The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory An Introduction

by Eichenbaum, Howard

• ISBN13: 9780199778614
• ISBN10: 0199778612
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-12-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This clear and accessible textbook introduces the brain's remarkable capacity for memory. The text was developed for undergraduate and beginning graduate students, but it will also be of use to cognitive scientists, biologists, and psychologists who seek an introduction to biological investigations of memory. Like the first edition, this fully-updated second edition begins with a history of memory research, starting with a "Golden Era" at the turn of the 20th century, and progressing to our current understanding of the neurobiology of memory. Subsequent sections of the book discuss the cellular basis of memory, amnesia in humans and animals, the physiology of memory, declarative, procedural, and emotional memory systems, memory consolidation, and the control of memory by the prefrontal cortex. The book is organized into four sections, which highlight the major themes of the text. The first theme is connection, which considers how memory is fundamentally based on alterations in the connectivity of neurons. This section of the book covers the most well studied models of cellular mechanisms of neural plasticity that may underlie memory. The second theme is cognition, which involves fundamental issues in the psychological structure of memory. This section of the book considers the competition among views on the nature of cognitive processes that underlie memory, and tells how the controversy was eventually resolved. The third theme is compartmentalization, which is akin to the classic problem of memory localization. However, unlike localization, the notion of "compartments" is intended to avoid the notion that particular memories are pigeon-holed into specific loci, and instead emphasize that different forms of memory are accomplished by distinct modules or brain systems. This section of the book surveys the evidence for multiple memory systems, and outlines how they are mediated by different brain structures and systems. The fourth and final theme is consolidation, the process by which memories are transformed from a labile trace into a permanent store. This text encapsulates the major concepts in the field of memory research, and makes this area accessible to students who pursue a variety of related disciplines.

Author Biography

Howard Eichenbaum, Phd, is University Professor of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences and Director of the Center for Memory and Brain at Boston University.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	p. vii
Introduction: Four themes in research on the neurobiology of memory	p. 1
Connection: The cellular and molecular bases of memory	p. 27
Neurons and simple memory circuits	p. 29
Cellular mechanisms of memory: Complex circuits	p. 51
Cognition: Is there a "cognitive" basis for memory?	p. 79
Amnesia - learning about memory from memory loss	p. 85
Exploring declarative memory using animal models	p. 111
Windows into the workings of memory	p. 149
Compartmentalization: Cortical modules and multiple memory systems	p. 193
The cerebral cortex and memory	p. 197
Multiple memory systems in the brain	p. 219
A brain system for declarative memory	p. 235
A brain system for procedural memory	p. 267
A brain system for emotional memory	p. 291
Consolidation: The fixation and reorganization of memories	p. 315
Two distinct stages of memory consolidation	p. 317
Working with memory	p. 351
Final Thoughts	p. 381
Glossary	p. 383
References in figure captions	p. 393
Index	p. 397
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