This chapter considers the brain regions associated with long-term memory, a type of explicit memory. Long-term memory can be broken down into episodic memory and semantic memory. Episodic memory refers to the detailed retrieval of a previous episode. Semantic memory refers to the retrieval of factual information. The first two sections of the chapter consider the brain regions associated with episodic memory and semantic memory. Section 3.3 considers long-term memory consolidation (i.e., the process of creating more permanent memory representations in the brain). In Section 3.4, the role of sleep in long-term memory consolidation is examined. Long-term memory consolidation requires the interaction between multiple brain regions in which activity oscillates at specific frequencies. Section 3.5 reviews the brain regions associated with memory encoding. In Section 3.6, the brain regions associated with event boundaries (e.g., transitions between scenes in a movie) are discussed, and it is argued that the reported effects reflect the processing of novel information.

How was the British imperial state transformed from an ancien régime in 1819 to a liberal one that depended upon a new science of government?

The revival of the heliocentric model by Copernicus in the sixteenth century led to speculation about planets orbiting other stars. In a heliocentric model, stars must show annual parallax as the Earth moves around the Sun.

This chapter considers the behavioral and brain differences between separate groups of participants during long-term memory. Section 5.1 details differences between females and males (i.e., sex differences). Differences between older adults and younger adults are detailed in Section 5.2. In Section 5.3, the brains of those with superior memory are evaluated, including London taxi drivers and those who compete in World Memory Championships. Although the research on this topic is sparse, there is convergent evidence that having a superior memory does not come without a cost. Section 5.4 discusses the factors that go into determining the minimum number of participants, N, needed in each group to produce valid results that generalize to the population. All the topics of this chapter are important in that they have provided critical insights into the mechanisms mediating long-term memory, yet research on group differences (and N) is unpopular in the field of cognitive neuroscience.

This chapter focuses on the timing of brain activity associated with long-term memory. The chapter begins by introducing ERP activations that have been associated with familiarity and recollection. Familiarity has been associated with activity in frontal brain regions 300–500 milliseconds after stimulus onset, while recollection has been associated with activity in parietal brain regions 500–800 milliseconds after stimulus onset. In Section 4.2, a scientific debate that has focused on the ERP activity associated with familiarity is discussed. In Section 4.3, it is shown that synchronous activity in two different brain regions (i.e., activation time courses that increase and decrease together) indicates that these regions interact. Such synchronous activity between regions during long-term memory typically occurs within the theta frequency band, the alpha frequency band, and the gamma frequency band. Section 4.4 details some intriguing intracranial EEG findings based on recording activity in the hippocampus and the parahippocampal gyrus.

Section 1.1 gives a brief overview of the field of cognitive neuroscience. Section 1.2 details the different types of memory. In Section 1.3, an overview of human brain anatomy is provided. Commonly known anatomic distinctions such as the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the temporal lobe, and the occipital lobe are reviewed, and more detailed anatomy is discussed. Section 1.4 highlights the importance of the medial temporal lobe in memory, which was discovered in the 1950s when this region was surgically removed from one individual. In Section 1.5, an overview of brain sensory regions is provided, such as the regions associated with visual perception and auditory perception. In Section 1.6, the regions of the brain that control memory retrieval are considered, which include part of the frontal cortex, the parietal cortex, and the medial temporal lobe. Section 1.7 provides an overview of the organization of this book.