Short-Term Memory and Long-Term Memory are Distinct Systems - Essay Example

Short-Term Memory and Long-Term Memory are Distinct Systems Short-Term Memory and Long-Term Memory are Distinct Systems Adequate evidence has been gathered through different studies indicating that CAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) takes a substantial role in the creation of a transcription-dependent long-term memory and a long-term synaptic plasticity in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Moreover, there are changing network of molecular signaling, which is activated by learning; in fact, processes that are mediated by PKS are vital for triggering transcriptional procedures that result to protein synthesis needed for LTM and long term synaptic plasticity. Numerous species depict training processes leading to long lasting charges, which contribute to continued activation of PKA through a crucial step involving an induction of molecular processes that are fundamental to LTM. Nevertheless, resent suggestions by various scientists indicate that LTM has varying phases, though there is no evidence that the phases need distinct temporal domains of PKA activation. The experiment of classical conditioning indicates the transcription of dependent LTM within twenty-four hours after a trial food reward in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Earlier stage of transcription-dependent LTM in the organism is evident in numerous hours after a single trial. In this case, MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase), elements that develop LTM, phosphorylation of CREB and NOS (nitric oxide synthase) are activated after the occurrence of the associative leaning. On the other hand, short-term memory is considered indirect, and there are critics who claim that it is controlled by the same principle and process with long-term memory (Baddeley, 1990). In fact, various studies have been conducted aimed at evaluating the access of WM task that cannot be identified through qualitative retrieval procedures or highly accessible representations in LTM (Öztekin, Davachi & McElree, 2010). Nevertheless, there are numerous studies applying speed-accuracy trade-off process to evaluate speed and accuracy of events that offer unequivocal justification to the information necessary for processing the test. In this case, the information situated within the focal attention is highly accessible compared to the representation in the memory. Nevertheless, there is no difference depicted in speed of retrieving information, which is hypothesized within the span of WM and the information is located only in LTM. According to Maximilian, Ildikó, Uli and György (2008), there is a need to establish the molecular distinctiveness and biochemical modus in the nervous system, which is based on the information addressed through the temporal attributes of learning that, occurs through induced PKA activation. However, there is potential of evaluating and inhibiting the PKA at various durations after a single trial in the study involving classical conditioning. The study involves associating the neural chemical that is considered a conditioned stimulus with food, which is unconditioned stimulus, and this established the behaviors and cellular studies of learning. There are different stages of inducing LTM through a single associative learning, and this procedure requires an increase of PKA through a distinct time after the training process (Cowan, 2008). In fact, this procedure is described through an experiment that involves conditioning of a snail that depicts a substantial response for feeding associated with amyl acetate. Nevertheless, identifying the complexity of the learning functions that require induction of PKA in activities associated with the formation of LTM, thereby being applicable in the other systems and preparations. There are numerous perspectives of the approaches towards working memory (WM) that can justify that the short-term and long-term memory is not controlled by the same principles (Crowder, 1993). Moreover, there are assumptions that WM offers a capacity with limited workspace that contains insignificant products of recent cognitive processing, which is maintained through an accessible state compared to the representation in the long-term memory (LTM). In fact, this is because the products applied in the WM have a residual activation following a resent processing or being maintained in specialized stores (Oberauer, 2002). A decrease of the accuracy involved in retrieval occurs in recently tested items, thereby indicating that the strength the memory reduce as time and activities intervenes between the study of items during the testing period. Moreover, the speed of retrieving information is constant across the entire SPs, but this excludes the last position of that is accessed with a speed that is fifty percent higher than the other sections. Other items intervene among the resent studies, and a test is conducted, which can match the direct content of the focal attention, which relates to information that undergoes active processing, whereby there is no need for retrieving items for the memory. Patters that have been identified indicate that faster access occurs in units that have recently been processed, and this corresponds to and slower accessibility to items that are replicated in a wide range of the task and manipulations. On the other hand, the collective measure motivates a distinction that exists between the focal attention and memory. However, there is a form of inconsistency identified in measuring the approaches positing intermediate WM and the focal attention and LTM. For instance, an approach involving WM in three layers memory model indicate that the three to four components in long-term memory system can stay vigorous with intermediary focal concentration (Oberauer, 2001). There