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
Long-term memory can involve both declarative and procedural memory processes. Emotional memories are consciously available, but elicit a powerful, unconscious physiological reaction. Research indicates that the amygdala is extremely active during emotional situations, and acts with the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in the encoding and consolidation of emotional events. Working memory is not part of long-term memory, but is important for long-term memory to function. Working memory holds and manipulates information for a short period of time, before it is either forgotten or encoded into long-term memory. Then, in order to remember something from long-term memory, it must be brought back into