Chapter 12: Learning, Memory, and Decision Making
One thing I found interesting about this chapter was the recent discovery that specific cells in the hippocampus have been found to respond to a specific person. Even though that gives the impression that individual cells hold specific memories, the textbook said it was most likely that sets of neurons make up memory networks for specific concepts.
I also really enjoyed that the study on bird brains and memory process was illustrated exclusively in play dough. In this study they found out that birds referred back to the amount of time that had passed in order to decide which food to retrieve from where it had be previously buried. This was something I did not know prior to Bio Psych and it adds to my appreciation of birds because that is very impressive to me.
I also thought the study on bird brains and their use of memory was really interesting. I was unaware that birds cache their food and have memories pertaining to where it is, how long it has been there, and when when they need to retrieve the appropriate food source (perishable/non-perishable). Nonetheless, it was very impressive that these birds displayed episodic memory and advanced cognitive abilities! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI found the part on birds to be really interesting as well. Maybe it was due to the fact that it was represented in play dough that made me look at it more than once. I especially liked what the proffesor told us in class, about birds re caching their food if they feel they are being watched.
ReplyDeleteI also liked reading about the study on bird brains. I have a parakeet and he has a pretty good memory, he has recognized that when I am dressed for work, everyone says bye and he will let out a little chirp to say bye to me as well. I also watched a short documentary on birds over the summer, there was a university professor who put on a mask that looked like another person, and wearing this mask he took in a few of the birds around the campus and tagged them. Whenever he would go out wearing this mask, the birds that did not get tagged would send out warning cries to the other birds around them and fly away. They would even do this several generations of birds later, after the others had passed away. They also mentioned the study mentioned in the textbook, although it was not illustrated with play dough. That documentary gave me a deeper appreciation of birds as well as my parakeet
ReplyDeleteI remember reading about how we organize memories in Cognitive Science, but it was interesting to get a small biological basis on how this happens. I knew about birds' hippocampal regions being pronounced if they were a caching species, but it's always fascinating to read.
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