NEUR 410 - Human Memory Systems

Course Description

Everything you know was gained through the efforts of several memory systems working together to acquire knowledge and skills from your past experiences. Not only is memory is necessary for all other human cognition, from remembering how to ride a bike or reflecting on your undergraduate days to acquiring language or making decisions about the future, but collectively our memories allow us to form a learned identity. This course will provide a broad introduction to foundational concepts and classic and current issues in human memory, examining both the psychological and neurological approaches to data and theory. Topics covered include working memory, episodic encoding and retrieval processes, forgetting and false memories, skill learning, implicit learning, and the effects of aging and disease on memory systems.

Learner Outcomes

Compare and contrast different memory systems, including the type of knowledge gained and their neural underpinnings
Apply theories of memory systems to other contexts, including research into human cognition or learning strategies for future coursework
Formulate a hypothesis and design an experiment to test a type of memory
Given a disease or lesion location, assess the symptoms that would likely occur