Stressful and emotionally arousing experiences activate hormonal and brain systems that create strong memories. Extensive evidence indicates that this strengthening effect involves the synergistic action of both norepinephrine and glucocorticoid hormones. This tight regulation of emotional memories is normally highly adaptive and pivotal for survival; yet, aberrant memory processing of stressful events is a major risk factor for the development of stress-related psychopathology. It remains unclear, however, to what extent these two stress hormone systems also affect the quality of such strengthened memories. In this Review, we discuss recent advances in the understanding of norepinephrine and glucocorticoid effects on the accuracy and generalization of contextual or episodic-like aspects of memory in rodents. We will argue that norepinephrine and glucocorticoids exert opposite effects on accuracy and generalization of memory through distinct effects on systems consolidation processes underlying the time-dependent reorganization of memory. Norepinephrine improves memory accuracy by boosting basolateral amygdala-hippocampal connectivity, hereby creating long-lasting hippocampus-dependent episodic-like memories. In contrast, glucocorticoids contribute to memory generalization by promoting integration of new memories into neocortical networks, decreasing hippocampal dependence. We discuss possible implications of these conceptual insights for understanding inter-individual differences in stress resilience and risk for psychopathology.

压力和激动人心的经历会激活荷尔蒙和大脑系统，从而产生强烈的记忆。大量证据表明，这种增强作用涉及去甲肾上腺素和糖皮质激素的协同作用。这种对情绪记忆的严格调节通常具有高度适应性，对生存至关重要。然而，压力事件的异常记忆处理是与压力有关的精神病理学发展的主要危险因素。但是，尚不清楚这两种应激激素系统在​​多大程度上影响这种增强记忆的质量。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了了解去甲肾上腺素和糖皮质激素对啮齿动物记忆的情境或情节样方面的准确性和泛化的最新进展。我们将争辩说，去甲肾上腺素和糖皮质激素通过对依赖于记忆的时间依赖性重组的系统整合过程产生明显影响，从而对记忆的准确性和泛化产生相反的影响。去甲肾上腺素通过增强基底外侧杏仁核-海马的连接性来提高记忆的准确性，从而建立持久的海马依赖型发作式记忆。相反，糖皮质激素通过促进新的记忆整合入新的皮质网络，减少海马依赖性而有助于记忆泛化。我们讨论了这些概念性见解对于理解应激弹性和心理病理风险之间个体差异的可能含义。