Arousal and valence differentially shape temporal memory for naturalistic events.

Abstract

While emotional arousal and negative valence both alter episodic memory, their contributions to different facets of temporal memory remain unclear. Here, we examined two components of temporal memory - relative order and distance estimations - from aversive and neutral movie clips, allowing us to query more naturalistic forms of emotional memory. Overall, relative order was enhanced, and distance estimations were modestly compressed for aversive versus neutral movie clips. However, these two forms of temporal memory were associated differentially with arousal and valence. Negative valence exclusively drove enhancements in relative order, while temporal compression was jointly shaped by arousal and negative valence. Finally, greater temporal distance expansion predicted enhanced relative order discrimination, suggesting participants relied on relative novelty rather than associative chaining to resolve temporal sequences. Together, these findings indicate that arousal and valence make dissociable and interacting contributions to temporal memory for naturalistic events.