Temporal Lobe Vs. Henke: Declarative Memory

Given the supposed role of the hippocampal system in encoding memory in long-term stores, researchers have eagerly tried to address this issue using PET and fMRI. One way in which they attempted to find evidence to support this involved face encoding and recognition in episodic memory. Episodic memory encoding is the process by which the experience of an event is

Some researchers hypothesize that the hippocampus is involved in some types of memory processes but not others. This particular study measured brain activity using fMRI during two types of memory tasks: remember (episodic memory) and know (familiarity). A memory was considered “episodic” if the person could recall the moment it was learned and “familiar” if they felt they recognized the word but could not retrieve the specidic moment it was learned. The a priori (pre-selected) region of interest( ROI) in the hippocampus

Saive, A., Royet, J., Garcia, S., Thévenet, M., & Plailly, J. (2015). "What-Where-Which" episodic retrieval requires conscious recollection and is promoted by semantic knowledge. Plos ONE, 10(12), 1-13. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0143767

Extensive research in the field of memory and cognition have provided substantial evidence to prove that the hippocampus is a critical brain mechanism in the role of memory. Although an ongoing debate specifically in memory retrieval is the exact role of this brain structure when extracting memories. There are multiple models of the neural basis of memory retrieval that have posed a hypothesis to answer this exact question. The two theories that are dominant in this debate are the Multiple Trace Theory (MTT) proposed by Nadel and Moscovitch in 1997 and the Standard Model of Systems Consolidation

Hippocampus is a small, curved region, which exists in both hemispheres of the brain and plays a vital role in emotions, learning and acquisition of new information. It also contributes majorly to long term memory, which is permanent information stored in the brain. Although long term memory is the last information that can be forgotten, its impairment has become very common nowadays. The dysfunction is exemplified by many neurological disorders such as amnesia. There are two types of amnesia, anterograde and retrograde. Anterograde amnesia is inability in forming new information, while retrograde refers to the loss of the past memory. As suggested by Cipolotti and Bird (2006), hippocampus’s lesions are

This paper explores two published journals that report on results from research conducted on human brain. The first journal, Parkin, Alan J (Parkin,1996) suggests that brain-damaged patients such as amnesia are related to the hippocampus and also existing memories. The second journal from Deborah E. Hannula (Hannula, Tranel, Cohen, 2006) suggests that hippocampal amnesia results in both short-term and long-term memory. Together, these findings suggest that hippocampal damage can affect the memory.

Research is increasingly concluding that the brain works as an integrated whole rather than a series of discrete parts. In forming memory the brain passes information along the Papez circuit which involves a number of regions of the brain. Brain research indicates that memory formation produces physical changes to the way neurons are organized and

Steve Ramirez, Xu Liu, Pei-Ann Lin, Junghyup Suh, Michele Pignatelli, Roger L. Redondo, Tomás J. Ryan, Susumu Tonegawa

The combined findings provide the foundation for the hypothesis that there is more than one kind of memory, or rather that skill-based memories must be organised differently from fact-based memories since the former seem to be preserved in amnesia as opposed to the latter.

These findings suggest that areas specific for semantic memory play a significant role in the retrieval of distant memories, whereas midline posterior parietal structures may be primarily involved with more current events. Regardless of time frame, ABM retrieval appears to be significantly associated with the integrity of the hippocampus, agreeing with current theories highlighting a time-invariant role for the medial temporal lobes in recovering events from the past (Irish et al.,

This study investigated which areas other than the hippocampus might be involved in memory. Historically, studies show that is the primary brain area involved in storage of memories. However, Wang, Teixeira, Wheeler , and Frankland (2012) predicted that the precision of the older memories is not dependent on the hippocampus.

Doctors and scientists dispute the exact role of the hippocampus, but agree that it has an essential role in the formation of new memories about personally experienced events. Some researchers prefer to consider the hippocampus as part of a larger medial temporal lobe memory system responsible for declarative memory. When a long-term, declarative memory is made, certain neuronal connections in the temporal lobe are strengthened, and others are weakened. These changes are fairly permanent, however some may take weeks or months before they are complete

Case 1 tells the story of Henry Molaison (HM), a man with no memory. He lost his memory due to the operation of suctioned out the hippocampus to treat his epileptic seizures. At that time, it was not known yet that the hippocampus was essential for making memories. After operation, his seizures were significantly reduced, but Henry suffered a global amnesia. Owen et al. (2007) describes patients with global amnesia as perceptive and attentive but with a total loss of short-term memory and some trouble accessing memories of the recent past. Henry could not learn new things as he quickly forgot everything that he had learned. He could learn at a subconscious level only.

1. Hockenbury, Don H., and Sandra E. Hockenbury. "Chapter 6- Memory." Psychology. 5th ed. New York: Worth, 2010. 282-83. Print