language department of both Salahaddin and Sulaymaniyah universities and students of the Kurdish language departments of the state universities of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. To conduct the study, a questionnaire of (50) questions was prepared in Kurdish Sorani dialect. A total number of completed questionnaires that the researchers received reached (474).  Regarding the process of circulating the questionnaire, it was provided to the universities electronically, and the participants filled out voluntarily.
These participants were 127 males and 347 females. They were undergraduate students from first to fourth academic years. Importantly, the questionnaire was prepared by both researchers based on the teaching and learning plans, many years of experience in this field, the guidelines of Oxford questionnaire design and the learning instruction plans proposed by Omali and Chamut.
The results showed that linguistic strategies have a direct relation to second language learning. Their mother tongue of all the participants is Kurdish. Gender variable is one of the effective factors in the language learning in a way that the relationship between the memory related process learning strategies varies from female to male.
Moreover, based on the direct and indirect strategies of language learning, self-learning and the working environment of the learners have a significant impact on second language learning. As it can be seen in the questionnaire, there is a strong connection and coordination between the strategies.

Kayology: The Path to a New Life presents a comprehensive psychological and practical system for achieving individual and collective well‑being without money, competition, or institutional coercion. Building on the principles of Kovcheg, the book defines Kayology (from Greek καὶ λόγος – “and word”) as the science of how inner and outer dialogue becomes a bridge to self‑understanding, empathy, and trust.

The work is grounded in neurobiology and clinical research. It explains the verbal labeling effect (naming emotions aloud reduces amygdala activity), the 15‑minute rule (cortisol half‑life and prefrontal cortex recovery), and the role of breathing, reflection, creativity, and sleep in emotional regulation. It distinguishes constructive reflection from harmful rumination and offers non‑verbal alternatives (art therapy, symbolic destruction of traumatic images, group synchronisation) for individuals who cannot engage in inner dialogue due to anendophasia, PTSD, dissociation, or psychosis.

A separate chapter details the PMTA crisis intervention protocol (elastic bandage immobilisation, mantric calming, herbal sedation, post‑crisis accompaniment). The book also presents gentle dialogue techniques (positive anchors, intonation control, active listening) and collective practices (synchronised breathing, group reflection) that transform communities from competitive to cooperative.

Finally, Kayology places trust as an axiom — not a goal to be proven, but a starting point. It argues that psychological security is the foundation of all other security (physical, digital, existential) and that a society without masks, where vulnerability is accepted and every person is valued as a unique cell of a common organism, is both possible and necessary for humanity to survive and thrive.

Keywords: Kayology · inner dialogue · verbal labeling · 15‑minute rule · gentle dialogue · PMTA · art therapy · trust · post‑traumatic growth · non‑violent crisis intervention

This study proposes that dreams are not merely neurobiological by-products or emotional memories, but dynamic somatopsychic regulatory movements. Integrating contemporary dream neuroscience with the Narcissistic Spectrum of Positions, the paper suggests that dream formation reflects the psyche’s ongoing effort to metabolize daily emotional burdens, process narcissistic injuries, and restore narcissistic cohesion within relationship. Clinical dream analysis indicates that dream structure, disorganization, symbolic limits, and relational reintegration may function as indicators of the subject’s temporary psychic position and regulatory capacity.

To assess past behavioral reports of the emotional distinctiveness of odor-evoked memories, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare regions of activation during recall triggered by olfactory and visual cues that were connected to a personally meaningful memory and a comparable control cue presented in olfactory and visual form. Five healthy right-handed females experienced both behavioral and fMRI memory testing. fMRI analyses indicated significantly greater activation in the amygdala and hippocampal regions during recall to the personally significant odor than any other cue, and behavioral responses confirmed that emotional responses were greatest to the personally meaningful odor. These findings provide convincing neurobiological evidence that the subjective experience of the emotional potency of odor-evoked memory is correlated with specific activation in the amygdala during recall and offers new insights into the affective organization of memory.

