Children’s visual attention, neural function, and memory for distressing information

Emotional memory, stress, and trauma have been extensively studied in adults, adolescents, and children alike, new technological approaches have been developed to understand how mental processes such as visual attention influence memory functioning. The first study examined how children remember stimuli that vary in terms of emotional valence (distressing vs. non-distressing) and how their memory and suggestibility would be predicted by parents’ attachment orientations. Clinical and cognitive neuroscientists have also conducted many studies on the impact of trauma and stress in both pediatric and adult populations. Nonetheless, limited research has explored the neurocognitive effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Colombian youth, a vulnerable age group in South America that has the highest rates of victimization and violence exposure. The second study examined the role of PTSD in the context of children and adolescents exposed to armed conflict in Colombia (South America). Their memory, implicit emotional processing, and brain activation patterns were evaluated for emotional information.