scholarly journals The (mis)remembrance of things past: mechanisms of memory storage, updating and why we misremember

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 4-8
Author(s):  
Amy Milton
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Research ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Critical Function ◽  
Family Stories ◽  
Mechanisms Of Memory ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
The Brain

Memory is a critical function of the brain; we treasure many of our memories, and it is widely believed that our past experiences make us who we are. However, decades of psychological research has revealed that we are prone to having misinformation introduced into our memories, and a recent study has suggested that many people's ‘first memories’ are not actually real, but reconstructions based upon family stories and old photographs. So, how are memories stored in the brain, and how can it be that what we remember is not necessarily what actually happened?

scholarly journals The past, the future and the biology of memory storage

1999 ◽  
Vol 354 (1392) ◽  
pp. 2027-2052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric R. Kandel ◽  
Christopher Pittenger
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Memory Research ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Mechanisms Of Memory ◽  
The Brain

We here briefly review a century of accomplishments in studying memory storage and delineate the two major questions that have dominated thinking in this area: the systems question of memory, which concerns where in the brain storage occurs; and the molecular question of memory, which concerns the mechanisms whereby memories are stored and maintained. We go on to consider the themes that memory research may be able to address in the 21st century. Finally, we reflect on the clinical and societal import of our increasing understanding of the mechanisms of memory, discussing possible therapeutic approaches to diseases that manifest with disruptions of learning and possible ethical implications of the ability, which is on the horizon, to ameliorate or even enhance human memory.

scholarly journals The Gliocentric Brain

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 3033 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Neural Cells ◽  
Strict Adherence ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mechanisms Of Memory ◽  
Higher Brain Functions ◽  
Abnormal Brain

The Neuron Doctrine, the cornerstone of research on normal and abnormal brain functions for over a century, has failed to discern the basis of complex cognitive functions. The location and mechanisms of memory storage and recall, consciousness, and learning, remain enigmatic. The purpose of this article is to critically review the Neuron Doctrine in light of empirical data over the past three decades. Similarly, the central role of the synapse and associated neural networks, as well as ancillary hypotheses, such as gamma synchrony and cortical minicolumns, are critically examined. It is concluded that each is fundamentally flawed and that, over the past three decades, the study of non-neuronal cells, particularly astrocytes, has shown that virtually all functions ascribed to neurons are largely the result of direct or indirect actions of glia continuously interacting with neurons and neural networks. Recognition of non-neural cells in higher brain functions is extremely important. The strict adherence of purely neurocentric ideas, deeply ingrained in the great majority of neuroscientists, remains a detriment to understanding normal and abnormal brain functions. By broadening brain information processing beyond neurons, progress in understanding higher level brain functions, as well as neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, will progress beyond the impasse that has been evident for decades.

scholarly journals Active information maintenance in working memory by a sensory cortex

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxing Zhang ◽  
Wenjun Yan ◽  
Wenliang Wang ◽  
Hongmei Fan ◽  
Ruiqing Hou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Critical Function ◽  
Impaired Performance ◽  
Anterior Piriform Cortex ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Dual Task Paradigm ◽  
The Brain

SummaryWorking memory is a critical function of the brain to maintain and manipulate information over delay periods of seconds. Sensory areas have been implicated in working memory; however, it is debated whether the delay-period activity of sensory regions is actively maintaining information or passively reflecting top-down inputs. We hereby examined the anterior piriform cortex, an olfactory cortex, in head-fixed mice performing a series of olfactory working memory tasks. Information maintenance is necessary in these tasks, especially in a dual-task paradigm in which mice are required to perform another distracting task while actively maintaining information during the delay period. Optogenetic suppression of the piriform cortex activity during the delay period impaired performance in all the tasks.Furthermore, electrophysiological recordings revealed that the delay-period activity of the anterior piriform cortex encoded odor information with or without the distracting task.Thus, this sensory cortex is critical for active information maintenance in working memory.

scholarly journals Brain signatures of surprise in EEG and MEG data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Mousavi ◽  
Mohammad Mahdi Kiani ◽  
Hamid Aghajan
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Ideal Observer ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Sensory Data ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Recorded Data ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Temporal Sample ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe brain is constantly anticipating the future of sensory inputs based on past experiences. When new sensory data is different from predictions shaped by recent trends, neural signals are generated to report this surprise. Existing models for quantifying surprise are based on an ideal observer assumption operating under one of the three definitions of surprise set forth as the Shannon, Bayesian, and Confidence-corrected surprise. In this paper, we analyze both visual and auditory EEG and auditory MEG signals recorded during oddball tasks to examine which temporal components in these signals are sufficient to decode the brain’s surprise based on each of these three definitions. We found that for both recording systems the Shannon surprise is always significantly better decoded than the Bayesian surprise regardless of the sensory modality and the selected temporal features used for decoding.Author summaryA regression model is proposed for decoding the level of the brain’s surprise in response to sensory sequences using selected temporal components of recorded EEG and MEG data. Three surprise quantification definitions (Shannon, Bayesian, and Confidence-corrected surprise) are compared in offering decoding power. Four different regimes for selecting temporal samples of EEG and MEG data are used to evaluate which part of the recorded data may contain signatures that represent the brain’s surprise in terms of offering a high decoding power. We found that both the middle and late components of the EEG response offer strong decoding power for surprise while the early components are significantly weaker in decoding surprise. In the MEG response, we found that the middle components have the highest decoding power while the late components offer moderate decoding powers. When using a single temporal sample for decoding surprise, samples of the middle segment possess the highest decoding power. Shannon surprise is always better decoded than the other definitions of surprise for all the four temporal feature selection regimes. Similar superiority for Shannon surprise is observed for the EEG and MEG data across the entire range of temporal sample regimes used in our analysis.

