Direct electrical stimulation of the amygdala enhances declarative memory in humans.

ABSTRACT: Emotional events are often remembered better than neutral events, a benefit that many studies have hypothesized to depend on the amygdala's interactions with memory systems. These studies have indicated that the amygdala can modulate memory-consolidation processes in other brain regions such as the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex. Indeed, rodent studies have demonstrated that direct activation of the amygdala can enhance memory consolidation even during nonemotional events. However, the premise that the amygdala causally enhances declarative memory has not been directly tested in humans. Here we tested whether brief electrical stimulation to the amygdala could enhance declarative memory for specific images of neutral objects without eliciting a subjective emotional response. Fourteen epi

SUBMITTER: Inman CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5776809 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature