{"id":944,"date":"2006-09-07T08:55:26","date_gmt":"2006-09-07T15:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp\/2006\/09\/anticipation_and_memory\/"},"modified":"2006-09-07T08:55:26","modified_gmt":"2006-09-07T15:55:26","slug":"anticipation_and_memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/main\/anticipation_and_memory.php","title":{"rendered":"Anticipation and memory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recent studies in brain function have reinforced the idea that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.news.wisc.edu\/12829.html\">anticipation of an event<\/a> plays a powerful role in the clarity of memories of that event. Says this report summary:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><br \/>\nThe UW-Madison scientists found that two key regions of the brain &#8212; the amygdala and the hippocampus &#8212; become activated when a person is anticipating a difficult situation. Scientists think the amygdala is associated with the formation of emotional memories, while the hippocampus helps the brain form long-term recollections&#8230;.<br \/>\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This particular study used real-time images of brain function while showing two groups of people gruesome pictures (boy, I hope they were paid). One group got advanced warning that they were about to see a gruesome picture. The other group received no such warning. The warning seemed to activate the memory-forming areas of the brain in advance of the actual experience, leading to a more vivid memory even weeks after the testing.<\/p>\n<p>While the study focuses on negative experiences in an effort to inform work with victims of trauma or emotional distress, the findings suggest how powerful anticipation and preparation can be in the construction of remembered experience &#8212; positive or negative. In the arts, this only reinforces the importance of framing and encouraging anticipation among audience members &#8212; whether through advanced information or insight, or by encouraging audiences to draw forward relevant parts of their life experience before an event begins.<\/p>\n<p>If we&#8217;re in the business of forging vital and memorable experiences, it&#8217;s always handy to know whatever we can about how that process works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent studies in brain function have reinforced the idea that anticipation of an event plays a powerful role in the clarity of memories of that event. Says this report summary: The UW-Madison scientists found that two key regions of the brain &#8212; the amygdala and the hippocampus &#8212; become activated when a person is anticipating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/artfulmanager\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}