Molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in learning and memory

Introduction: The identification of where the different types of information are stored was one of the first questions asked about the memory neurobiology. The researchers wanted to know if there would be a large “memory center” or if there were multiple locations in the brain responsible for its storage. Therefore, a bibliographical research was carried out for the scientific knowledge of the theme. Methodology: Is a bibliographic study, carried out through a literary survey in the Google Scholar and SciELO databases, in addition to neuroscience textbooks. Results: The behavior observed in the learning process of the aplysya slug at the cellular and molecular level was developed from an experimental system made by Eric Kandel, austrian physician and neuroscientist. To try to explain these behavioral phenomena, Kandel sought to understand the functioning of the sinatic phenomena, studying the sinaptic transmission between neurons at the time the reflexes occur. Thus, it determined the molecular and cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity of aplysia, similar to vertebrate systems. Conclusions: In view of the clarifications of the components involved in the neural circuits, two stages that participate in the learning and memory process are considered: the first would be the acquisition of a short-lived memory, resulting from a transient reinforcement of the synapses, due to the modification of preexisting proteins. And the second consolidation, characterized by a persistent reinforcement of synapses, due to changes in gene expression, followed by protein synthesis, resulting in new synaptic connections.

Book Review: Eric Kandel «The disordered mind: What unusual brains tell us about ourselves»

Book Review: Eric Kandel «The disordered mind: What unusual brains tell us about ourselves»

Kritik der Neuroästhetik

Die Entwicklung der kognitiven Neurobiologie sehen viele Neurowissenschaftlern als eine Herausforderung der exakten Wissenschaften an die alten Theorien des Geistes. Von einem neuen Menschenbild ist die Rede. Da diese kognitivistische Wende sich primär in der Entschlüsselung der visuellen Wahrnehmung vollzog, blieb es nicht aus, dass sie schließlich zu einer eigenen Neuroästhetik der bildenden Kunst führte. Parallel dazu vereinten sich neurologische Forschungen über die Audition mit kognitivistischen Ansätzen innerhalb der Musiktheorie zu einer hirnphysiologisch fundierten Musikpsychologie. Die vorliegende Studie beschäftigt sich kritisch mit den hiermit verbundenen Ansprüchen an eine neue, wissenschaftlich begründbare Ästhetik und zeigt, dass Erkenntnisse über die neurologischen Korrelate von bildnerischen oder musikalischen Tätigkeiten nicht gleichzeitig weiterführende Einsichten über das Wesen der Kunst ermöglichen. Vielmehr werden diese Korrelate erst dann als biologische Grundlagen der Kunst fassbar, wenn die Koordination der zuständigen neuronalen Elemente, ihre »Bindung«, auf die immanenten Strukturanforderungen künstlerischer Kompositionalität bezogen werden kann. Dabei richtet sich die Kritik des Autors vor allem auf die beiden exponiertesten Vertreter der Neuroästhetik, Semir Zeki und Eric Kandel sowie auf den neurobiologischen Konstruktivismus von Wolf Singer. Er zeigt, dass es sich bei den dort formulierten Theorien der Kunst und des Geistes um einen halbierten Operationalismus handelt, dem er einen unreduzierten Operationalismus der sinnregulierten Wirklichkeit entgegensetzt. Diesen skizziert er mit Bezug auf die generative Linguistik von Noam Chomsky, die genetische Erkenntnistheorie von Jean Piaget und den interpretativen Strukturalismus von Ulrich Oevermann. Dabei bringt er auch die neuartigen autonomieästhetischen Perspektiven dieser Positionen zur Geltung.

Arte da memória e memória da arte em Baú de Ossos

No século XX, pesquisas nos campos da neurociência cognitiva, dos estudos culturais, da história e literatura expandiram o conceito de memória. Os trabalhos de Eric Kandel, Elie Wiesel, Elizabeth Loftus, Jan Assman, Hayden White, Michael Roth, Paul Ricoeur, Richard Kearney e Saul Friedländer contribuíram para enriquecer o diálogo sobre as éticas e políticas do tema da memória na sociedade. Um dos aspectos proeminentes envolvendo as Memórias de Pedro Nava nos domínios da arte e da literatura é a recriação do projeto mnemônico de Marcel Proust. Este ensaio pretende abordar o uso das artes por Nava ao compor perfis biográficos, imagens e cenas do passado, a fim de discutir como tais referências constituiriam um memorial estético em Baú de ossos (1972).

The Origins of Behavioral Neuroscience from a Learning and Memory Perspective

The discipline of behavioral neuroscience grew out of earlier incarnations such as biological psychology, physiological psychology, and psychobiology. All of these labels essentially refer to the idea that the principles of biology could be productively applied to the study of topics that had been studied before, but only from a more psychological perspective. These topics would include, but are not limited to, motivation, sensation, perception, sleep, emotion, and learning and memory. In this brief review, I focus on the topic of learning and memory and provide a history of the important milestones in the development of ideas about how the brain biologically accomplishes the task of learning and memory. Included are the early ideas of Plato, René Descartes, Théodule Ribot, et al. The review continues to the modern era of learning and memory research that begins with the description of H.M. by Brenda Milner, as well as the gradual discovery that the brain contains multiple learning and memory systems that operate in fundamentally different ways and that are supported by anatomically discrete brain structures. I conclude with a brief description of the work that lead to 2000 Nobel Prize being awarded to Eric Kandel and the 2014 Nobel Prize being awarded to John O’Keefe, Edvard Moser, and May-Britt Moser.