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Memory, Cognition, and Cognitive Neuroscience
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Memory, Cognition, and Cognitive Neuroscience
Hayes et al. (2012) did a review of neuroimaging and neurocognitive studies of
interactions between emotion and cognition in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD
causes long-term cognitive problems as a result of emotional experiences resulting from
psychological traumas. The authors suggest that there is an influence of cognition on emotion
and vice versa. The finding of the review showed evidence that attention and memory deficits in
PTSD. Attention and memory deficits are often linked to changes in brain activity functions
(Hayes et al., 2012). PTSD can go hand in hand with stress and anxiety because just like PTSD,
anxiety, and stress have both cognition and emotional symptoms. The absolute symptoms of
PTSD involve changes in the cognitive process including attention, problem-solving, memory,
and planning (Hayes et al., 2012). Most psychiatric disorders like PTSD possess a risk of
memory loss.
The article enhances my understanding of cognition and cognitive neuroscience as it
explains that memory works best when it is not affected and any slight changes result in poor
reasoning and functioning. Emotional stress causes changes in cognitive functions that help
process information regarding meaning, actions, and perception in response to implementing
goals (Hayes et al., 2012). This shows that the normal thinking functions of a person are
interrupted. The networks that reflect information concerning fear become more accessible and
elaborated in PTSD which has effects on how information is encoded and retrieved (Hayes et al.,
2012). For instance, a complex fear network may impair one's ability to absorb information
unrelated to risks, causing increased bias toward environmental threats. The interaction of
emotions and cognition are also affected by drug therapies, but it is not clear whether these drug
therapies interfere with memory.
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Reference
Hayes, J. P., Vanelzakker, M. B., & Shin, L. M. (2012). Emotion and cognition interactions in
PTSD: a review of neurocognitive and neuroimaging studies.7Frontiers in Integrative
Neuroscience,76, 89. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2012.00089
