Influence of working memory overload on emotional processing and recognition memory: An fNIRS study

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of working memory overload on emotional processing and recognition memory. Firstly, to study emotional processing, subjective and fNIRS correlates were measured while inducing emotions using affective pictures presented for 6 s. A recognition memory task was then administered, in which participants were required to indicate whether each affective stimulus was new or had previously been used in the passive viewing task. A sample of 70 healthy volunteers (44 women) were divided into an experimental group in which working memory was overloaded during the emotion induction procedure, and a control group in which working memory was not overloaded. Regarding the effect of working memory overload on emotional processing, the results showed that the experimental group rated negative stimuli as less unpleasant. Additionally, this group presented higher fNIRS activations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), particularly to high arousal stimuli. Meanwhile, the findings revealed better recognition for negative and high arousal stimuli in the experimental group. Overall, our findings provide further evidence on the modulation of emotional processing and recognition memory as a function of working memory overload, while highlighting the importance of the DLPFC in emotion processing and cognitive load management.