• Learning: A process by which new information is acquired by

the nervous system and is observable through changes in

behaviour
• Memory: Refers to the encoding, storage and retrieval of
learned information
• Synaptic Plasticity: The ability of the synapses to strengthen
or weaken over time.
• Strengthening of synapses over time is known as Long Term
Potentiation (LTP)
• Weakening of synapses over time is known as Long Term
Depression (LTD)
• Synaptic connections between neurons provide a basic wiring
of the brains circuitry.

• This connectivity between neurons is dynamic and is

constantly changing in response to neural activity and other
influences.

• Synaptic Plasticity is of 2 forms: Short term and Long term.

Two forms: LTP and LTD

• Long term Potentiation: It is a candidate for long term

memory function in mammalian brains.

• Occurs when a post synaptic neuron is “Persistently

Depolarised" after a “High Frequency” burst from pre synaptic
neuron
• Established quickly and lasts for a long time (days to years)

• Associative in nature; occurs only at Potentiated synapses”,

terminating at the post synaptic cells

• Occurs prominently at the hippocampus; structure that is pivotal to

memory formation.
• If synapses would simply increase in strength due to LTP,
eventually it would be difficult to encode new information

• Thus it is necessary to selectively weaken specific set of

synapses.
There are 2 main types of “Qualitative” memory systems:

• a) Declarative: Storage and retrieval of material that is

available to the consciousness and can be expressed in
language.

• b) Non Declarative: Also k/a “Procedural Memory”, something

that is not available to the consciousness. It involves “skills
and associations
• Memory can also be classified on the basis of the “time” over which it
is effective

a) Immediate Memory

b) Working Memory

c) Long Term Memory

• The way by which immediate and short term memories are
encoded into long term memories is known as memory
consolidation.
• Steps involved in memory consolidation:

1) The event is experienced and encoded by a virtue of the

cortical regions involved.

2) At the same time, the Hippocampus and the adjacent

cortices receive pertinent information

3) Later when the original event is recalled, the same set of

Cortical regions get activated.
 Contd..

• In case a subset of a cortical region is activated, the hippocampus and the

other structures can facilitate recall by activating the remaining cortical

region. This is known as “Pattern Completion”.

• If on retrieving the original event, it becomes associated with new

information, the Hippocampal-Cortical networks can be modified

accordingly.

• In this way a gradual consolidation process occurs which can change the

nature of memory storage.

• The neo-cortical components over a period of time and on repeated recall

can become so efficiently linked, that the original event can be recalled

without any help from the hippocampus and the associated structures.

• Areas in the Frontal Lobe and the Temporal lobe are important in facilitating

this long term recall of information.

Some of the most commonly used methods are

a) Priming

b) Associative Learning

C) Conditioned Learning.
• It is defined as: “ A change in the processing of a stimulus
due to a previous encounter with the same or a related
stimulus with or without conscious awareness of the original
encounter.
• However the information stored in priming is not particularly
reliable.
• Priming is resistant to brain injury, aging and dementia.
• Priming shows that previously presented information always
influences our subsequent behaviour.
• Normal human capacity to remember a string of numbers is limited
to max 7-9 numbers.
• However some people are able to remember larger strings, by
employing other techniques that enhance memory.
• By “associating” the object in question with some meaningful form of
information, memory can be enhanced significantly.
• The capacity of memory depends very much on

a) what the information means to the individual

b) how it can be associated with the information already stored.
• Motivation also plays an important role in memory formations
• It is a category of non declarative memory that has been most
extensively studied in the past.
• It is defined as: “Generation of novel responses that is
gradually elicited by repeatedly pairing a novel stimulus with
a stimulus that normally elicits the response being studied”

• Two main types:

a) Classical Conditioning
b) Operant conditioning
• Conditioned Response
• Unconditioned Stimulus
• Conditioned Stimulus
• Unconditioned Response
• It refers to altered probability of a behavioural
response engendered by associating the response
with a reward or punishment.
• Memory storage appears to be specifically aided during deep
sleep within a few hours after learning (mostly prominent in
stage 3 & 4, SWS)
• Some data indicates that the SWS facilitates the storage of
declarative memories and not non declarative ones
• Initially it was believed that everything that is learnt is stored in the
brain, although sometimes particular details are not accessible.
• However this hypothesis has been proved wrong.
• People tend to gradually forget what they have stored in long term
memory, thus giving us more proof that our memory is unreliable at
best.
• Memories that are unused, unrehearsed and have not particular
importance deteriorate over time.
• Forgetting unimportant information is a crucial ability for leading a
normal life.
• Learning about the various structures of the brain involved in
storage of declarative memories is a challenge

• Much of the information is based on studies from individuals who

have sustained brain injuries.

