Cognitive Neuroscience and the Study of Memory
Abstract
The neurosciences have grown rapidly over the last half century. This growth has been stimulated by two important developments. First, molecular biology has transformed cellular neurobiology and has led to a new conceptual framework for signaling, a molecular framework that encompasses not only signaling in nerve cells but in all the cells of the body. Second, work on brain and cognition, which was traditionally associated with a number of different disciplines, has merged into a single discipline: cognitive neuroscience. This has provided a new framework for the study of memory, perception, action, language, and perhaps even conscious awareness. In this review, we will consider the second development by focusing on one aspect of cognitive neuroscience: recent progress in memory research. In so doing, we also want to consider the broader question: to what degree can these two independent and disparate strands—molecular neurobiology and cognitive neuroscience—be united? Can molecular biology enlighten the study of cognitive processes, such as learning and memory, as it has other areas of biology, such as development? In turn, can cognitive neuroscience define novel phenomena that will lead to a completely new set of molecular mechanisms and insights? Cognitive neuroscience originated in two disciplines: in psychology, in the development of rigorous methods for analyzing behavior and cognition, and in systems neurobiology, in the effort to understand the structure and function…
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