AUTHOR=Thoresen Christian , Jensen Jimmy , Sigvartsen Niels Petter B., Bolstad Ingeborg , Server Andres , Nakstad Per H., Andreassen Ole A., Endestad Tor 

TITLE=Arousal Modulates Activity in the Medial Temporal Lobe during a Short-Term Relational Memory Task

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2012

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2011.00177

DOI=10.3389/fnhum.2011.00177

ISSN=1662-5161

ABSTRACT=<p>This study investigated the effect of arousal on short-term relational memory and its underlying cortical network. Seventeen healthy participants performed a picture by location, short-term relational memory task using emotional pictures. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure the blood-oxygenation-level dependent signal relative to task. Subjects’ own ratings of the pictures were used to obtain subjective arousal ratings. Subjective arousal was found to have a dose-dependent effect on activations in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and in higher order visual areas. Serial position analyses showed that high arousal trials produced a stronger primacy and recency effect than low arousal trials. The results indicate that short-term relational memory may be facilitated by arousal and that this may be modulated by a dose–response function in arousal-driven neuronal regions.</p>