Temporal Lobe Vs. Henke: Declarative Memory

Memory is defined as “the mental capacity to encode, store, and retrieve information” (American Psychological Association, 2002). It is a part of the means by which humans function. The process of forming and recalling memories involves various complex neurological processes and disruptions to these processes can result in loss of memory or the inability to form new memories. Amnesia is a memory disorder, in which, due to trauma or a head injury, certain parts of the memory is inaccessible. The two main types of amnesia are anterograde amnesia and retrograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia refers to the inability to create new memories (Mastin, 2010). “Retrograde

The brain is a complex machine made up of hundreds of intricate parts, each with their own function. The parts of the brain that make people who they are include the temporal lobe and hippocampus, which hold their memories. Outward senses, such as sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste, are constantly receiving data and transferring it to the brain. Although many different parts of the body involve memories, it is the specific function of the hippocampus and temporal lobe to hold and organize them into categories. These categories include short and long-term memory and several subcategories. It is through the creation and retrieval of memories that each body is able to carry out the necessary functions of life.

How does memory work? Is it possible to improve your memory? In order to answer these questions, one must look at the different types of memory and how memory is stored in a person's brain.Memory is the mental process of retaining and recalling information or experiences. (1) It is the process of taking events, or facts and storing them in the brain for later use. There are three types of memory: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Learning and memory have been topics of particular interest to neuroscientists and neurophysiologists alike for several years and have become a phenomenon in scientific research and behavioral neuroscience. The hippocampus is the control station of spatial learning and memory in

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.

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

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

Back when H.M. was seven he was in an accident with a bicyclist, this began this patients journey of medical mishaps including seizures and amnesia. At age ten the seizures start and at sixteen they became more intense. He attempted to work but by 27 even that would be too much because of his seizures. After much consideration Doctor Scoville was able to convince H.M. to undergo bilateral medial temporal lobe resection, which is common knowledge but I will explain anyway. It is a procedure done on the brain to separate the temporal lobe tissue to reduce seizures. After the procedure Doctor Millner noticed that while the procedure worked for the seizures there was an incredible amount of memory deficiency, to the extent of forgetting things

Secondly, novel findings from our study showed that the volume of hippocampal subregions in 4- to 8- year old children is positively correlated with autobiographical memory. Specifically, results revealed a positive correlation between chronology during free recall and the volume of the right hippocampal tail. Similarly, a positive correlation was observed between chronology in prompted recall and the volume of the right hippocampal tail. Collectively, these findings

The hippocampus assumes an essential part in our recollections. It appends recollections to the feelings and faculties that run with them. For example, it will take a memory of being cheerful and quiet while in a field and connection it with the possess a scent reminiscent of the blossoms. It will relate both the sentiment being upbeat and the feeling of smell to the memory of being in a field.

Studies in PTSD are consistent with changes in cognition and brain structure. Multiple studies have demonstrated verbal declarative memory deficits in PTSD.53,106-108

I picked this article because I was fascinated by H.M.’s case and I think memory is a very interesting topic in psychology because its one of the things that defines and makes us human. Psychological movies have always been my thing and when I stumble upon movies about one of the characters losing their memory or already have memory loss, it intrigues me that actual people have actually experienced memory loss for different reasons. It’s crazy how one can lose their declarative memory but can still have their non-declarative memory, because most people would think that this particular person has no long term memory yet they may still be able to remember the things they love to do and be classically conditioned if its necessary.

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

However, Rosensweig and Bennet (1972) definitely showed some indication of the presence of positive effect of enriched environment full with stimulus may lead to brain development. Following this study, Maguire (2000) studied the effects of hippocampus on memory by using MRI scans. He studied 50 normal men and 50 London taxi drivers and scanned each of their brain. As he analyzed the volume of the hippocampus using pixel counting, Maguire found out that the taxi drivers had larger posterior hippocampus compared to the control. More importantly, he observed that as the experience of the taxi drivers were longer, the larger the volume of posterior hippocampus. This findings, thus, supported the conclusion offered by Rosenzweig and Bennet (1972)

The human brain is a fantastical machine, capable of great feats of elasticity and resourcefulness. This is no clearer demonstrated than in the case of E.P, and the separation of memory and habit. I found it fascinating that E.P was able to follow the path of the walk he took with his wife but was unable to identify which house was his. This incredible idea of the brain recovering from a debilitating problem as best it can is quite interesting. I did not think that habit and memory were so separated that one could lose the ability to form new memories but could form habits that were so similar to the perceptions of memory. The cases of H.M and E.P also offer valuable insight into the roles that differing components of the brain assume. The hippocampus is vital for memory, and also vital for living a certain quality of life. Meanwhile, the medial temporal lobe also impacts memory, but E.P was able to live at home and maintained a high level of intellect. The fact that both H.M and E.P could live without large sections of their brains is remarkable, and reveals a lot about the elasticity and adaptations of the brain. However, E.P’s case truly highlights the divide between memory and habit. Habits can occur with a low level of brain activity and conscious thought, as they are mostly driven by the unconscious once the cue is received. As long as the basal ganglia is intact, it appears that habits will form, and these habits are on a delicate equilibrium. With one disturbance,