• Taken together, these cases implicate the role of

a) Midline diencephalic structures (Thalamus, Hypothalamus)

b) Medial temporal lobe structures (Hippocampus, Perirhinal,

Enterorhinal cortex and Para hippocampal region)
 Contd..
• The studies discussed subsequently suggest that primates
and other mammals depend on medial temporal structures,
to encode and consolidate memories of events and objects in
time and space,
• Just as humans use these same brain regions for the initial
encoding and consolidation of declarative memories.
• Studies (PET and fMRI) have shown that the neurons in the hippocampus and
para hippocampal cortex are selectively recruited by tasks that involve
declarative memory formation.

• Studies have shown that the posterior hippocampus appears to be particularly

useful in remembering spatial information. This is exhibited in the case of
London Taxi Drivers.

• Confirming the role of experience in performance the size of the posterior

hippocampus in cab drivers scales positively with the number of months
spent driving a cab.
Contd..
• Neuronal activation within the hippocampus and the allied
cortical areas of the medial temporal lobe largely determine
the “transfer of declarative information into long term
memory”
• and that the robustness with which such memories are
encoded, depends on structural and functional changes, that
occur as a result of experience.
• We have seen that the immediate storage of declarative
memories occurs in the structures of the medial temporal
lobe
• However when these structures are damaged, due to injury or
illness, the patient “does not” forget the memories that he
acquired earlier in life
• This implicates the involvement of other regions of the cortex
in the long term storage of declarative memories
• There are multiple evidences that are available to prove the
following:

a) Lashley’s “Mass action principle”, which states that any

degradation in learning and memory depends on the amount
of cortex destroyed; the more complex the learning task the
more disruptive the lesion should be.

b) Patients undergoing ECT, usually show impairments in

retrograde memories ranging from a few hours to days.
 Contd..

c) Patients with damage to the regions of association cortex e.g the

association cortex of the inferior temporal lobe is involved in linking
images (faces/objects) with meanings. Damage to this region affects
the ability of the person to recognise the objects, indicating that
memory is also stored in this region.

d) Neuro-imaging Evidence: when subjects were asked to recall words

associated with images, cortical areas got activated on recall.
• Role of Frontal Lobe: The association cortices located
particularly in the frontal lobe are associated with retrieval of
memories.

• The dorsolateral and anterolateral aspects of Frontal lobe are

activated when declarative memories from long term storage
are retrieved.

• Patients with damage to these areas fail to recall these

memories accurately and often resort to confabulation.
Non declarative memories involve the:

• a) Basal Ganglia

• b) Prefrontal Cortex

• c) Amygdala

• d) Sensory association cortices

• e) Cerebellum

• They don’t involve the midline temporal lobe structures

• Ischemic damage to the cerebellum produces profound deficits in
classical eye-blink conditioning but does not interfere with
formation of new declarative memories.

• Lesions in visual association cortex produce profound impairment in

visual priming but leave declarative memory intact.
Contd..

• The basal ganglia and the prefrontal cortex are profoundly important in non
declarative memory recall.

• Evidence: Patients with huntington’s perform poorly on motor skill earning

tests, such as manually tracking a spot of light, tracing curves using a mirror
or reproducing the sequence of finger movements.

• Patients with Parkinson’s as well as Prefrontal lesions caused by strokes or

tutors, show similar deficits on these tasks.

• Neuroimaging studies have corroborated these findings. Normal individuals

show activation of these brain regions while performing these tasks.
• Memory disorders can be classified into 2 main

types:

a) Physiological: Infantile Amnesia

b) Pathological: Amnesia’s (Retrograde or Anterograde)

• Amnesia’s most commonly occur due to brain injuries, but

some can also be Psychogenic in origin.
• The absence of conscious memories fro the first 3 years of life is
known as Infantile Amnesia

• Traditional Views: Regression and Retrieval Failure.

• Present View: Declarative memories do not become fully available by

the age of 3 years, whereas non declarative emerges early in infancy.

• Thus currently it is considered as a “failure of storage” rather than

failure of retrieval.

• The amnesia in this period is linked with the under development of

the neocortex, rather than that of the medial temporal structures.
• Memory problems arising due to psychological factors is
known as “psychogenic amnesia”

• It is important to differentiate psychological and organic

amnesia in a patient. Some of the points of difference are:
• Features in favour of genuine psychological amnesia:

1) Tests scores are not as low as possible, nerver worse than

chance level

2) Memory access is improved by Amytal Interviews

3) Significant premorbid psychiatric history

• Inability to recall previously learned information is known as
Retrograde Amnesia
• Inability to learn new information across all sensory
modalities and stimulus domains is known as Anterograde
Amnesia
• Ribot’s Law: Deficits are most severe for information that was
most recently learned
Case of H.M.

• Condition: intractable temporal lobe epilepsy. Got operated for a bilateral

temporal lobectomy.

• Structures removed: Hippocampus, Parahippocampus corticies, Enterorhinal

corticies, Piriform cortices, Amygdala.

• Pattern of memory deficits: Severe anterograde amnesia, with impairments in

explicit memory. b) Problems of committing new events to his explicit
memory c) impaired new semantic knowledge d) moderate retrograde
amnesia, upto 11 years

• Intact Domains: Intact working and procedural memory. b) Intact motor

learning skills c) Autobiographical memory recall