Cover image

Stress has been shown to disrupt the learning or expression of extinction. This stress-induced impairment of extinction has also been shown to be susceptible to retrograde amnesia. In this issue of Learning & Memory, Briggs and McMullen (LearnMem a053895.123) demonstrate that amnesia for the stress-induced impairment of extinction is both time-dependent and able to be recovered by a brief re-exposure to the stress, which are characteristics of retrograde amnesia for original acquisition memories. The results are explained using a state-dependent retrieval-based model of retrograde amnesia. The cover illustration represents a memory formed in a stressed brain being compartmentalized or bound in a particular state. The fragmented clock represents the temporal gradient of retrograde amnesia, with the lightbulb representing a reminder cue to alleviate the forgetting. (Cover art designed and created by Kristina Moncelsi.)