MEMORY

The story of
HM
He knew his name.
He knew that his father’s family came from Thibodaux, LA., and his mother was
from Ireland, and he knew about the 1929 stock market crash and World War II and
life in the 1940s
But he could remember almost nothing after that

In 1953, he underwent an experimental brain operation in Hartford to correct

a seizure disorder, only to emerge from it fundamentally and irreparably changed.
He developed a syndrome neurologists call profound amnesia

He had lost the ability to form new memories

For the next 55 years, each time he met a friend, each time he ate a meal, each time
he walked in the woods, it was as if for the first time

Fifty First dates?????

kab vut giz kel poj

gep nol rab dur hig

mip jot kaz hin ber

ceg mak las rud fir

 Memory
Memory can be defined as a lasting
representation that is reflected in thought,
experience, or behavior

Learning is the acquisition of such

representations -- involving a wide range of
brain areas and activities

Memory storage is believed to involve

widespread synaptic alterations in cortex

● There are different types of memory

● Different parts of the brain are involved in memory
● Learning and memory occur over time and involve many events
eg: encoding, storage (learning); retrieval (memory)
● All memory involves changes as a result of experience (learning) that
allow the individual to alter future behaviour
● Memory is not a snapshot of an event, but an electrically encoded
representation
 MEMORY PROCESSES

Registration (or encoding) – the transformation of sensory input (such as a

sound or visual image) into a form which allows it to be entered into (or
registered in) memory. With a computer, for example, information can only
be encoded if it’s presented in a format the computer recognizes

• HOW IS SENSORY INFORMATION PROCESSED IN A WAY

THAT ALLOWS IT TO BE STORED?
• HOW ARE THINGS REMEMBERED?

Storage – the operation of holding or retaining information in memory.

Computers store information by means of changes in the system’s electrical
circuitry; with people, the changes occurring in the brain allow information
to be stored, though exactly what these changes involve is unclear
• WHERE ARE OUR MEMORIES ‘KEPT’?
• IS THERE MORE THAN ONE KIND OF MEMORY?

Retrieval – the process by which stored information is extracted from

memory • ARE THERE DIFFERENT KINDS OF REMEMBERING?
• WHAT DO WE REMEMBER?
• WHY DO WE FORGET?
 Learning and memory in the functional framework

Sensory input goes to working storage, part of working memory, which in turn
allows information to be actively maintained and manipulated
Introspect….

● Can saying ‘I can’t remember’ mean

different
things?

● Do you consider yourself to have a

good/poor’ memory? What criteria do you
apply in making that assessment?

When people complain about having a

‘poor memory’, they might mean
 History of memory research…

● Ebbinghaus (1885), the pioneer of memory research

● Hebb (1949)
● Broadbent (1958)
● Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968, 1971)
● Tulving
● Craik and Lockhart
Multi-store model of memory
Transient
retention of
Input from information for a
the sense few seconds
organs
Rehearsal

Sensory Attention Short Term Long term

memory memory
memory
Retrieval

Short-term memory recodes information Spatial information,

by linking new information to Knowledge of world,
information already stored and available social beliefs, motor
in long-term memory skills, problem solving,
Recoding is one of several active control perceptual skills
processes that short- term memory
carries out
 There are three or four main types of encoding

• Acoustic encoding is the processing and • Tactile encoding is the encoding of

encoding of sound, words and other how something feels, normally
auditory input for storage and later retrieval. through the sense of touch.
This is aided by the concept of Physiologically, neurons in the
the phonological loop, which allows input primary somatosensory cortex of the
within our echoic memory to be sub-vocally brain react to vibro-tactile stimuli
rehearsed in order to facilitate remembering caused by the feel of an object

• Visual encoding is the process of encoding • Semantic encoding is the process of

images and visual sensory information. encoding sensory input that has
Visual sensory information is temporarily particular meaning or can be applied
stored within the iconic memory before to a particular context, rather than
being encoded into long-term storage. deriving from a particular sense
The amygdala (which has a primary role in
the processing of emotional reactions) For encoding for short-term memory
fulfills an important role in visual encoding, storage in the brain relies primarily
as it accepts visual input in addition to input on acoustic encoding, while encoding
from other systems and encodes the positive for long-term storage is more reliant
or negative values of conditioned stimuli
 Coding in STM…
Shulman (1970) showed participants lists of ten
words

Recognition of the words was then tested using a visually presented

‘probe word’, which was either:
a homonym of one of the words on the list (such as ‘bawl’ for ‘ball’)
a synonym (such as ‘talk’ for ‘speak’)

