Memory for emotional events in individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by impairments in reciprocal social interactions, restricted and repetitive interests and communication. Researchers have recently focused on the amygdala as a brain area involved in producing some of the social difficulties found in the disorder. If the amygdala does not function efficiently in individuals with autism, then we may expect that persons with this disorder would not demonstrate enhanced memory for emotional events, as the amygdala appears to be crucial for this effect. The present study sought to test the hypothesis that individuals with autism do not demonstrate enhanced memory for emotional events. We recruited 12 high-functioning individuals (ages 16--23) with an autism spectrum disorder and a group of controls matched for age, sex, Performance IQ, and Verbal IQ. Participants viewed two sets of slides accompanied by a taped narrative (one story was designed to be neutral, the other emotionally arousing) and then took a recognition memory test for these stories one week later. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found evidence that memory processes in high-functioning individuals with an autism spectrum disorder are aided by emotional arousal. Despite this, participants with autism displayed this memory enhancement for the phases of the stories with an aversive visual stimulus regardless of whether the accompanying narrative was neutral or emotional. That is, persons with autism appeared to demonstrate difficulty integrating the information from the narrative into their emotional reactions to the visual stimulus. Thus, they exhibited less selective enhancement of memory as compared to controls. We explain these results in terms of an inefficiency in emotion regulation or ability to integrate information (i.e., central coherence) in autism spectrum disorders. An inability to regulate emotion, integrate all available emotional information, and remember it as typically developing children do, may provide a partial explanation for the social and emotional difficulties of individuals with these disorders.