Emotionally significant events

Definition

Emotionally significant events refer to experiences or situations that have a strong emotional impact on an individual, leading to heightened memory recall compared to neutral events.

Related terms

Flashbulb memory: Flashbulb memory refers to exceptionally vivid and detailed memories of emotionally charged events that are stored in long-term memory. For example, remembering exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard about a major national tragedy.

Amygdala:

The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure in the brain that plays a crucial role in processing emotions. It helps encode emotionally significant events into long-term memory by forming strong connections with other brain regions involved in memory consolidation.

Arousal theory: Arousal theory suggests that emotional arousal enhances our ability to remember information. When we experience intense emotions during an event, it activates the sympathetic nervous system, which increases our physiological arousal and strengthens memory formation.