How the Brain Works The Facts Visually Explained by DK (z-lib.org)

MEMORY, LEARNING, AND THINKING

What Is Memory?

Short-term

memory

Short-term memory is very

limited—storing only around 5–9

items, but this varies between

individuals and for different types

of information. To keep something

in short-term memory, we often

repeat it to ourselves, but if we

are distracted, we instantly

forget it.

Nonassociative

learning

When you are repeatedly exposed

to the same stimulus, such as a light,

a sound, or a sensation, your response

changes. For example, when you come

home, you smell dinner cooking, but

gradually the smell seems to fade.

This is known as habituation, one

form of nonassociative

learning.

Simple classical

conditioning

Made famous by the Russian

physiologist Ivan Pavlov and his

dogs, in classical conditioning,

repetition causes something neutral to

be linked with a response. An example

is your mouth watering as you enter

a cinema lobby, as you have

learned to expect popcorn in

that environment.

Priming and

perceptual learning

In priming experiments, you are

shown a word or picture so quickly

you don’t consciously “see” it—but

it can still affect your behavior.

For example, someone primed with

the word “dog” will recognize the

word “cat” faster than a

completely unrelated word

such as “tap.”

Types of memories

To better understand how it works,

scientists break memory down into

a number of types. Many of these

rely on different networks within

the brain, although there is also

a lot of overlap between the brain

areas involved in each category.

What Is Memory?

Our memory allows us to learn from experience and shapes us as

individuals. Memory is not a single discrete brain function; there

are several types, involving different brain areas and processes.

Memory in the brain

Memory includes instinctive processes that you are unaware of, as

well as the more obvious parts that allow you to remember what you

had for lunch yesterday or your boss’s name. Each type of memory

uses a range of different brain areas. Scientists used to think the

hippocampus was vital for all new memories to form, but now it

is thought this is the case only for episodic memories. Other types

of memories use other areas, which are spread all around the brain.

Olfactory bulb links

to the amygdala

so smells are

potent triggers for

emotional memories

Mammillary body

is involved in

episodic memory

Caudate nucleus

is associated with

memories of

instinctive skills

Frontal lobe is

involved in working

and episodic memory

Amygdala is vital for

forming emotional

memories

Thalamus helps

direct attention

Parietal lobe is

important for

spatial memory

Hippocampus

turns experience

into episodic

memory

Putamen

is involved

in learning

procedural skills

Cingulate cortex may

be involved in

memory retrieval

Cerebellum is

vital for “muscle

memories”

Temporal lobe

holds general

knowledge

Brain areas

Memory areas often relate to the

information stored. Memories of

movement, for example, use the

motor cortex. Limbic areas, linked to

emotion, are also involved in memory.

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