Learning to Learn – How the Brain Creates Memory

The brain’s hippocampus has several functions, but it is best known for its role in memory. A brain needs the hippocampus to store past memories and to form new ones. Three distinguished experts from the areas of neurophysiology, psychology and cognitive biology will provide insight on how the hippocampus mediates memory formation at the German Center for Research and Innovation New York on December 5, 2016.

When we learn facts or store memories about episodes in our lives, one particular brain structure plays a very important role: the hippocampus. This structure is especially important for helping us create complex associative memories. The hippocampus uses information that is detected and made available by different sensory systems. What we hear, see, touch, taste, smell are all used by the hippocampus to create complex and vivid memories.

Prof. Denise Manahan-Vaughan holds a professorship in neuroscience and is head of the Department of Neurophysiology within the Medical Faculty of the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that enable long-term memory storage within brain cells, and especially within our primary memory structure: the hippocampus. Prof. Dr. Raymond Kesner is professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah. His major research interests are in the theoretical and applied aspects associated with the neurobiological basis of learning and memory in both animals and humans. Prof. Lucia Jacobs is professor in the Department of Psychology and the Helen Wills Institute of Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the ecology and evolution of navigating choices: how animals make choices about what and where to eat, how to navigate and map new terrains, and how to integrate diverse sources of information to make adaptive decisions in uncertain environments.

For more information, visit www.germaninnovation.org

The German Center for Research and Innovation provides information and support for the realization of cooperative and collaborative projects between North America and Germany. With the goal of enhancing communication on the critical challenges of the 21st century, GCRI hosts a wide range of events from lectures and exhibitions to workshops and science dinners. Opened in February 2010, GCRI was created as a cornerstone of the German government’s initiative to internationalize science and research and is one of five centers worldwide.

Edwin Linderkamp
Communications Officer
German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI)
871 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
USA

This release was published on openPR.