Cortisol rewires brain networks to reinforce emotional memories
Yale researchers found that the stress hormone cortisol strengthens emotional memories by altering communication between brain networks involved in emotion and memory. The study, published in Science Advances, offers clues about why intense experiences can be so persistent. It builds on prior evidence that the amygdala and stress hormones play key roles in memory formation.
Yale researchers examined how cortisol affects emotional memory by giving participants either hydrocortisone or a placebo. While undergoing fMRI, volunteers viewed images and rated their emotional responses; the next day, their memory for those images was tested. Each person completed both conditions, and neither participants nor experimenters knew which pill was given.
Earlier work in people and rodents tied stress hormones and the amygdala to stronger recall of emotional events. The new study, published in Science Advances, separates perceiving an experience as emotional from preserving it long-term, helping clarify how cortisol may change links between feeling-related and memory-related systems.
This finding may deepen understanding of why emotionally charged experiences persist, potentially informing future research on memory and stress. People who experience intense emotional memories, as well as clinicians studying stress-related conditions, could eventually benefit if the work leads to better ways to understand or modulate memory. However, any practical application remains distant and uncertain.