Neural clique
Encyclopedia
Neural cliques, network-level memory
coding units in the hippocampus
, are functionally organized in a categorical and hierarchical manner. Researchers investigating the role of neural cliques have gained insight into the process of storing memories in the brain
. Memory of events is achieved not through memorization of exact event details, research evidence suggests, but through recreation of select images based on cognitive significance. This process enables the brain to exhibit large storage capacity, but also facilitates the capacity for abstract reasoning and generalization. Research has demonstrated that real-time patterns of memory traces, retained in neural cliques, can be mathematically described, directly visualized, and dynamically deciphered.
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
coding units in the hippocampus
Hippocampus
The hippocampus is a major component of the brains of humans and other vertebrates. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in...
, are functionally organized in a categorical and hierarchical manner. Researchers investigating the role of neural cliques have gained insight into the process of storing memories in the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
. Memory of events is achieved not through memorization of exact event details, research evidence suggests, but through recreation of select images based on cognitive significance. This process enables the brain to exhibit large storage capacity, but also facilitates the capacity for abstract reasoning and generalization. Research has demonstrated that real-time patterns of memory traces, retained in neural cliques, can be mathematically described, directly visualized, and dynamically deciphered.
Neural populations
Neuroscientists widely agree that neural populations convey information more effectively than individual neurons. Researchers have been able to map out distinct patterns of neural activity in the hippocampus triggered by different events. The activity patterns associated with certain startling experiences recurred spontaneously --at intervals ranging from seconds to minutes after the actual event-- that showed similar trajectories, including the characteristic geometric shape, but with smaller amplitudes than their original responses.External links
- SciAm.com - 'The Memory Code', Joe Z. Tsien, Scientific AmericanScientific AmericanScientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
(June 17, 2007)