Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 8, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
Published on: May 4, 2011
Indelibility of subcortical emotional memories
J E Ledoux1, L Romanski, A Xagoraris
1Laboratory of Neurobiology, Cornell University Medical College.
Abstract:
Acquisition and extinction of fear responses conditioned to a visual stimulus were examined in rats with ablations of visual cortex. Visual cortex lesions did not interfere with acquisition, indicating that visual fear conditioning, like auditory fear conditioning, is mediated by sub-cortical, probably thalamo-amygdala, sensory pathways. In contrast to acquisition, extinction was greatly prolonged, if not prevented, by cortical ablation. This resistance to extinction of sub cortical emotional memories may explain certain aspects of emotional memory in man.
Related Concept Videos
Traumatic Memory
Implicit Memories
One key aspect of implicit...
Role of Amygdala in Memory
One of the...
Repressed Memory
Functional Brain Systems: Limbic System
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory

