Neural Circuits and Some New Factors Involved in Hippocampal Memory

Humans and other primates have memory, and the hippocampus plays a critical role in this process. The neural circuitry is one of the structural foundations for the hippocampus in exerting memory function. To understand the relationship between the hippocampus and memory, we need to understand neural circuits. Past research has identified several classical neural circuits involved in memory. Although there are challenges with the study of hippocampal neural circuits, research on this topic has continued, and some progress has been made. Here, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of hippocampal neural circuit mechanisms and some of the newly discovered factors that affect memory. Substantial progress has been made regarding hippocampal memory circuits and Alzheimer’s disease. However, it is unclear whether these novel findings regarding hippocampal memory circuits hold promise for human memory studies. Additional research on this topic is needed.

Brenda Milner: Pioneer of the Study of the Human Frontal Lobes

Although the behavioral effects of damage to the frontal lobes date back to at least the late 19th century even midway through the 20th century very little was known about human frontal lobe function and there was a general consensus that the frontal lobe did not play a key role in cognition. This all changed when Brenda Milner published a chapter in a 1964 volume entitled: The Frontal Granular Cortex and Behavior. Milner’s chapter, “Some effects of frontal lobectomy in man,” was the first systematic study of the effect of frontal lobe excisions on cognition in human patients. Milner had access to a unique population of frontal excision patients at the Montreal Neurological Institute that were being treated by Wilder Penfield and his associates for a wide range of neurological disorders, including intractable epilepsy. Milner and her colleagues engaged in a more than 50-year study that has had a formidable impact on our understanding of frontal lobe function. Paralleling studies of frontal lobe function in non-humans they influence on understanding the evolution and function of the prefrontal cortex of mammals. Thus, although Brenda Milner is best known for her studies of human memory, she has had an equally important contribution to our understanding of the frontal lobes.

„Gdzież jest, poeto, ocalenie…?”

This article is a review of the book Tadeusz Miciński i ludzie epoki. Studia [Tadeusz Miciński and the People of the Age. Studies] under the scientific editorship of Marcin Bajko, Jarosław Ławski and Urszula M. Pilch, published by Temida 2 publishing house in Białystok in 2019. The researcher notes that the analysed book centres around the motif of “salvation”, that it is possible thanks to the poets dialoguing with the protagonist of the book, Tadeusz Miciński, through the multiplication of presence – translation into other languages and cultures, through discovering in the interpretation the traces of the author’s intellectual wanderings across other cultures and religions, thanks to contemporary means of communication resonating the work, and finally thanks to human memory and its testimonies. In conclu-sion, the researcher recommends the book as an indispensable tool not only to those interested in the author of Nietota [The Firmoss], but also in the literature of Polish modernism in general.

Psicologia do Testemunho: dos Primórdios à Atualidade

This paper has the objective to show the scientific contribution of Psychology of Testimony, understanding the phenomenon of false memories, affecting the veracity of the testimonies and the identification of suspect. Thus, the hypothesis to be considered is if the Psychology of Testimony is helpful bringing scientific criteria for the testimony and suspect identification, reducing judicial errors and the condemnation of innocents. The methodology used is based on a bibliographic review. For this purpose, the origin of Psychology of Testimony is described, pointing its main milestones and how the science has been developed with the various experiments and discoveries. It is important to verify how human memory works and what can be expected from it, considering the scope of testimonies being realized at police station and at judicial hearing. The false memories effect is considered as well. Afterward, it is analyzed how the Code of Criminal Procedure considers the testimonies of the victims and witness, besides the suspect identification. It also pursued to demonstrate possible existing distinction between the Code’s rules and the reality, reflecting on potential judicial errors. Finally, based on the Psychology of Testimony and dignity of the human person, there are suggestions related to be the best way to make the victims and witnesses´ testimony, in addition to suspect identification.

