Unlike the amygdala, in which, once learned, associations are relatively permanent, its neurons rapidly learn reinforced associations and then unlearns them when they are no longer associated. Other neurons respond on unrewarded trials. It also results in an inability to modify behaviour in response to punishment. Like the amygdala, OFC damage often results in an inability to recognise facial and spoken emotional expressions. The more we learn about the brain, the more it becomes difficult to divide its functions into independent processes such as cognition, memory, motivation, emotion and consciousness.
All systems function simultaneously interacting and influencing the processes of each other.
Emotion is a good example. Through links with the cortex, hippocampus , nucleus basilus and a variety of other areas emotional systems influence, memory, attention, arousal and spatial behaviour to the extent that it is difficult to separate it from these functions. When we store declarative memories of events and situations we also store emotional memories about how we felt, how aroused, pleased, angry or sad we felt. These are then retrieved along with the memory and influence the way that we process that memory. Events or objects acquire emotional tone through classical conditioning, e.g., we learn to fear guns through constant association with violence, rats learn to fear a tone because it is associated with electric shock, little Albert learnt to fear rabbits because of their association with loud noises.