Implicit memory for emotional words is modulated by cardiac perception

In the present study we investigated the impact of viscero-sensory feedback on memory performance. Participants with good and poor perception of their heart activity were presented with positive, negative and neutral words while heart rate and skin conductance were measured. After a distractor task, participants were asked to complete primed and unprimed wordstems. Implicit memory performance was assessed in terms of accuracy of completion. In our study, participants with good cardiac perception completed significantly more wordstems of previously presented positive and negative words, whereas no group differences were found for wordstems of neutral words and physiological measures during encoding. Our findings document a substantial role of visceral feedback in implicit memory processes. They are in line with Damasio's somatic marker hypothesis stating that access to information about somatic processes facilitates cognitive processing.

Research highlights▶ Cardiac perception is associated with a superior completion of emotional wordstems. ▶ Completion of neutral wordstems is not moderated by cardiac perception. ▶ Arousal and affective states do not modulate wordstem completion. ▶ Perception of visceral feedback facilitates cognitive processing.