Memory
Peter Kamerman
[Link]@[Link]
PHSL3006A, August 2025
Slides adapted from: Prof A Fuller, Wits Department of Physiology
Objectives
Categories of memory
Define the different categories of memory, and how they relate to each other
Learning and memory
Explain the foundational processes that underlie how sensory input is translated into working, short-term, and long-
term memory
Describe the role of the amygdala in memory encoding
List the mechanisms proposed to underlie the process of forgetting
Define amnesia
Explain the differences between retrograde and anterograde amnesia
Explicit (declarative) memory
List the anatomical regions of the brain involved in initial encoding of declarative memories
Describe how incoming sensory information is processed in the different brain regions when encoding declarative
memories
Explain the concept of long-term potentiation of synapses in the context of memory encoding
Describe the hypothetical physical or chemical change in the brain that represents a memory (engrams)
Describe where long-term memories are stored
List and describe the roles of the separate components of the three-component model in working memory and how
they interact.
List and describe the roles of the separate components of the three-component and multi-component models of
working memory and how these components interact.
Describe the interaction between brain regions involved in working memory
Implicit (non-declarative) memory
List the anatomical regions of the brain involved in encoding and storing implicit memories
Categories of memory
Declarative Non-declarative
Categories of memory
Phylogenetic memory (hawk/goose effect)?
Direction of movement
Response (+: crouched down)
Schleidt et al., 2011
Learning and memory
Some visual information
Working memory
Walinga & Stangor, Introduction to psychology, 2014
Learning and memory
The role of the amygdala
Roozendaal et al., 2009
Forgetting
“Without forgetting it is quite
impossible to live at all.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life
Forgetting
Forgetting Forgetting Forgetting
Walinga & Stangor, Introduction to psychology, 2014
Forgetting
• Weak encoding
• Lack of a retrieval cue
• Replacement in neural network
• Interference by new memories
Forgetting
Amnesia: Pathological loss of memory
Retrograde Anterograde
Impaired/lost ability Impaired/lost ability to
to recall memories form new memories
Past events Injury Future events
The case of H.M.
At the time, H.M. was 27 years old and had had minor epileptic
seizures since the age of 10, and major seizures since the age of
16.
Despite taking anticonvulsant medication, the major attacks had
increased in frequency and severity throughout the years until the
patient was quite unable to work.
Henry Molaison The etiology of this patient’s attacks was not clear.;
electroencephalograms had consistently failed to show any
localized epileptogenic area.
On 1 September 1953, bilateral medial temporal-lobe resection
was carried out, extending posteriorly for 8 cm from the midpoints
of the tips of the temporal lobes, with the temporal horns
constituting the lateral edges of resection.
The case of H.M.
• Hippocampus
• Entorhinal, perirhinal
and parahippocampal
cortices
• Amygdala
• Temporal lobe
association cortex
Henry Molaison
The case of H.M.
After the operation, H.M. was drowsy for a few days, but his subsequent
recovery was uneventful apart from the grave memory. There has been
no neurological deficit.
A psychological examination was performed on 26 April 1955. The
memory defect was immediately apparent. The patient gave the date as
March 1953 and his age as 27. Just before coming into the examining
room, he had been talking to a Dr. Karl Pribram, yet H.M. had no
recollection of this interaction at all and denied that anyone had spoken
Henry Molaison to him. In conversation, he reverted constantly to boyhood events and
seemed scarcely to realize that he had had an operation.
An extensive test battery failed to reveal any deficits in perception,
abstract thinking, or reasoning ability, and his motivation remained
excellent throughout. On all tests, we found that once he had turned to
a new task, the nature of the preceding one could no longer be recalled
nor the test recognized if repeated.
The case of H.M.
“Every day is alone in itself, whatever enjoyment
I’ve had, and whatever sorrow I’ve had …. Right
now, I’m wondering. Have I done or said anything
Henry Molaison
amiss? You see, at this moment everything looks
clear to me, but what happened just before?
That’s what worries me. It’s like waking from a
dream; I just don’t remember.”
Explicit (declarative) memory
Purves et al., Neuroscience (5ed), 2011
Explicit (declarative) memory
Purves et al., Neuroscience (5ed), 2011
Implicit (non-declarative) memory
Motor cortices
Implicit (non-declarative) memory
Henry Molaison
H.M. showed definite improvement in any task involving learning skilled
movements. He was taught to trace between two outlines
of a star while viewing his hand in a mirror. He improved considerably with
each fresh test, although he had no recollection that he had ever done the
task before.
Kandel et al., Principles of neural science, 4ed
Implicit (non-declarative) memory
The role of the basal ganglia
Shohamy et al., 2005
Working memory
The three-component working memory model
Processes visual and Handles verbal and
spatial information, auditory information:
enabling mental • Phonological store
imagery and • Articulatory
navigation rehearsal process
The control system:
• Directs attention
• Coordinates task
• Manages the flow
of information
between sub-
systems
Baddeley., 2003
Working memory
The multicomponent working memory model
Integrates information from the
phonological loop, visuospatial
sketchpad, and long-term memory
into coherent, multimodal
representations.
Baddeley., 2003
Working memory
The multicomponent working memory model
ACC = anterior cingulate cortex
Chai et al., 2018
Summary
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Site of encoding
Kandel et al., Principles of neural science, 4ed
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Key anatomical structures
Kandel et al., Principles of neural science, 4ed
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Encoding can be disrupted
Kandel et al., Principles of neural science, 4ed
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Functional changes
High-frequency train of stimuli: Increased amplitude of EPSPs
Homosynaptic facilitation: long-term potentiation (LTP)
Kandel et al., Principles of neural science, 4ed
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Normal synaptic transmission
Kandel et al., Principles of neural science, 4ed
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Long-term potentiation
Kandel et al., Principles of neural science, 4ed
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Initial encoding: The engram
Ortega-de San Luis & Ryan, 2022
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Consolidation
Ortega-de San Luis & Ryan, 2022
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Long-term storage (searching for the engram)
Purves et al., Neuroscience (5ed), 2011
Neurogenesis
Adult neurogenesis
Kandel et al., Principles of neural science, 4ed
Neurogenesis
Aerobic exercise Entorhinal cortex
Anti-depressant drugs
Cognitive stimulation
Brain-derived
neurotrophic
factor (BDNF)
Smoking
Alcoholism
Metabolic and cardiovascular disease
Depression
Brain trauma
Aging
Becker & Wojtowicz, Trends in Cognitive Neuroscience, 2006
Encoding and storage of explicit memories
Long-term storage sites
Purves et al., Neuroscience (5ed), 2011
Next topic:
Language
PHSL3006A, August 2025