Extant literature suggests that individuals with social anxiety experience hyper-reactivity to and trouble reappraising negative autobiographical memories, but the functional, neural mechanisms involved are unclear. Further, existing studies have been limited by the ecological validity of both the emotional stimuli used to measure emotion processing as well as the memory retrieval process. To address these gaps, I investigated the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and a neurophysiological marker of emotion-related memory processes, the Late Positive Potential (i.e., LPP), in an autobiographical memory paradigm that taps two phases of memory processing -- the initial recall of the event and the later analysis of meaning and emotions elicited by the event. Findings first showed that the LPP was reduced during the analysis compared to the recall phase, suggesting a decrease in emotional memory activity when evaluating meaning and emotions elicited by a personal experience. Most important to the primary aim of the study, higher levels of social anxiety were not associated with this expected decrease in LPP during the analysis phase, suggesting that social anxiety acts in opposition to the down-regulating effects of deeply analyzing one’s emotions and thoughts surrounding a negative memory. These findings offer the first neurophysiological evidence that socially anxious individuals do not benefit from analyzing their negative autobiographical memories, consistent with existing evidence of hyper-reactivity to negative memories in social anxiety. Future research should take into consideration the importance of isolating phases of memory processing, as they may differentiate individual differences in emotional health.
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