What Did I Tell This Sad Person?: Memory for Emotional Destinations in Korsakoff's Syndrome

We investigated destination memory, defined as the ability to remember to whom a piece of information was previously transmitted, for emotional destinations (i.e., a happy or sad person) in Korsakoff's syndrome (KS). We asked patients with KS and control participants to tell facts to neutral, positive, or negative faces. On a subsequent recognition task, participants had to decide to whom they told each fact. Compared with control participants, patients with KS demonstrated lower recognition of neutral, emotionally positive, and emotionally negative destinations. Patients with KS demonstrated lower recognition of emotionally negative than for emotionally positive or neutral destinations, but there were no significant differences between recognition of neutral and emotionally positive destinations. Our study demonstrates a compromised ability to process negative destinations in KS. Our study highlights the relationship between memory decline and impaired emotional processing in KS.

Automated summary

We investigated destination memory in Korsakoff's syndrome, specifically the ability to remember who information was transmitted to. We found that patients with KS had lower recognition of neutral, emotionally positive, and emotionally negative destinations compared to control participants. They also had lower recognition of emotionally negative destinations compared to emotionally positive or neutral destinations. Our study suggests a compromised ability to process negative destinations in KS and highlights the relationship between memory decline and impaired emotional processing in this syndrome.