Conceptual and Neurobiological Issues in Studies of Treatments Affecting Memory Storage

This chapter reviews some of the conceptual issues involved in studies of retrograde amnesia and retrograde facilitation of memory, and summarizes recent findings having implications for the neurobiological bases of memory-storage processes. The findings of research in this area clearly indicate that retention is modified by treatments administered after training and the modulating influences are clearly time-dependent. Thus, the evidence provides strong support for the hypothesis that memory-storage processes are time-dependent. The results of studies of electrical stimulation of the brain demonstrate that some correlates, such as brain seizures, play no critical role in modulating storage. But such studies have not revealed the influences which are critical in affecting memory. The studies which use stimulation of specific brain regions suggest that brain stimulation can be an effective technique for investigating the role of specific neural systems in modulating memory-storage processes. Recent pharmacological studies have provided additional evidence that drugs can influence memory-storage processes. The major problem facing such studies is that of determining the neurobiological effect which underlies the observed behavioral effect.