If an error was made on a synonym probe, some matching for

meaning must have taken place (i.e. semantic coding)

Visual images (such as abstract pictures, which would be

difficult to store using an acoustic code) can also be
maintained in STM, if only briefly
Rapid consolidation: synaptic mechanisms

Three overlapping time courses for consolidation proposed by

James McGaugh, University of California, Irvine

Centre for Neurobiology of learning and memory, Irvine

 Levels of Processing
Craik and Lockhart’s levels-of-
processing (LOP)
● The structural components (the
memory system) results from the
operation of memory processes
● Memory is a by-product of perceptual
analysis. This is controlled by the
central processor, which can analyze a
stimulus (such as a word) on various
levels:
○ At a superficial (or shallow) level, the
surface features of a stimulus (such as
whether the word is in upper or lower
case) are processed

○ At an intermediate (phonemic or
phonetic) level, the word is analyzed for
its sound
 Tulving’s model of memory

Tulving's (1972) model focuses on the nature of the material that is

stored and distinguishes three kinds of memory based on content

● EPISODIC MEMORY stores information about when events

happened and the relationship between those events. Relates to
personal experience

● SEMANTIC MEMORY is the organized knowledge about the world.

Essentially all the "facts" we have accumulated

● PROCEDURAL MEMORY involves knowing how to "do" something.

Relates to skill learning, the connections between stimuli and motor
behavior
Episodic and Semantic
Memory
Episodic vs Semantic: Remembering vs Knowing

Remembering autobiographical
episodes involves an active
reconstruction of the original
(conscious) episode

Knowing semantic memories does

not require active reconstruction of
the original episode, it is assessed
by a ‘feeling of knowing’
 Episodic memories may turn into semantic memories over time

A model for how semantic and

episodic memories may be
related: semantic memories
may be the cortical residue of
many episodic memories
 LONG TERM
MEMORY

DECLARATIVE NON DECLARATIVE

(Explicit) (Implicit)

Non associative
Skills and
Episodic Semantic Habituation,
Habits
sensitization

Classical
FLASHBULB MEMORY Priming conditioning

Emotional Skeletal
responses musculature
 Explicit memory
Processing information over
time
Memory timelines:
○ Less than a second –
“attention to something”
○ Seconds to minutes –
Working Memory
○ Minutes to years – Long
Term Memory

Immediate Memory
Different areas of the brain
contribute to alertness awareness
and attention

Prefrontal regions are responsible for the creation of memories

The hippocampus and surrounding structures in the temporal cortex are responsible for
the permanent storage of these memories
 Explicit or Declarative memory

● Memory of facts and events

and spatial memory
● Can be consciously recalled
● Easy to acquire, easy to
forget

Brain areas involved:

• Hippocampus
• Pre-frontal cortex
• Amygdala (emotional memory)
• Cingulate Gyrus
And many more other structures
Brain areas in LTM
● Left Hippocampus – facts,
episodes, words – responsible for
constructing an autobiography

● Right Hippocampus – Spatial

memory

● The hippocampus compares

present with past experience
● Processing through the
hippocampus is necessary for
learning and for memory
consolidation to occur
 Implicit or Non declarative memory
● Memory for skills habits and
behaviours Brain areas involved in Implicit
● Operates without conscious
memory
• Basal Ganglia involved in motor
awareness once learned
programs
● Requires repetition and • The Cerebellum plays a critical
practice role in the timing and execution
● Less likely to be forgotten of learned, skilled motor
once learnt movement (typing)
● Allows many types of
behaviour to be on “auto
Pilot”
 Historical underpinnings in
memory studies
● Donald Hebb (1949)– Cells that fire together are wired together
● Lashley (1931, 1950)– Equipotentiality of memory
○ (refer article “Mystery of memory engrams-Lopez et al, 2024)
● Kluver-Bucy (1938) - In studies involving lesions in monkeys, a
link was established between the medial temporal lobe,
encompassing the Hippocampus and amygdala, and specific
memory deficits such as the absence of fear responses to
predators.
● Weiskrantz (1956) emphasized the role of the amygdala, rather
than the Hippocampus, in emotional memory
● Engram theory of memory – Silent engrams (Dheeraj Ray et al,
2014)
 From Consolidation to Storage
Explaining Spread activation through Medial Temporal
Lobe activation

