Memory and trauma the one most commonly affected by psychological trauma is long-term memory. Missing memories, changes to memory, intensified memories – all are cases of manipulations of long-term memory. Long-term memory is associated with many different areas of the brain including the hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus and hypothalamus, peripheral cortex and temporal cortex. The hippocampus and amygdala have been connected with transference of memory from short-term memory to long-term memory. Thalamus and hypothalamus, located in the forebrain, are part of the limbic system; they are responsible for regulating different hormones and emotional and physical reactions to situations, including emotional stress or trauma. The
Hippocampal memory encoding and retrieval There are two steps to encoding: acquisition and consolidation. During acquisition, stimuli are committed to short term memory. Consolidation is where the hippocampus along with other cortical structures stabilize an object within long term memory, a process strengthening over time and one for which a number of theories have arisen to explain. After encoding, the hippocampus is capable of going through the retrieval process. The retrieval process consists of accessing stored information; this allows learned behaviors to experience conscious depiction and execution. Encoding and retrieval are both affected by neurodegenerative and anxiety disorders and epilepsy. Meta-positron emission tomography (PET) analysis