Learning and Memory

Since I started attending Walden University, I have changed the way that I study numerously. It typically depends on subject matter. A lot of the subject matter, I already know. For things that I am not highly familiar with, I need to apply myself even more when learning them. For this class, I utilize several different methods. When I read, I typically highlight the text areas I feel are important. Therefore my book has several markings in it. For subject matter that I find it difficult for me to comprehend via reading, I watch videos from sources such as Khan Academy, iTunes University, and YouTube. I tend to learn better when I can see something being illustrated to me or explained. This was a huge key to understanding how hearing works on last week’s assignment. I am also a stickler for taking hand-written notes as opposed to typing them. The way I cement information in my head by following up by listening to a lecture on the subject matter and or explain what I learned to my wife, who is also in school with me at Walden. Sometimes I also find it easier to look at websites of other universities, book publishers, and notes from classes that are covering similar topics. I have also found it beneficial come up with pneumonics and mind map information.

Due to my work and study schedule, my study time is typically condensed. I typically spend two to four hours per day, three days a week, studying material for this class. This doesn’t usually happen until the day work is due. At the moment, I am also taking two other classes, one of which is a graduate level class. My study habits differ in those classes because it’s an easier subject matter for me. I understand psychology more than I do the inner workings of human anatomy and biological make up. I can have a conversation on psychology with my wife, read journals, other texts from other classes, and attend lectures and conferences and the information is reinforced. I hear it and hear it often. This isn’t the case with the information that’s covered in brain and behavior all of the time.

It’s understood that we learn by studying, but what’s not always understood is what changes occur to brains when reading something for the first time. Brains do not store new cells to store our memories. Then again, if that happened, our heads would get bigger and bigger much like a hot air balloon. What happens is long-term potentiation (LTP), in which the connections between neurons strengthen. This is only one of example of synaptic plasticity, which was first described by Hebb over 50 years ago, which describes how synapses have the ability to change their strength (Garrett, 2011). Neurons have the ability to change their strength by way of a combination of electricity and chemicals. Neurons do not connect to each other directly. In between neurons, there is a junction called a synapse (Garrett, 2011). The neuron leading up to the synapse is the pre-synaptic neuron and the neuron following that neuron is the post-synaptic neuron (Garrett, 2011). The pre-synaptic neuron releases neurotransmitters, glutamate, when it is stimulated that is released from the axon. These neurotransmitters bind to the NMDA receptors of the post-synaptic neuron and displace magnesium ions (Garrett, 2011). This in turn opens channels that allow ions, such as sodium and calcium to enter.

There is a membrane that surrounds each neuron and they have different charges. This is known as the potential and it is the charge difference between the inside and outside membrane of the neuron. The potential is how we are able to measure synapse strength, by way of how much the post-synaptic neuron changes as a result of pre-synaptic stimulation (Garrett, 2011). As a neuron gets a lot of practice firing signals to a specific post-synaptic neuron, over time it will get better at firing those signals and it’ll also get better at opening the channels to allow more ions to flow (Garrett, 2011). This is what we refer to as the synapse’s “strength” increasing. We’re more readily to easily recall previous experiences as synapses are strengthened and retain that strength. All of this takes place in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is important for the formation and retrieval of memories. It has also been noticed that the hippocampus isn’t the only place where LTP takes place, but it has been found to also occur in the cortex, amygdala, and cerebellum (Garrett, 2011).

Declarative memories take place in the medial temporal lobe before it transitions permanently to the cortex via consolidation (Whitlock, Heynen, Shuler, & Bear, 2006) (Robertson, 2012). While we are able to learn as things come to us, researchers believe that the transition to permanent memory doesn’t take place until the hippocampus is less occupied (Garrett, 2011). Decay of memory can happen over time. Neurons can become weaker much like they can become stronger or by way of interference (Garrett, 2011; Robertson, 2012). When this happens, it becomes harder to stimulate those neurons. Many people who learn languages have this problem when they do not learn a language for a long time.

I’ve often heard the phrase that practice makes perfect. When it comes to memory, this may hold true. From what I’ve learned about hippocampus transfers and that it can occur during sleep (Garrett, 2011), there are two things that I will take note of. The first is to get plenty of rest. When I first attended college back in the late 90s, I used to stay up all night studying with lots of caffeine and very little sleep. Therefore, sleep is important. Also, if transfers happen when the hippocampus is less occupied, then I believe that it’s also important to take breaks and space learning out over a period of time as opposed to cramming information all in one or two sessions. Ebbinghaus was able to show that decay happens over a period of time, but if you can consistently remember information, you will be able to recall the information easily after a period of time rather than learning the information once (Ebbinghaus, 2014). Most forgetting will happen after the first few days of disuse.

References

• Ebbinghaus, H. (2014). Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. Annals of Neurosciences, 20(4). doi:10.5214/540 ↩
• Garrett, B. (2011). Brain and Behavior: An Introduction to Biological Psychology (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. ↩1 ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10
• Robertson, E. M. (2012). New Insights in Human Memory Interference and Consolidation. Current Biology, 22(2), R66–R71. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.11.051 ↩1 ↩2
• Whitlock, J. R., Heynen, A. J., Shuler, M. G., & Bear, M. F. (2006). Learning induces long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. Science, 313(5790), 1093–1097. doi:10.1126/science.1128134 ↩