Abstract

Aging is associated with a decline in binding memories to their spatial context, including both spatial locations and background scenes. However, because emotions can enhance or impair memory depending on the type of spatial context, we investigated the effects of emotional modulation on spatial location and scene memory in adults between 21 and 67 years of age. 165 adults (83 female) were tested on their memory of scenes composed of emotional (or neutral) foreground images superimposed on neutral backgrounds, presented in one quadrant of the screen. In case of mental health-related individual variability, we also administered self-report surveys of depression and anxiety. First, we found that memory for the emotional foreground was more accurate but at the expense of the background scene. Across aging, we observed a decline in scene memory, particularly with positive foreground images. In contrast with memory for scenes, emotion enhanced memory for spatial location (the quadrant in which the scene was presented), but this benefit significantly decreased with age. Together, these findings provide evidence that aging not only impairs episodic memory accuracy overall but also alters the way in which emotions influence contextual binding.

Finally, although we found that depression was correlated with poor memory and anxiety with better memory, neither significantly interacted with its emotional modulation.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37242-2