The effects of acute aversive experiences on object-location memory performance

Abstract

This study examined whether acute musculoskeletal pain disrupts hippocampal-dependent object-location binding, and whether such effects are moderated by memory delay, trait anxiety, or individual differences in pain sensitivity. Drawing on Relational Memory Theory (RMT) and models of aversive cognitive interference, the study tested whether acute pain could functionally mimic the selective conjunction memory impairments observed following medial temporal lobe damage. Twenty-four healthy adults completed an object-location working memory task adapted from Olson et al. (2006) under pain and no-pain conditions, with retention intervals of one or eight seconds and separate object, location, and conjunction trials. Pain was induced using cuff pressure algometry calibrated to individual pain sensitivity.