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Updated: Jul 25, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
Published on: May 4, 2011
Affective modulation of multiple memory systems
1Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT 06520-8025, USA. Mark.Packard@yale.edu
Abstract:
The hippocampus and caudate nucleus are anatomical components of relatively independent memory systems and recent research has focused on the nature of the interaction between these two systems. The amygdala exerts a general modulatory influence on memory storage processes related, in part, to an organism's level of affective or emotional arousal. Moreover, affective state can influence the use of different memory systems, and the amygdala may mediate this effect of emotion on memory. Recent evidence indicates that the amygdala modulates the separate types of memory mediated by the hippocampus and caudate nucleus. Recent human brain imaging studies also point to both sex- and hemisphere-related asymmetries in amygdala participation in emotionally influenced memory.
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