The neural connections from the cortex are stimulated by information and are strengthened and linked to the emotional context in which they formed. Once encoded, a memory resides in the region of the cortex in which the information was first perceived and processed. When needed, or elicited by emotion, this memory is activated and used as working memory.
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Emotional Memory | |
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| The amygdale is the hub of neural connections created by emotional events, notably fear. It allows quick action in life threatening situations. It links the hypothalamus, which triggers physical signs of emotion, to the mental experience of emotion in the cortex. The amygdale plays an important role in our survival processing knowledge from stimuli to make quick decisions during emotional states, especially fear. It is also involved in recognizing emotions in facial expressions and in the process of encoding and storing events in a person’s life and the emotional reactions to them. |
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Facts & Events | |
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| A few seconds after first perceiving them, relevant facts begin to be encoded with the help of the hippocampus and other areas of the medial temporal lobes. Actions in the hippocampus and adjacent areas turn short-term memory into long-term memory. Your hippocampus will help you remember this. It binds memories but does not store them. |
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Habits & Motor Skills | |
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| Things such as riding a bicycle are unconscious. Those memories rely on the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. Neural pathways connect the cerebellum and the basal ganglia to the motor cortex to coordinate and fine-tune movement. The basal ganglia act as a mechanical brake to your movements. When standing still, you must put the brakes on all movements except those reflexes that will maintain you in an upright position. When moving, the brake must be released to allow for voluntary movement, but they also are applied to that movement to fine-tune it. The cerebellum is in charge of coordinating your movement. The cerebellum corrects for differences between the voluntary actions to move originating in the motor cortex with what is actually happening in our limbs in order to create smooth motion. |