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Review
. 2024 Jul 10;16(7):e64237.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.64237. eCollection 2024 Jul.

Why Pimping Works: The Neurophysiology of Emotional Memories

Med Jimson D Jimenez  1 , Pranish Kantak  2 , Jeffrey Raskin  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Why Pimping Works: The Neurophysiology of Emotional Memories

Med Jimson D Jimenez et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

A time-honored medical ritual that combines emotion and cognition into a seamless consolidation of lucid memories is a feared teaching method in medical education. The resulting neurophysiology is explained from a neurosurgeon's perspective - equal parts guilt and dread as a prescription for an improved and sustained trainee fund of knowledge. Much of the available literature published with regard to pimping explores its pedagogy and use in medical practice. This review aims to explore the neurobehavioral and biological aspects of pimping in why it remains a popular teaching model. We describe the neuromodulatory process of integrating emotions and memory as observed during pimping. Additionally, we explore the neuronal pathways and circuits involved in memory encoding, consolidation, and retrieval. Finally, we explored the effects of this methodology as it is currently used in the United States medical education system.

Keywords: emotional memory; hippocampus; learning; neurophysiology; pimping.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Sensory modalities underlying memory formation.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Neurophysiological correlates of emotional memory formation.
The locus coeruleus (LC) modulates structures involved in emotional memory formation via long-term potentiation and set-point modulation. PFC = prefrontal cortex; BLA = basolateral amygdala; HPC = hippocampus; CA = cornu ammonis; DG = dentate gyrus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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