MECHANISMS OF EMOTIONAL AROUSAL AND LASTING DECLARATIVE MEMORY

Neuroscience is witnessing growing interest in understanding brain mec hanisms of memory formation for emotionally arousing events, a develop ment closely related to renewed interest in the concept of memory cons olidation. Extensive research in animals implicates stress hormones an d the amygdaloid complex as key,interacting modulators of memory conso lidation for emotional events. Considerable evidence suggests that the amygdala is not a site of long-term explicit or declarative memory st orage, but serves to influence memory-storage processes in other brain regions, such as the hippocampus, striatum and neocortex. Human-subje ct studies confirm the prediction of animal work that the amygdala is involved with the formation of enhanced declarative memory for emotion ally arousing events.