Synopses & Reviews
This clear and accessible textbook introduces students to the brain's remarkable capacity for memory. It begins with a history of thinking and research on the biological bases of memory, highlighting discoveries about the brain made in a "Golden Era" of neuroscience around the turn of the 20th century. This is followed by presentation of our current understanding of the neurobiology of memory, organized into sections corresponding to the book's four major themes. The first is
Connection, and it considers how memory is based on alterations in the communication between nerve cells. Research on the physiology and biochemistry of neurons has revealed a cascade of molecular events and structural changes that enhance or weaken the connectivity of nerve cells in support of memory. The second theme is
Cognition, which considers the psychological structure of memory. Early work on this topic involved controversy over the basic cognitive processes that underlie memory, and modern research has shown that these characterizations reflect distinctions among qualitatively different forms of memory. The third theme is
Compartmentalization, the notion that the different forms of memory are accomplished by distinct brain systems. Recent research has revealed parallel memory systems that separately mediate our ability for conscious recollection, our capacity to acquire skills and habits, and our acquisition of emotional attachments and aversions. The fourth theme is
Consolidation, the process by which memories are transformed from a labile trace into a permanent store. Scientists have shown that there are two distinct stages in memory consolidation, one involving cellular mechanisms that underlie a fixation of changes in the neuronal connection strengths and the other involving a reorganization and restruction of the circuits that store and retrieve memories.
The book assumes little background knowledge from biology or psychology, and is intended as a text for use in undergraduate courses on memory and cognitive science, and for early graduate students in neuroscience, cognitive science, or biology. It encapsulates the major concepts in the field, and makes this area of research accessible to students who pursue a variety of related disciplines.
Review
"...a wonderful textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses. This long-overdue, accessible summary of the main findings of a fast-evolving field is likely to influence students of memory for years to come...an ideal primer for students of the new science of memory, where exciting new interdisciplinary approaches are eroding the traditional boundaries between molecular systems and psychological models."--Nature Neuroscience
Synopsis
This clear and accessible textbook introduces students to the brain's remarkable capacity for memory. It begins with a history of thinking and research on the biological bases of memory, highlighting discoveries about the brain made in a "Golden Era" of neuroscience around the turn of the
20th century. This is followed by presentation of our current understanding of the neurobiology of memory, organized into sections corresponding to the book's four major themes. The first is Connection, and it considers how memory is based on alterations in the communication between nerve cells.
Research on the physiology and biochemistry of neurons has revealed a cascade of molecular events and structural changes that enhance or weaken the connectivity of nerve cells in support of memory. The second theme is Cognition, which considers the psychological structure of memory. Early work on
this topic involved controversy over the basic cognitive processes that underlie memory, and modern research has shown that these characterizations reflect distinctions among qualitatively different forms of memory. The third theme is Compartmentalization, the notion that the different forms of
memory are accomplished by distinct brain systems. Recent research has revealed parallel memory systems that separately mediate our ability for conscious recollection, our capacity to acquire skills and habits, and our acquisition of emotional attachments and aversions. The fourth theme is
Consolidation, the process by which memories are transformed from a labile trace into a permanent store. Scientists have shown that there are two distinct stages in memory consolidation, one involving cellular mechanisms that underlie a fixation of changes in the neuronal connection strengths and
the other involving a reorganization and restruction of the circuits that store and retrieve memories.
The book assumes little background knowledge from biology or psychology, and is intended as a text for use in undergraduate courses on memory and cognitive science, and for early graduate students in neuroscience, cognitive science, or biology. It encapsulates the major concepts in the field, and
makes this area of research accessible to students who pursue a variety of related disciplines.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Four themes in research on the neurobiology of memory
Part I: Connection: The cellular and molecular bases of memory
2. Neurons and simple memory circuits
3. Cellular mechanisms of memory: Complex circuits
Part II: Cognition: Is there a "cognitive" basis for memory?
4. Amnesia- learning about memory from memory loss
5. Exploring declarative memory in animal models
6. Windows into the working of memory
Part III: Compartmentalization- Cortical modules and multiple memory systems
7. The cerebral cortex and memory
8. Multiple memory systems in the brain
9. A brain system for declarative memory
10. A brain system for procedural memory
11. A brain system for emotional memory
Part IV: Consolidation- The fixation and reorganization of memories
12. Two distinct stages of memory consolidation
13. Working with memory
Final Thought
Glossary