are behavioral measures that are used to determine the retrieval speed though these measures fail to account for motivation, thereby making the assumptions of the capacity-limited in the short-term memory. In this case, there is a possibility of acquiring evidence that can be applied in separation of memory that exists in the neural structures. Moreover, there is a need to understand the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), by focusing on a study that can examine the neural evidence for supporting conventional distinction between short-term and long-term memory. There is a need to test the hypothesis of the medial temporal lobe (MTL), which refers to a section of the brain involved in vital encoding and processes of retrieving information from the long-term memory. However, there are predictions by the dual-store accounts that indicate that MTL assists the tong-term memory in various operations. In fact, seeking enhanced activation of MTL associated with recognition of the first two SPs comparing to the last two, there is a conventional account of dual-storage that involves MTL in retrieving information from LTM, though this does not apply for the short-term memory. On the other hand, there are behavioral findings that depict the last-encoded item, which is likely to be active in the focal attention during testing and this contributes to a reduction of the MTL activation. In fact, through various studies it was identified that two SPs facilitate a reduction of the items maintained in the focal attention. Therefore, this contributes to the establishment of the conventional distinction between WM and LTM, which can further be attributed to the dissociation in the MTL. Furthermore, there is last SP and other SP that are among the five items in the hippocampus. In these items, there is recognition of the judgment of tasks, which involves replication of dissociation with three items among the list of recognition. Convergence of MTL dissociations focuses on evaluation of behaviors related to memory accessibility in order to motivate distinctions between the focal attentions and passive memory representation. Nevertheless, no extent of fMRI studies has been offered to optimal test aimed at establishing differences of retrieval linked to representations of hypothesized focal attention, WM and Long-term-memory. A sample of SPs can be identified in the focal attention or LTM, through studies conducted by various scientists. Moreover, the studies examined crucial SPs in order to evaluate the differences that exist among the hypothesize nature and test that involve dissociation between representation of hypothesized short-term memory and long-term memory. Therefore, a design of a study seeking to determine the distinction of short-term memory and long-term memory should offer an optimal test of approaches such as Oberauer’s (2002). This study involves three layers of memory models posits diverse representation of the state, which explore the accessibility and demonstration of the restricted items. It also focuses on the activation of long-term memory that involve a set of representations are confined into three or four components that are active, though they require to be retrieved from the short-term memory. The study also focuses on passive memory that is retrieved from long-term memory, and this is applied to providing a basis for developing argument for distinctiveness existing between long-term memory and short-term memory (Ranganath & Blumenfeld, 2005). Therefore, there are high expectations developed by the study regarding distinct activation of the short-term memory. However, this occurs with the motive of retrieval of representation in the long-term memory, which occurs in either focal attention representation or active state. In conclusion, the paper has explored various sources used to gather information that has made a vital contribution to the discussion related to distinctness of the long–term memory and short-term memory. Therefore, the ideas in their paper have fully justified the distinction between these two systems, which are represented in the LTM and WM activation. The paper has drawn ideas from various studies conducted by various scientists in this field. These ideas are have the same underlying ideas that give crucial evidence to support the discussion on the distinctiveness of the long-term memory system and short-term memory systems. Reference Baddeley, A. (1990). How many kinds of memory? The evidence for short-term memory. In Memory: Theory and practice: Hove and London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Cowan, N. (2008). What are the differences between long-term, short-term, and working memory? Prog Brain Res.169: 323–338.Retrieved on 31 Jan 2013 from Crowder, R.G. (1993). Short-term memory: Where do we stand? Memory & Cognition, 21, 142–145. Maximilian, M., Ildikó, K., Uli M. & György K. (2008). Different phases of long-term memory require distinct temporal patterns of PKA activity after single-trial classical conditioning. Learn Mem. 15(9): 694–702. Retrieved on 31 Jan 2013 from Öztekin, I., Davachi, L.,& McElree, B. (2010). Are Representations in Working Memory Distinct From Representations in Long-Term Memory? Neural Evidence in Support of a Single Store.Psychological Science 21(8) 1123– 1133. Retrieved on 31 Jan 2013 from Oberauer, K. (2002). Access to information in working memory: Exploring the focus of attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 411–421. Oberauer, K. (2001). Removing irrelevant information from working memory: An age-comparative study with the modified Sternberg task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 27, 948–957. Ranganath, C., & Blumenfeld, R. S. (2005). Doubts about double dissociations between short-and long-term memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 374-380.   Read More