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Memories of
emotionally arousing events are more poignant than
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unemotional
events. What mechanisms underlie
this adaptive
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phenomenon?
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Emotionally
arousing events activate the sympathetic nervous
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system and the
HPA axis, resulting in the release of epinephrine and
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glucocorticoids.
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In addition to
mediating aspects of the “flight-or-fight” response,
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these hormones
have now been shown to improve emotional
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memory, and that
the amygdala is critical for this process.
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Lesions of the
amygdala block this memory-enhancing
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neuromodulatory
function of many drugs and hormones.
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Infusion of
drugs selectively into the basolateral complex may
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enhance memory
storage, whereas infusions into the central
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nucleus do
not. The basolateral nucleus is
reciprocally connected
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with the
hippocampus and the neocortex, both implicated in memory
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processes.
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