Memory how do we remember our past experiences?

Life without memory is hard to imagine. After all, imaginationrequires memory. (McGaugh, 2003)

Herbal supplements

Current interests in memory:

Nootropics

Public:

Scientific:

cognitive science

neuroscience

Welcome to PSYC3241 The Psychobiology

of Memory and Motivation

Well, how do we remember?learn by heart?

Scientific study of memory started about 125 years ago

Ebbinghaus

From Rudy 2008

How might we improve our memory?

rehearsal

I have discovered that it is of some use when you lie in

bed at night and gaze into darkness to repeat in your mind

the things you have been studying. Not only does it help the

understanding, but also the memory Leonardo daVinci

stress

Medieval practice

Stress-enhanced memory might not always be a good thing though

Our discussions will focus primarily on research with

non-human animals.

Some practical reasons for this focus

We will be exploring a variety of issues, both practical and

theoretical, pertaining to memory in this course.

But will often tie back to human memory issues

explicitly or at least implicitly.

From Rudy 2008

PSYC3241

Psychobiology of Memory and Motivation

Prof Rick Richardson - 511 Mathews

Dr Bronwyn Graham - 1311 Mathews

Lectures:

Thursday 2-3 and Friday 1-2 (both in CLB6)

recorded via Echo (is a link to this in course page in Moodle)

no guarantees that the system will always work though.

Tutorials: Tutorials (all in MAT 203): Monday 9-11, Monday 4-6,

Tuesday 11-1, Tuesday 4-6, Wednesday 9-11, Wednesday 2-4,

Thursday 4-6, and Friday 9-11.

Tutorials start in WEEK 2

Textbook: None; articles and review papers will be assigned throughout the

course.

Assessment:

1. Exam 1: 20% of final mark. Thursday 2 April at 2-3. Based on material

in first 8 lectures (all by RR), and the readings for those lectures.

4. Tutorial participation: 10% of final mark.

3. Research proposal: 30% of final mark. To be submitted electronically

to the course Moodle page by 4 pm on Friday of Week 12 (May 29).

2. Final Exam: 40% of final mark. During the formal exam period. Based on

material presented in all the lectures after the mid-session exam, and the

readings for those lectures.

General Overview (of RRs lectures)

1. Memory what is it?a. memory consolidation and reconsolidation

b. memory modification: amnesia and enhancement

3. Forgetting why does it occur?

a. theoretical models

b. empirical research

2. Types of memory (e.g., fear, spatial)

a. comparative analysis

b. developmental analysis

c. neuroanatomical analysis

PSYC3241

Outline Lecture 1

5 March 2015

1. General memory processes

2. Temporal gradient of retrograde amnesia

a. Duncan reverberatory circuit

b. passive avoidance

From McGaugh, 2000

From Rudy 2008

From Wixted, 2004

Duncan thought this amnesia was due to a disruption of memory consolidation

ECS caused an electrical storm that disrupted the reverberatory circuit

underlying memory.

What is evidence for this idea of memory consolidation?