Processing of Emotional Expressions in Working Memory: Insights from a Modified Span Task

Emotional expressions are vital emotional cues in our lives. However, the precise mechanisms involved in processing these expressions within working memory (WM) remain elusive. To address this, our study employed a modified span task with forward and backward recalls to examine the impact of happy and angry emotional expressions on WM storage and updating. Our task incorporated various memoranda, including faces, shapes, and digits, within a single paradigm, enabling us to examine the influence of emotional expressions when they were either relevant (linked with faces) or non-relevant (linked with shapes or digits) to the task. Additionally, we administered a set of questionnaires to explore the potential influence of individuals' affective symptoms on their WM for emotional expressions. Our findings revealed distinct processing patterns for faces, shapes, and digits in WM, which align with previous research. Interestingly however, we did not find any significant impact of emotional expressions on WM performance. Furthermore, we discovered that WM for emotional expressions operated independently of individuals' affective symptoms, with a notable exception for utilizing reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy. In sum, our study provides novel insights into the complex interplay between emotion and WM, by shedding light on the mechanisms governing the processing of emotional expressions within this cognitive system.