scholarly journals Using the past to estimate sensory uncertainty

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrik Beierholm ◽  
Tim Rohe ◽  
Ambra Ferrari ◽  
Oliver Stegle ◽  
Uta Noppeney
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Perceptual Inference ◽  
Reliability Estimates ◽  
Uncertainty Estimates ◽  
Classical Models ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
Combine Information ◽  
Sensory Uncertainty ◽  
The Brain

AbstractTo form the most reliable percept of the environment, the brain needs to represent sensory uncertainty. Current theories of perceptual inference assume that the brain computes sensory uncertainty instantaneously and independently for each stimulus.In a series of psychophysics experiments human observers localized auditory signals that were presented in synchrony with spatially disparate visual signals. Critically, the visual noise changed dynamically over time with or without intermittent jumps. Our results show that observers integrate audiovisual inputs weighted by sensory reliability estimates that combine information from past and current signals as predicted by an optimal Bayesian learner or approximate strategies of exponential discountingOur results challenge classical models of perceptual inference where sensory uncertainty estimates depend only on the current stimulus. They demonstrate that the brain capitalizes on the temporal dynamics of the external world and estimates sensory uncertainty by combining past experiences with new incoming sensory signals.

A Computational Simulation of the Cognitive Process of Children Knowledge Acquisition and Memory Development

2012 ◽  
pp. 111-127
Author(s):  
Jeff Bancroft ◽  
Yingxu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Representation ◽  
Knowledge Acquisition ◽  
Computational Simulation ◽  
Simulation Tool ◽  
Memory Development ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Children's Memory ◽  
Mechanisms Of Memory ◽  
The Mathematical Model ◽  
The Brain

The cognitive mechanisms of knowledge representation, memory establishment, and learning are fundamental issues in understanding the brain. A basic approach to studying these mental processes is to observe and simulate how knowledge is memorized by little children. This paper presents a simulation tool for knowledge acquisition and memory development for young children of two to five years old. The cognitive mechanisms of memory, the mathematical model of concepts and knowledge, and the fundamental elements of internal knowledge representation are explored. The cognitive processes of children’s memory and knowledge development are described based on concept algebra and the object-attribute-relation (OAR) model. The design of the simulation tool for children’s knowledge acquisition and memory development is presented with the graphical representor of memory and the dynamic concept network of knowledge. Applications of the simulation tool are described by case studies on children’s knowledge acquisition about family members, relatives, and transportation. This work is a part of the development of cognitive computers that mimic human knowledge processing and autonomous learning.

The Media-Sphere as Dream

2016 ◽  
pp. 232-260
Author(s):  
Stephen Brock Schafer
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Research ◽  
Electronic Media ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Cognitive Organization ◽  
Dramatic Form ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Cognitive Dimensions

The psychological nature of the electronic media environment is a virtual reality that—according to Jungian principles—is dreamlike. Perhaps it can be analyzed with Jung's Analytical Psychology. Science is experiencing a paradigm shift into a reality of mediated illusion, and psychological research on this illusion has become the human imperative. It may be stipulated that physics has abolished matter, conceding that “reality is organized mind stuff.” If cosmos is structured holographically and the brain is structured holonomically, it is probable that “mind stuff” is structured holographically. The Jungian concept of Psyche is a good place to begin researching the Media-sphere as mind stuff. Cognitive sciences are probing the brain and nervous system in search of the template for cognitive organization, and the salient features have already emerged. It appears that both conscious and unconsciousness cognitive dimensions have dramatic form. This dreamlike structure can be employed to analyze the media dream, and to foster coherent psychological states in contextual collectives.

The Media-Sphere as Dream

2020 ◽  
pp. 343-371
Author(s):  
Stephen Brock Schafer
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Research ◽  
Electronic Media ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Cognitive Organization ◽  
Dramatic Form ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Cognitive Dimensions

The psychological nature of the electronic media environment is a virtual reality that—according to Jungian principles—is dreamlike. Perhaps it can be analyzed with Jung's Analytical Psychology. Science is experiencing a paradigm shift into a reality of mediated illusion, and psychological research on this illusion has become the human imperative. It may be stipulated that physics has abolished matter, conceding that “reality is organized mind stuff.” If cosmos is structured holographically and the brain is structured holonomically, it is probable that “mind stuff” is structured holographically. The Jungian concept of Psyche is a good place to begin researching the Media-sphere as mind stuff. Cognitive sciences are probing the brain and nervous system in search of the template for cognitive organization, and the salient features have already emerged. It appears that both conscious and unconsciousness cognitive dimensions have dramatic form. This dreamlike structure can be employed to analyze the media dream, and to foster coherent psychological states in contextual collectives.

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