The fundamental relations that underlie cognitive comparisons--''same'' and ''different''--can be defined at multiple levels of abstraction, which vary in relational complexity. We compared response times to decide whether or not two sequentially-presented patterns, each composed of two pairs of colored squares, were the same at three levels of…

We have previously proposed that cortical auditory-vocal networks of the monkey brain can be partly homologized with language networks that participate in the phonological loop. In this paper, we suggest that other linguistic phenomena like semantic and syntactic processing also rely on the activation of transient memory networks, which can be…

Face composite programs permit eyewitnesses to build likenesses of target faces by selecting facial features and combining them into an intact face. Research has shown that these composites are generally poor likenesses of the target face. Two experiments tested the proposition that this composite-building process could harm the builder's memory…

False memories are sometimes accompanied by surprisingly vivid experiential detail that makes them difficult to distinguish from actual memories. Such strikingly real false memories may be produced by a process called content borrowing in which details from presented items are errantly borrowed to corroborate the occurrence of the false memory…

Retrieval practice on a subset of previously learned material can cause forgetting of the unpracticed material and make it inaccessible to consciousness. Such inaccessibility may arise because the material is no longer sampled from the set of to-be-recalled items, or, though sampled, its representation is not complete enough to be recovered into…

The neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) has been accorded an important role in supporting learning and memory processes in the hippocampus. Cholinergic activity in the hippocampus is correlated with memory, and restoration of ACh in the hippocampus after disruption of the septohippocampal pathway is sufficient to rescue memory. However, selective…

Cyclic AMP pathway plays an essential role in formation of long-term memory (LTM). In some species, the nitric oxide (NO)-cyclic GMP pathway has been found to act in parallel and complementary to the cAMP pathway for LTM formation. Here we describe a new role of the NO-cGMP pathway, namely, stimulation of the cAMP pathway to induce LTM. We have…

Protein synthesis-dependent long-term memory in Apis mellifera and Drosophila melanogaster is formed after multiple trainings that are spaced in time. The parasitic wasp Lariophagus distinguendus remarkably differs from these species. It significantly responds to the artificial odor furfurylheptanoate (FFH) in olfactometer experiments, when this…

The rabbit nictitating membrane (NM) response underwent successive stages of acquisition and extinction training in both delay (Experiment 1) and trace (Experiment 2) classical conditioning. In both cases, successive acquisitions became progressively faster, although the largest, most reliable acceleration occurred between the first and second…

Mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene inducing abnormal processing and deposition of [beta]-amyloid protein in the brain have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although Tg2576 mice with the Swedish mutation ("hAPPswe") exhibit age-related [Alpha][beta]-plaque formation in brain regions like the…

Of late, an increasing number of studies have shown a strong relationship between sleep and memory. Here we summarize a series of our own studies in humans supporting a beneficial influence of slow-wave sleep (SWS) on declarative memory formation, and try to identify some mechanisms that might underlie this influence. Specifically, these…

The sleeping neocortex shows nested oscillatory activity in different frequency ranges, characterized by fluctuations between "up-states" and "down-states." High-density neuronal ensemble recordings in rats now reveal the interaction between synchronized activity in the hippocampus and neocortex: Electroencephalographic sharp…

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been implicated as a molecular mediator of learning and memory. The BDNF gene contains four differentially regulated promoters that generate four distinct mRNA transcripts, each containing a unique noncoding 5[prime]-exon and a common 3[prime]-coding exon. This study describes novel evidence for the…

Previous findings indicate that the noradrenergic, dopaminergic, and cholinergic innervations of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) modulate memory consolidation. The current study investigated whether memory enhancement induced by post-training intra-BLA infusions of a [beta]-adrenergic or muscarinic cholinergic agonist requires concurrent activation…

Dijkstra and van Heuven have made an admirable attempt to develop a new model of bilingual memory, the BIA+. Their article presents a clear and well-reasoned theoretical justification of their model, followed by a description of their model. The BIA+ is, as the name implies, an extension of the Bilingual Interactive Activation (BIA) model…