sarahness

Researchers have discovered that emotions out last memories and that patients with severe amnesia still get a warm feeling from meeting friends and relatives.

“A simple visit or phone call from family members might have a lingering positive influence on a patient’s happiness even though the patient may quickly forget the visit or phone call,” said Justin Feinstein, the lead author and a neuroscience and psychology researcher.

The researchers studied five rare neurological patients with damage to their hippocampus, a part of the brain that’s critical for transferring short-term memories into long-term storage.

The experiment was conducted by inducing emotions using powerful film clips. Amnesic patient viewed 20 minutes of either sad or happy movies on separate days.

Ten minutes after the clip ended, researchers gave patients a memory test to see if they could recall what they watched. After the memory test, patients were then asked to answer questions to gauge their emotions.

“Indeed, they still felt the emotion,” said Feinstein. “Sadness tended to last a bit longer than happiness, but both emotions lasted well beyond their memory of the films.

“With healthy people, you see feelings decay as time goes on. In two patients, the feelings didn’t decay; in fact, their sadness lingered.”

“What this research suggests is that we need to start setting a scientifically-informed standard of care for patients with memory disorders.

“Here is clear evidence showing that the reasons for treating Alzheimer’s patients with respect and dignity go beyond simple human morals.”