Human beings have an adaptive memory that adjusts to different threats in the environment; however, we know little about the factors that modulate this plasticity in memory. Using challenges related to disease threats as a research model, we investigated whether the regularity of occurrence and previous experience with diseases would be factors responsible for predicting memory performance. To test the hypothesis that information regarding diseases that affect with regularity over evolutionary time is better remembered, we grouped diseases into chronic and acute. To investigate the hypothesis that information about diseases that affect regularly in the current environment is better remembered, we grouped diseases into high- and low-incidence. Furthermore, to test the hypothesis that information about illnesses from previous experiences is better remembered, we grouped illnesses into experienced and unexperienced by the participants in this study. As an alternative hypothesis, we investigated whether the recall could be influenced by diseases that originated in ancestral environments or are simply explained by regularity and previous experience with diseases. For this purpose, we grouped the acute and chronic diseases into ancestral and modern. Information about illnesses was presented to university students through fictional stories, followed by an unexpected memory test to identify the best-remembered information. We found that information about diseases that affect regularly over evolutionary time (acute) and from previous experiences was remembered more, whereas ancestral and regular diseases in the current environment (high incidence) were remembered less. This was possibly because diseases that affect humans regularly over evolutionary time spawned greater earlier experiences, increasing people’s perception of risk and facilitating its evocation in memory. In addition, regular diseases in human evolutionary history may have generated greater selective pressure on memory, contributing to a better retention of information. Human beings have developed an adaptability to deal with different environmental adversities, favoring those challenges in memory that affect them regularly and from previous experiences and not necessarily those challenges that refer only to threats from ancestral environments.

人类具有适应环境中不同威胁的适应性记忆；然而，我们对调节这种记忆可塑性的因素知之甚少。使用与疾病威胁相关的挑战作为研究模型，我们调查了疾病的发生规律和以前的疾病经历是否会成为预测记忆表现的因素。为了检验关于随着进化时间有规律地影响疾病的信息被更好地记住的假设，我们将疾病分为慢性和急性。为了研究有关在当前环境中经常影响的疾病信息更容易被记住的假设，我们将疾病分为高发和低发。此外，为了验证关于以前经历的疾病信息更容易记住的假设，我们将本研究参与者的疾病分为有经验和无经验。作为替代假设，我们调查了回忆是否可能受到起源于祖先环境的疾病的影响，或者只是通过规律性和以前的疾病经验来解释。为此，我们将急慢性疾病分为祖传疾病和现代疾病。通过虚构故事向大学生展示有关疾病的信息，然后进行意想不到的记忆测试，以确定记忆最好的信息。我们发现，关于在进化时间（急性）和以前的经历中经常影响的疾病的信息被记住得更多，而当前环境中的祖传疾病和常规疾病（高发病率）则较少被记住。这可能是因为在进化过程中经常影响人类的疾病催生了更早的经验，增加了人们对风险的感知并促进了它在记忆中的唤起。此外，人类进化史上的常规疾病可能对记忆产生更大的选择压力，有助于更好地保留信息。人类已经发展出一种适应不同环境逆境的能力，他们喜欢那些经常影响他们的记忆挑战和以前的经验，而不一定是那些仅指来自祖先环境威胁的挑战。这可能是因为在进化过程中经常影响人类的疾病催生了更早的经验，增加了人们对风险的感知并促进了它在记忆中的唤起。此外，人类进化史上的常规疾病可能对记忆产生更大的选择压力，有助于更好地保留信息。人类已经发展出一种适应不同环境逆境的能力，他们喜欢那些经常影响他们的记忆挑战和以前的经验，而不一定是那些仅指来自祖先环境威胁的挑战。这可能是因为在进化过程中经常影响人类的疾病催生了更早的经验，增加了人们对风险的感知并促进了它在记忆中的唤起。此外，人类进化史上的常规疾病可能对记忆产生更大的选择压力，有助于更好地保留信息。人类已经发展出一种适应不同环境逆境的能力，他们喜欢那些经常影响他们的记忆挑战和以前的经验，而不一定是那些仅指来自祖先环境威胁的挑战。人类进化史上的常规疾病可能对记忆产生了更大的选择压力，有助于更好地保留信息。人类已经发展出一种适应不同环境逆境的能力，他们喜欢那些经常影响他们的记忆挑战和以前的经验，而不一定是那些仅指来自祖先环境威胁的挑战。人类进化史上的常规疾病可能对记忆产生了更大的选择压力，有助于更好地保留信息。人类已经发展出一种适应不同环境逆境的能力，他们喜欢那些经常影响他们的记忆挑战和以前的经验，而不一定是那些仅指来自祖先环境威胁的挑战。