Trial 2 in the elevated plus-maze provides an animal model of specific phobia (fear of heights). On this trial, rats no longer respond to benzodiazepines. The present experiment examined the role of the dorsomedial hypothalamus in mediating insensitivity to chlordiazepoxide on trial 2. Rats received a 5 min exposure to the maze, undrugged. Fortyeight hours later, rats injected with control infusions into the dorsomedial hypothalamus showed the usual lack of response to chlordiazepoxide (5 mg/kg, i.p.). However, those receiving lidocaine injections (40 g/ l in a volume of 0.2 l) in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (producing functional inactivation), immediately before trial 2, responded with an anxiolytic response to chlordiazepoxide, characterised by an increased percentage of time on the open arms and by an increased number of entries into, and time spent on, the distal portions of the open arms. Since the lidocaine injections were without anxiolytic effects, our results suggest that this region of the hypothalamus regulates the functional state of benzodiazepine receptors in other brain regions. [Neuropsychopharmacology 21:312-320, 1999]

Objective. To assess the ability of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients to perceive emotional information and to assign subjective emotional rating scores to audiovisual presentations. Materials and Methods. 24 subjects (14 with AD, matched to controls for age and educational levels) were studied. After neuropsychological assessment, they watched a Neutral story and then a story with Emotional content. Results. Recall scores for both stories were significantly lower in AD (Neutral and Emotional: P = .001). CG assigned different emotional scores for each version of the test, P = .001, while ratings of AD did not differ, P = .32. Linear regression analyses determined the best predictors of emotional rating and recognition memory for each group among neuropsychological tests battery. Conclusions. AD patients show changes in emotional processing on declarative memory and a preserved ability to express emotions in face of arousal content. The present findings suggest that these impairm...

Attentional bias for drug-related stimuli, as measured by emotional Stroop (ES) tasks, is predictive of treatment outcomes for tobacco smoking and other abused drugs. Characterizing relationships between smoking-related attentional bias and brain reactivity to smoking images may help in identifying neural substrates critical to relapse vulnerability. To this end, we investigated putative relationships between interference effects in an offline smoking ES task and functional MRI (fMRI) measures of brain reactivity to smoking vs neutral images in women smokers. Positive correlations were found between attentional bias and reactivity to smoking images in brain areas involved in emotion, memory, interoception, and visual processing, including the amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, insula, and occipital cortex. These findings suggest that smokers with elevated attentional biases to smoking-related stimuli may more readily shift attention away from other external stimuli and toward smoking stimuli-induced internal states and emotional memories. Such attentional shifts may contribute to increased interference by smoking cues, possibly increasing relapse vulnerability. Treatments capable of inhibiting shifts to drug cue-induced memories and internal states may lead to personalized tobacco dependence treatment for smokers with high attentional bias to smoking-related stimuli.

The present study examined the extent to which broadening attentional scope (BAS) during acquisition and working memory interference (WMI) during reconsolidation could influence the memory formation process. Methods: A total of 95 participants were randomly assigned to inactive control (n=30), BAS (n=33), and WMI (n=32) groups. While watching a traumatic film, the participants in the BAS group were instructed to allocate their attention to the peripheral details of the film. In contrast, participants in the WMI group performed certain spatial working memory tasks. Memory vividness and emotionality were assessed before and after the intervention using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Valence, arousal, and dominance were measured by the self-assessment manikin (SAM) immediately after watching the film. Moreover, all participants were asked to record their intrusive memories for 3 days after the experiment. Statistical software package SPSS, version 24.0 was used for group comparisons. Results: Our results suggested that interfering with visuospatial working memory during the retrieval of emotionally valenced memories could significantly reduce the level of vividness of mental images from pre-to post-assessments (P=0.004). However, in terms of emotionality, arousal, dominance, and the number of intrusive memories, we found no significant differences between the three groups. Conclusion: Participants in the WMI group outperformed those in the control group in blurring the negatively valenced memory at the post-assessment. In contrast to our primary assumption, BAS did not result in any significant changes compared to the other two groups. Future studies with larger sample sizes and objective measurements may provide additional evidence on the efficacy of these methods, particularly in the context of clinical implications.

proyecto # 1210-04-13002 por el apoyo logístico y el soporte financiero ofrecidos. Igualmente, a las universidades Pontificia Bolivariana e Industrial de Santander, Colombia, y a la Universidad de Brasilia, DF, Brasil, por su apoyo científico, asistencia y conducción del presente proyecto de investigación.