Glucose enhances memory in a variety of species. In humans, glucose administration enhances episodic memory encoding, although little is known regarding the neural mechanisms underlying these effects. Here we examined whether elevating blood glucose would enhance functional MRI (fMRI) activation and connectivity in brain regions associated with…

The English National Curriculum Programmes of Study emphasise the importance of knowledge, understanding and skills, and teachers are well versed in structuring learning in those terms. Research outcomes into how long-term memory is stored and retrieved provide support for structuring learning in this way. Four further messages are added to the…

Spaced learning usually leads to better recognition memory as compared with massed learning, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain elusive. One open question is whether the spacing effect is achieved by reducing neural repetition suppression. In this fMRI study, participants were scanned while intentionally memorizing 120 novel faces, half…

Recent findings indicate that neural mechanisms of consciousness are related to integration of distributed neural assemblies. This neural integration is particularly vulnerable to past stressful experiences that can lead to disintegration and dissociation of consciousness. These findings suggest that dissociation could be described as a level of…

The concept of "extra-cortical organization of higher mental functions" proposed by Lev Vygotsky and expanded by Alexander Luria extends cultural-historical psychology regarding the interplay of natural and cultural factors in the development of the human mind. Using the example of self-regulation, the authors explore the evolution of this idea…

Learning increases neurogenesis by increasing the survival of new cells generated in the adult hippocampal formation [Shors, T. J. Saving new brain cells. "Scientific American," 300, 46-52, 2009]. However, only some types of learning are effective. Recent studies demonstrate that animals that learn the conditioned response (CR) but require more…

Practicing a visual task commonly results in improved performance. Often the improvement does not transfer well to a new retinal location, suggesting that it is mediated by changes occurring in early visual cortex, and indeed neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies both demonstrate that perceptual learning is associated with altered activity…

Silencing of a single gene, FMR1, is linked to a highly prevalent form of mental retardation, characterized by social and cognitive impairments, known as fragile X syndrome (FXS). The FMR1 gene encodes fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), which negatively regulates translation. Knockout of Fmr1 in mice results in enhanced long-term…

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) may provide modulatory signals that, respectively, influence hippocampal (HPC)- and striatal-dependent memory. Electrophysiological studies investigating neural correlates of learning and memory of dopamine (DA) neurons during classical conditioning tasks have found DA…

The goal of this dissertation is to examine how brain regions respond to different types of competition during word comprehension and word production. I will present three studies that attempt to enhance the current understanding of which brain regions are sensitive to different aspects of competition and how the nature of the stimuli and the…

Until the 1990s, the inside of the brain was a matter of mystery to all except the few, the brain surgeons, revered for their specialist knowledge. Early work was focused on explaining and attempting to treat unusual behaviours and conditions, but interest now extends to the implications of neuroscience for regular education. Non-intrusive imaging…

The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) provides a theoretical model for art-based assessments and applications of media in art therapy. The three levels of the ETC (Kinesthetic/Sensory, Perceptual/Affective, and Cognitive/Symbolic) appear to reflect different functions and structures in the brain that process visual and affective information.…

We present a neural network model that aims to bridge the historical gap between dynamic and structural approaches to personality. The model integrates work on the structure of the trait lexicon, the neurobiology of personality, temperament, goal-based models of personality, and an evolutionary analysis of motives. It is organized in terms of two…

The current authors reply to a response by Woollams, Lambon Ralph, Plaut, and Patterson on a comment by the current authors on the original article. The current authors list their agreements and disagreements with Woollams, Lambon Ralph, Plaut, and Patterson's response on the topics of the human reading system, cognitive architecture, experimental…

The modulation of memory processes is one of the several functions of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in the brain, with CB1 receptors highly expressed in areas such as the dorsal hippocampus. Experimental evidence suggested an important role of the ECS in aversively motivated memories. Similarly, glucocorticoids released in response to stress…