Neural Basis of Learning and Memory
Course facts
- Payment: Free, no certificate
- Credits: Non Credit
- Learning style: Self-paced, start anytime
- Resources: Lecture Notes; Presentation Assignments; Written Assignments
MIT OpenCourseWare details
- As taught in: Fall 2007
- Department: Brain and Cognitive Sciences
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How the brain stores memories, covering cellular mechanisms, memory systems, conditioning and emotion, with selected notes and paper discussion guides.
Memory can be studied in a single synapse or in a whole person’s life, and this class connects those levels. It sets cellular and molecular storage mechanisms against the cognitive neuroscience of memory, paying particular attention to human and animal models of the hippocampus. Lectures alternate with student presentations and discussion of research papers.
What You Will Achieve
- Distinguish episodic, semantic, skill and working memory
- Explain classical and instrumental conditioning
- Summarize and critique a journal article for discussion
- Present a paper’s methods, results and interpretation
Program Overview
Foundations and Memory Systems
Basic concepts and types of memory.
- The psychology and neuroscience of learning
- Memory for facts and events
- Skill memory
- Working memory and executive control
Conditioning and Learning
How behavior changes with experience.
- Non-associative learning
- Classical conditioning
- Instrumental conditioning
- Generalization and discrimination
Social and Lifelong Memory
Wider influences on what we learn.
- Observational learning
- Emotional learning and memory
- Learning across the lifespan
- Language learning
Course Completion
Job Outlook
These skills are relevant to neuroscience research, cognitive psychology and further study in brain sciences or medicine.
Good for: Neuroscience and psychology students who want a broad map of memory research and practice taking apart scientific papers.
Keep in mind: Only a selection of lecture notes is published, from 2007, with no videos or exams. The reading of papers and frequent short quizzes depended on the class setting.
Bottom line: A sound overview of memory science, supported by its textbook more than its notes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a daily synopsis involve?
Before class you write a paragraph summarizing each of the two articles being presented, followed by two substantive questions for discussion.
How are paper presentations structured?
Ten minutes covering purpose, participants, methods, results, interpretation and what experiments should follow, then a five minute discussion. Students are asked to be critical, not just repeat the paper.
What textbook does it follow?
Learning and Memory, a 2007 textbook by Gluck, Mercado and Myers. Students also read two assigned articles for each class.
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