Information Integration and Information Storage in Retinotopic and Non-Retinotopic Sensory Memory

The first stage of the Atkinson–Shiffrin model of human memory is a sensory memory (SM). The visual component of the SM was shown to operate within a retinotopic reference frame. However, a retinotopic SM (rSM) is unable to account for vision under natural viewing conditions because, for example, motion information needs to be analyzed across space and time. For this reason, the SM store of the Atkinson–Shiffrin model has been extended to include a non-retinotopic component (nrSM). In this paper, we analyze findings from two experimental paradigms and show drastically different properties of rSM and nrSM. We show that nrSM involves complex processes such as motion-based reference frames and Gestalt grouping, which establish object identities across space and time. We also describe a quantitative model for nrSM and show drastic differences between the spatio-temporal properties of rSM and nrSM. Since the reference-frame of the latter is non-retinotopic and motion-stream based, we suggest that the spatiotemporal properties of the nrSM are in accordance with the spatiotemporal properties of the motion system. Overall, these findings indicate that, unlike the traditional rSM, which is a relatively passive store, nrSM exhibits sophisticated processing properties to manage the complexities of ecological perception.

Conditioning and Associative Learning

Associative learning is the process whereby humans and other animals learn the predictive relationship between cues in their environment. This process underlies simple forms of learning from rewards, such as classical and operant conditioning. In this chapter, we introduce the basics of associative learning and discuss the role that memory processes play in the establishment and maintenance of this learning. We then discuss the role that associative learning plays in human memory, including through paired associate learning, the enhancement of memory by reward, and the formation of episodic memories. Finally, we illustrate how the memory process influences choice in decision-making, where associative learning allows people to learn the values of different options. We conclude with some suggestions about how models of associative learning, memory, and choice can be integrated into a single theoretical framework.

Self-protecting motivation, indexed by self-threat, modifies retrieval-induced-forgetting and confidence in employment decision bias against out-group targets

Human memory is malleable by both social and motivational factors and holds information relevant to workplace decisions. Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) describes a phenomenon where retrieval practice impairs subsequent memory for related (unpracticed) information. We report two RIF experiments. Chinese participants received a mild self-threat manipulation (Experiment 2) or not (Experiment 1) before an ethnicity-RIF task that involved practicing negative traits of either in-group (Chinese) or an out-group (Japanese) target. After a subsequent memory test, participants selected their preferred applicant for employment. RIF scores correspond to forgetting of unpracticed positive traits of one target (Rp−) relative to the recall of practiced negative traits of the other target (Rp+). Enhanced forgetting of positive traits was found in both experiments for both targets. Across experiments, a significant target by threat interaction showed that target ethnicity modified RIF (an ethnicity-RIF effect). Inducing a self-protecting motivation enhanced RIF effects for the out-group (Japanese) target. In a subsequent employment decision, there was a strong bias to select the in-group target, with the confidence in these decisions being associated with RIF scores. This study suggests that rehearsing negative traits of minority applicants can affect metacognitive aspects of employment decisions, possibly by shaping the schemas available to the majority (in-group) employer. To disrupt systemic racism, recruitment practices should aim to offset a human motivation to protect one-self, when exposed to a relatively mild threat to self-esteem. Discussing the negative traits of minority applicants is a critical, and sensitive, aspect of decision-making that warrants careful practice. These data suggest that recruiting individuals should be reminded of their personal strengths in this context, not their vulnerabilities, to secure their decision-making for fairer recruitment practice.

Learning and Remembering Musical Works

Learning pre-existing pieces of music is a very common learning goal, both among vernacular musicians, who learn from recordings, and among those who are formally educated and work from published sheet music provided by a teacher. Whether learning a piece by ear or from notation, the processes of memory involved are very similar. Because the learning of musical works is often a precursor to additional kinds of music making and performance skills, it is important for musicians to understand how human memory works. This chapter explains the processes involved in learning and remembering pieces of music. It describes the various stages and components of memory from the information processing perspective that is common in cognitive psychology. More specifically, the chapter explains how ear musicianship is foundational to other performance skills, including those that use notation. It also shows that the ability to learn and remember musical works can be improved through experience and deliberate practice.