Recalling Fearful Memories Modifies Approach and Avoidance Behavior Based on Spatial Context

Motor responses are more efficient when there is a match (or congruency) between the motivational properties of an emotional state and the distance altering characteristics of the movement being executed to the emotion-eliciting stimulus. However, the role of spatial context in shaping motivational orientations to approach and avoid, particularly during whole-body movement tasks, remains less understood. We sought to narrow this knowledge gap by investigating whether an emotion (fear) relived from a previous experience affected movement initiation based on whether motor responses were implicitly coded as approach (i.e., incongruent) or avoidance (i.e., congruent) as per the location of the imagined threat stimulus. Participants (N = 29) completed a tone-initiated forward gait initiation task after recalling a previous fearful experience in which the stimulus from their memory was located either in front (incongruent) or behind (congruent) them. Facilitation versus inhibition of motor responses was indexed by reaction time (RT), displacement and velocity of postural movements prior to stepping, and step kinematics. Analyses revealed that participants initiating forward gait after recalling a fearful experience in which the fearful stimulus was congruent to the movement direction expedited RTs, greater displacement and velocity of anticipatory postural responses, and greater step length and velocity. Results provide support for the theoretical position that motivational orientations to approach and avoid are contextualized based on affective congruency, which includes the spatial orientation of real or imagined emotional stimuli.