The temporal organization of memory and emotion is reciprocally coupled

Abstract

Emotional experiences unfold over time and can bias the appraisal and memory of subsequent events. Yet, it remains unclear whether and how the temporal organization of memory regulates the persistence of affect over time, or affective spillover--and conversely, how emotional-valence dynamics sculpts temporal memory. We developed a novel paradigm employing positive and negative emotional sequences and combined EEG and behavioral measures of temporal memory and affective spillover. Longer remembered temporal distance for emotional-sequence items predicted reduced affective spillover onto later-shown neutral stimuli, whereas better order memory predicted greater spillover. Alpha burst time during emotional-sequence encoding predicted longer remembered temporal distance and modulated spillover in a valence-dependent manner. Conversely, emotional-valence shifts expanded remembered temporal distance and enhanced order memory across sequences. These findings demonstrate reciprocal coupling between temporal memory organization and affect dynamics, revealing how memory structure shapes--and is shaped by--the persistence of emotion.