Abstract
Autobiographical memory is a cognitive function strongly related to emotional processing as autobiographical memory often includes emotional content. The COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism is associated with both cognitive and emotional processing. COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism effects on the emotional content and quality of Estonian schoolchildren’s first autobiographical memories were investigated in the present study. In addition, gender effects were considered and the emotional valence of the first memory was taken into account. Schoolchildren’s (N = 234) first memories were coded for valence, emotion words, specificity, and details. Girls were more likely to provide specific memories and recollections with an emotional valence than boys were. Children described memories with a positive or a negative valence in more detail than neutral memories. Interactions between the COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism and gender and valence of the events were detected: Val/Met heterozygotes provided fewer details for emotional events; Val/Met heterozygote boys reported fewer details for their first memories than Val/Met heterozygote girls did; Met/Met homozygote children provided fewer evaluative details for emotional events.
Highlights
Autobiographical memory is autonoetic episodic memory constituting a part of the declarative memory (Tulving 2002)
The present study aims at establishing how the COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism is related to the details and emotional content of the first autobiographical memories remembered by Estonian schoolchildren
The present study investigated the effects of COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism and gender on the valence, specificity, details, and emotion words of Estonian schoolchildren’s first autobiographical memories
Summary
Autobiographical memory is autonoetic episodic memory constituting a part of the declarative memory (Tulving 2002) It is a basic human cognitive capacity strongly related to emotional processing, as autobiographical memory often includes emotional content. The COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism has been related to both cognitive and emotional processing; its role in autobiographical memory formation could be significant. The present study aims at establishing how the COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism is related to the details and emotional content of the first autobiographical memories remembered by Estonian schoolchildren. Autobiographical memory is most often defined as memory for specific onetime events (Fivush et al 2011; Tulving 2002), and most people date the first events they can recall to an age of three to four years (see Bauer 2015, for review). The phenomenon of childhood amnesia has led researchers to propose several qualities of early memories that may enhance their survival:
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