McGaugh · Current opinion in neurobiology 2002 · narrative review · n=?

Role of adrenal stress hormones in forming lasting memories in the brain.

Cited 820 times in the scientific literature.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

Narrative review synthesizing mechanistic animal and human experimental research

PubMed 12015238 · doi:10.1016/s0959-4388(02)00306-9 · record verified 2026-08-31

What was done

This paper reviews experimental literature investigating how adrenal stress hormones, specifically epinephrine and glucocorticoids, influence long-term memory consolidation in animals and humans.

What was found

The abstract reports no numerical data or quantitative effect sizes. It states that epinephrine and glucocorticoids modulate memory consolidation, and that norepinephrine release and beta-adrenoceptor activation within the basolateral amygdala are critical mediators of this process.

Why it matters

The paper outlines the neurobiological mechanism linking peripheral adrenal stress responses to central memory consolidation in the amygdala.

Limits

The abstract provides no sample sizes, specific population details, study counts, or quantitative metrics. As a narrative review, it does not use systematic review methodology to synthesize evidence.

Cited by