Although the neurobiological events involved with the memory of aversive events are not completely understood, the basolateral amygdala seems to play an important role in this process. The objectives of the present study were to review the main human and animal studies on the role played by the amygdala in memory and to discuss the theoretical aspects of the models used. We reviewed the available studies using human and animal models that investigated and discussed the involvement of amygdala with memory. Current investigation on this issue is mainly based on two hypotheses: 1) the amygdala would be the site of the cellular events that lead to acquisition and consolidation of aversive information and 2) the amygdala would modulate acquisition and consolidation held in other sites within the brain. The first hypothesis is supported by studies conducted in a fear Pavlovian conditioning paradigm, while the second hypothesis is based on studies that use declarative memory procedures. Although the studies we reviewed provide strong evidence that the amygdala modulates brain regions related to memory consolidation, further studies, with new experimental paradigms, could better clarify this relationship.
Amygdala; memory; fear