Social scientists have documented the power of being heard: Disclosing emotional experiences to others promotes mental and physical health. Yet, far less is known about how listeners digest the sensitive information people share with them. We combined brain imaging and text analysis methods with a naturalistic emotional disclosure paradigm to assess how listeners form memories of others' disclosures. Neural and linguistic evidence support the hypothesis that listeners consolidate memories for others' disclosures during rest after listening and that their ability to do so facilitates subsequently providing the speakers with support. In Study 1, brain imaging methods showed that functional connectivity between the dorsomedial subsystem of the default network and frontoparietal control network increased during rest after listening to others' disclosures and predicted subsequent memory for their experiences. Moreover, graph analytic methods demonstrated that the left anterior temporal lobe may function as a connector hub between these two networks when consolidating memory for disclosures. In Study 2, linguistic analyses revealed other-focused thought increased during rest after listening to others' disclosures and predicted not only memory for the information disclosed but also whether listeners supported the speakers the next day. Collectively, these findings point to the important role of memory consolidation during rest in helping listeners respond supportively to others' disclosures. In our increasingly busy lives, pausing to briefly rest may not only help us care for ourselves but also help us care for others.

社会科学家记录了被倾听的力量：向他人透露情绪体验可以促进身心健康。然而，人们对听众如何消化人们与他们分享的敏感信息知之甚少。我们将大脑成像和文本分析方法与自然主义的情感披露范式相结合，以评估听众如何形成对他人披露的记忆。神经和语言证据支持这样一种假设，即听者在听后休息期间巩固了对他人披露的记忆，并且他们这样做的能力有助于随后向说话者提供支持。在研究 1 中，脑成像方法表明，在听取他人的披露后，默认网络的背内侧子系统和额顶控制网络之间的功能连接在休息期间增加，并预测了他们随后的经历记忆。此外，图形分析方法表明，在巩固记忆以供披露时，左前颞叶可以作为这两个网络之间的连接枢纽。在研究 2 中，语言学分析显示，在听完他人的披露后，休息时会增加以他人为中心的想法，不仅预测了对所披露信息的记忆，还预测了第二天听众是否支持演讲者。总的来说，这些发现指出了在休息期间巩固记忆在帮助听众对他人的支持性反应方面的重要作用 披露。在我们日益忙碌的生活中，暂停片刻休息不仅可以帮助我们照顾自己，还可以帮助我们照顾他人。