Memory: Organization and Locus of Change

This book brings together an internationally respected group of researchers for the purpose of examining neuroplasticity, a topic of immense current interest in psychology, neuroscience, neuropsychology, and clinical neurology. The chapters represent state-of-the-art work on neuroplasticity at all levels: behavioral, neural, and molecular. They describe recent work on memory ranging from cellular morphological studies in invertebrates to research on the human brain made possible by new advances in neuroimaging technology. The book begins with an introductory chapter that considers the psychology of memory at the global, structural level. The remainder of the volume is divided into three related parts. The first focuses on recent approaches, which are based in part on new technology, that aim to measure and describe activity in relatively large populations of neurons. The second focuses on memory at the level of brain systems. One major theme to emerge from work at this level is that memory is composed of multiple, separable components that can be identified with specific anatomical structures and connections. The third part of the book focuses on molecular and cellular studies that show how individual neurons and their synapses behave in a history-dependent manner. This research concerns both brief changes in synaptic plasticity as well as more lasting changes in connectivity, which depend on altered gene expression and morphological growth and change. Altogether, the chapters provide a rich summary of the breadth and excitement of contemporary research on the biology of memory.

Table of Contents:
1: E. Tulving: Concepts of Human Memory PART I: Distribution of Learning-Induced Brain Activity 2: W.J. Freeman: Insights into Processes of Visual Perception from Studies in the Olfactory System 3: A. Grinvald et al.: Optical Imaging of Cortical Activity in the Living Brain 4: M.E. Raichle: Modular Organization of Information Processing in the Normal Human Brain: Studies with Positron Emission Tomography 5: P.E. Roland, B. Gulyas, and R.J.Seitz: Structures in the Human Brain Participating in Visual Learning, Tactile Learning, and Motor Learning 6: Does Synaptic Selection Explain Auditory Imprinting? H. Scheich, E. Wallhausser-Franke, and K. Braun PART II: Functional Roles of Brain Systems 7: H. Eichenbaum et al.: Memory Representation in the Hippocampus: Functional Domain and Functional Organization 8: J. LeDoux: Systems and Synapses of Emotional Memory 9: G.H. Recanzone and M.M. Merzenich: Alterations of the Functional Organization of Primary Somatosensory Cortex Following Intracortical Microstimulation or Behavioral Training 10: Y. Miyashita et al.: Localization of Primal Long-Term Memory in the Primate Temporal Cortex 11: D.S. Olton et al.: Mnemonic Functions of the Cholinergic Septohippocampal System PART III: Locus of Cellular Change 12: C.H. Bailey and M. Chen: The Anatomy of Long-Term Sensitization in Aplysia: Morphological Insights into Learning and Memory 13: C.M. Gall and J.C. Lauterborn: Activity-Dependent Neuronal Gene Expression: A Potential Memory Mechanism 14: G. Lynch, et al.: Relating Variants of Synaptic Potentiation to Different Types of Memory Operations in Hippocampus and Related Structures 15: E.N. Sokolov: Local Plasticity in Neuronal Learning 16: S.P.R. Rose: What the Chick Can Tell Us about the Process and Structure of Memory

Review :
"I found each chapter illuminating within its own special area of expertise, and the mix of topics is remarkably broad. A major advantage of the broad approach, well illustrated in this book, is that creative, nontraditional approaches are cultivated. . . . a solid, worthwhile addition to the field and should be of interest to both students and researchers." --John A. Walker, Contemporary Psychology "I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is involved in memory research. It brings together recent work in a broad area and the treatment is clear and authoritative. Final year undergraduates and post graduates should also find many of the chapters intelligible and useful." --A.R.Mayes, Neuropsychologia "I found each chapter illuminating within its own special area of expertise, and the mix of topics is remarkably broad. A major advantage of the broad approach, well illustrated in this book, is that creative, nontraditional approaches are cultivated. . . . a solid, worthwhile addition to the field and should be of interest to both students and researchers." --John A. Walker, Contemporary Psychology "I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is involved in memory research. It brings together recent work in a broad area and the treatment is clear and authoritative. Final year undergraduates and post graduates should also find many of the chapters intelligible and useful." --A.R.Mayes, Neuropsychologia