The amygdalae also are involved in the modulation of
memory consolidation. Following any learning event, the
long-term memory for the event is not instantaneously formed. Rather, information regarding the event is slowly assimilated into long-term storage over time (the duration of long-term memory storage can be life-long), a process referred to as
memory consolidation, until it reaches a relatively permanent state.
...
The amygdalae, especially the basolateral nuclei, are involved in mediating the effects of emotional arousal on the strength of the memory for the event, as shown by many laboratories including that of
James McGaugh. These laboratories have trained animals on a variety of learning tasks and found that drugs injected into the amygdala after training affect the animals' subsequent retention of the task. These tasks include basic
classical conditioning tasks such as inhibitory avoidance, where a rat learns to associate a mild footshock with a particular compartment of an apparatus, and more complex tasks such as spatial or cued water maze, where a rat learns to swim to a platform to escape the water. If a drug that activates the amygdalae is injected into the amygdalae, the animals had better memory for the training in the task.
[12] If a drug that inactivates the amygdalae is injected, the animals had impaired memory for the task.
Despite the importance of the amygdalae in modulating memory consolidation, however,
learning can occur without it, though such learning appears to be impaired, as in fear conditioning impairments following amygdalar damage.
[13]
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