Chapter 1 - Historical perspective

Abstract

This chapter discusses the historical perspective pertaining to the neurobiology of learning and memory.. Formal research on learning and memory began in the late 19th century. In 1885, empirical research on human learning and memory was initiated. However, laboratory research on learning in animal subjects began independently in 1898 by on the basis of planned experiments and unexpected observations during research on alimentary secretions. This research was followed up rapidly by other investigators. Although an extensive program of research on conditioning was conducted, few other laboratories took up this research until the late 1920s. Training and differential experience were demonstrated by the early 1960s to cause measurable changes in neurochemistry and neuroanatomy of weanling rats. An experiment also involved littermates that were either trained on a difficult problem or left untrained. The trained rats developed significantly higher total cortical enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity than their untrained littermates. However, later on instead of continuing to train rats in problem-solving tests, a time-consuming and expensive procedure, the animals in different environments were housed that provided differential opportunities for informal learning. Formation of long-term memory was demonstrated in the early 1970s that required synthesis of proteins in the hours following training. The chapter also illustrates the changing concepts of learning and memory formation and discusses the distinction between direct and modulatory processes in memory formation. Formation of short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term memories require a cascade of neurochemical events, and rather similar sequences have been found in birds, mammals, and invertebrates. Newer biomedical and behavioral techniques are adding to the knowledge of the neural mechanisms of learning and memory.