Phases of Influence: How Emotion Modulates the Formation and Retrieval of Declarative Memories

Abstract

We tend to remember emotional experiences long after we have forgotten more mundane ones. The beneficial effects of emotion on memory appear to arise through influences between emotion-specific processes and domain-general sensory and mnemonic processes. These interactions arise at every phase of memory, including encoding, consolidation, and retrieval. As this chapter describes, emotion heightens perception and attention during encoding and enhances the likelihood that information is elaborated and organized. Emotion also modulates postencoding consolidation processes, increasing the likelihood that an emotional event is maintained in a durable memory trace. Emotion continues to wield its influence at retrieval, increasing the likelihood that information is retrieved and also augmenting the subjective vividness associated with the retrieved memory. This chapter discusses the neural processes that underlie these effects of emotion on memory. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the role of the amygdala in emotional memory and how the amygdala exerts its effects by means of interactions with other sensory and mnemonic regions.