MTL – Medial Temporal Lobe

Baars et al, 2010
 Example of how MTL helps store and retrieve episodic memories

Medial Temporal Lobe

The sight of a coffee cup When the episodic
activates visual cortex up to memory -- the sight of
the level of object perception the coffee cup -- is
cued the following day,
Memory storage: MTL MTL is once again
coordinates widespread involved in retrieving
memory traces throughout and organizing
cortex widespread memory
traces

Baars et al, 2010

 PARALLEL DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING
MODELS
The parallel distributed ● Cognitive processes including memory can be
processing (PDP) conceived as networks in which the elements
model is a exhibit multiple links.
computational model ● These can be abstract in nature where nodes in a
of memory that hypothetical network are connected by
suggests that associative links, or biological in nature where
memories are stored
neurons (or neuron like units) are linked.
and retrieved by many
simple computational ● Units in the system, through their many links,
elements working may affect other units through excitation or
together. The PDP inhibition.
model is also known as ● Representations (knowledge, memory) exist in the
the "connectionist" resultant patterns of activation that occur in the
model. network.
● Local processes giving rise to these patterns occur
in parallel at distributed sites.
● Memory storage is content addressable.
● Every new event changes the strength of the
connections among the relevant units.
 Spreading Activation Theory- storing
language
Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975).
HIERARCHICAL
Semantic Network Model MODEL Animal

● breathe
Concepts are organized in the
brain in terms of connected
Mammal
ideas Bird
Fish

● As in Computer - different
nodes represent concepts and
Pig
these nodes are connected by
Peacock
links
Ostrich

● Depending on how connected

the nodes are the links may be
shorter (closely related ideas) Runs Long
fast legs
or longer (less related ideas)

When you activate a concept, all

concepts / related ideas fire MODIFIED
SEMANTIC
together (Spreading Activation) HIERARCHICAL
Eg: school …… MODEL
Working
Memory

● Very limited in capacity

● Temporary and
vulnerable to disruption
● Has the ability to hold
some information for
some time
● WM must be constantly
“dumped”
● Helps in planning
behaviour
● Involves majorly Pre-
frontal cortex

Baars et al, 2010

The working-memory (WM) model:
rethinking STM

Like Safe
button in
computer

The working memory model, showing the central executive and its subsystems
 Working Memory Model
Visuo-spatial sketchpad Phonological Loop Central Executive
• This can also rehearse information, but • A verbal rehearsal ● Involved in higher
deals with visual and/or spatial loop used when, for mental processes,
information as, for example, when we example, we try to such as decision-
drive along a familiar road, approach a remember a making, problem-
telephone number solving and making
bend, and think about the road’s
plans
spatial layout beyond the bend for a few seconds by
● It co-ordinates the
(Eysenck, 1986) saying it silently to
performance on two
• It uses a visual code, representing ourselves
separate tasks, and
information in the form of its visual • It is also used to hold attends selectively to
features such as size, shape, and words we’re one input while
colour (the inner eye) preparing to speak inhibiting others
• The scratch pad appears to contain aloud (Baddeley, 1996)
separate visual and spatial • It uses an ● Although capacity-
articulatory/phonol limited, it is very
components
flexible and can
• The more active spatial component is ogical code, in which
process information
involved in movement perception and information is
in any sense modality
control of physical actions, while the represented as it (modality-free)
more passive visual component is would be spoken ● It resembles a pure
involved in visual pattern recognition (the inner voice) attentional system
(Logie, 1995) (Baddeley, 1981)
 How is memory
measured?
The RETRIEVAL process
● Recognition: This involves deciding whether or not a
particular piece of information has been encountered
before (as in multiple-choice tests, where the correct
answer is presented along with incorrect ones). The
sensitivity of recognition as a
form of retrieval was demonstrated by Standing (1973)

● Recall: This involves participants actively searching their

memory stores in order to retrieve particular information
(as in timed essays). Retrieval cues are missing or very
sparse. The material can be recalled either in the order in
which it was presented (serial recall) or in any order at all
(free recall)
 How is memory
measured?
The RETRIEVAL process
● Memory-span procedure: This is a version of serial
recall, in which a person is given a list of unrelated digits
or letters, and then required to repeat them back
immediately in the order in which they were heard. The
number of items on the list is successively increased until
an error ismade. The maximum number of items that can
consistently be recalled correctly is a measure of
immediate memory span

● Paired-associate recall: Participants are required to

learn a list of paired items (such as ‘chair’ and ‘elephant’).
When one of the words (e.g. ‘chair’) is re-presented, the
participant must recall the paired word (‘elephant’)