Editing Flashbulb memory (section)

=== Amygdala ===
[[File:Amygdala.gif|thumb|left|alt=Amygdala|[[Amygdala]] highlighted in red]]
Laboratory studies have related specific neural systems to the influence of emotion on memory.  Cross-species investigations have shown that emotional arousal causes neurohormonal changes, which engage the amygdala.  The amygdala modulates the encoding, storage, and retrieval of [[episodic memory]].<ref name="Sharot T">{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Sharot | first1 = Tali 
| last2 = Delgado | first2 = Mauricio R. 
| last3 = Phelps | first3 = Elizabeth A. 
| doi = 10.1038/nn1353 
| title = How emotion enhances the feeling of remembering 
| journal = Nature Neuroscience 
| volume = 7 
| issue = 12 
| pages = 1376–1380 
|date=December 2004
| pmid = 15558065 
| s2cid = 1877981 
| url = http://nwkpsych.rutgers.edu/neuroscience/publications/sharot-2004.pdf <!-- also at https://www.psych.nyu.edu/phelpslab/papers/04_Nature_V7No12.pdf and http://carterlab.ucdavis.edu/courses/psc290/nn1353.pdf -->
| url-access = subscription 
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Dolcos | first1 = Florin 
| last2 = Labar | first2 = Kevin S. 
| last3 = Cabeza | first3 = Roberto 
| doi = 10.1073/pnas.0409848102 
| title = Remembering one year later: Role of the amygdala and the medial temporal lobe memory system in retrieving emotional memories 
| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 
| volume = 102 
| issue = 7 
| pages = 2626–2631 
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| pmid = 15703295 
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| bibcode = 2005PNAS..102.2626D 
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| title = Interaction between the amygdala and the medial temporal lobe memory system predicts better memory for emotional events 
| journal = Neuron 
| volume = 42 
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|date=June 2004
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| url = https://web.duke.edu/mind/level2/faculty/labar/pdfs/Dolcos_Neuron_published.pdf
| doi-access = free 
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Dolan 
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| last2 = Lane 
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| title = Dissociable temporal lobe activations during emotional episodic memory retrieval 
| doi = 10.1006/nimg.2000.0538 
| journal = NeuroImage 
| volume = 11 
| issue = 3 
| pages = 203–209 
| date = March 2000 
| pmid = 10694462 
| url = http://www.pet.au.dk/~andreas/seminars/cog-exp/files/Dolan%202000.pdf 
| hdl = 21.11116/0000-0001-A281-5 
| s2cid = 124728 
| hdl-access = free 
| access-date = 2013-02-22 
| archive-date = 2017-08-09 
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170809135412/http://www.pet.au.dk/~andreas/seminars/cog-exp/files/Dolan%202000.pdf 
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| last1 = Smith | first1 = A. P. 
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| last4 = Dolan | first4 = R. J. 
| title = Modulation of retrieval processing reflects accuracy of emotional source memory 
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| volume = 12 
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| pages = 472–479 
|date=September–October 2005
| pmid = 16204201 
| pmc =1240059
|url = http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk//personal/rik.henson/personal/SmithEtAl_LM_05.pdf
}}</ref> These memories are later retrieved with an enhanced recollective experience,<ref name="Sharot T"/><ref>{{Cite journal 
| doi = 10.1037/0096-3445.129.2.242 
| last1 = Ochsner 
| first1 = K. N. 
| title = Are affective events richly recollected or simply familiar? The experience and process of recognizing feelings past 
| journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 
| volume = 129 
| issue = 2 
| pages = 242–261 
| date = June 2000 
| pmid = 10868336 
| url = http://psych.stanford.edu/~ochsner/pdf/Ochsner_R-K_Emotion.pdf <!-- alternate URL: http://dept.psych.columbia.edu/~kochsner/pdf/Ochsner_R-K_Emotion.pdf --> 
| access-date = 2013-02-12 
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160409111050/http://psych.stanford.edu/~ochsner/pdf/Ochsner_R-K_Emotion.pdf 
| archive-date = 2016-04-09 
| url-status = dead 
| url-access = subscription 
}}</ref> similar to the recollection of flashbulb memories.  The amygdala, therefore, may be important in the encoding and retrieval of memories for emotional public events.  Since the role of the amygdala in memory is associated with increased arousal induced by the emotional event,<ref name="McGaugh">{{Cite journal 
| last1 = McGaugh | first1 = J. L. 
| doi = 10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144157 
| title = The amygdala modulates the consolidation of memories of emotionally arousing experiences 
| journal = Annual Review of Neuroscience 
| volume = 27 
| pages = 1–28 
|date=July 2004
| pmid = 15217324
 | issue=1
}}</ref> factors that influence arousal should also influence the nature of these memories. The constancy of flashbulb memories over time varies based on the individual factors related to the arousal response, such as emotional engagement<ref name="Pillemer"/><ref name="Schmolck2000">{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Schmolck | first1 = H. 
| last2 = Buffalo | first2 = E. A. 
| last3 = Squire | first3 = L. R. 
| doi = 10.1111/1467-9280.00212 
| title = Memory Distortions Develop over Time: Recollections of the O. J. Simpson Trial Verdict After 15 and 32 Months 
| journal = Psychological Science 
| volume = 11 
| issue = 1 
| pages = 39–45 
|date=January 2000
| pmid =  11228841
| s2cid = 6918395 
| url = http://whoville.ucsd.edu/PDFs/319_Schmolck_etal_PsychSci2000.pdf
}}</ref> and personal involvement with the shocking event.<ref name= "Neisser U"/> The strength of amygdala activation at retrieval has been shown to correlate with an enhanced recollective experience for emotional scenes, even when accuracy is not enhanced.<ref name="Sharot T"/> Memory storage is increased by endocrine responses to shocking events; the more shocking an individual finds an event, the more likely a vivd flashbulb memory will develop.

There has been considerable debate as to whether unique mechanisms are involved in the formation of flashbulb  memories, or whether ordinary memory processes are sufficient to account for memories of shocking public events.  Sharot et al. found that for individuals who were close to the World Trade Center, the retrieval of 9/11 memories engaged neural systems that are uniquely tied to the influence of emotion on memory.  The engagement of these emotional memory circuits is consistent with the unique limbic mechanism that Brown and Kulik<ref name="Brown"/> suggested.  These are the same neural mechanisms, however, engaged during the retrieval of emotional stimuli in the laboratory.<ref name="Sharot T"/>  The consistency in the pattern of neural responses during the retrieval of emotional scenes presented in the laboratory and flashbulb memories suggests that even though different mechanisms may be involved in flashbulb memories, these mechanisms are not unique to the surprising and consequential nature of the initiating events.

Evidence indicates the importance of the amygdala in the retrieval of 9/11 events, but only among individuals who personally experienced these events.<ref name="Sharot T"/>  The amygdala's influence on episodic memory is explicitly tied to physiological arousal.<ref name="McGaugh"/>  Although simply hearing about shocking public events may result in arousal, the strength of this response likely varies depending on the individual's personal experience with the events.