Remote Memory and the Hippocampus: A Constructive Critique

Hippocampus and remote spatial memory in rats.

Damage to the hippocampus typically produces temporally graded retrograde amnesia, whereby memories acquired recently are impaired more than memories acquired remotely. This phenomenon has been demonstrated repeatedly in a variety of species and tasks. It has also figured prominently in theoretical treatments of memory and hippocampal function. Yet temporally graded retrograde amnesia has not b...

Constructive Memory and Memory . . .

Integrating Spatial Working Memory and Remote Memory: Interactions between the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus

In recent years, two separate research streams have focused on information sharing between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus (HC). Research into spatial working memory has shown that successful execution of many types of behaviors requires synchronous activity in the theta range between the mPFC and HC, whereas studies of memory consolidation have shown that shifts in area dep...

A Constructive Critique of the Three Standard Systems

It has become conventional to say that our knowledge of fundamental physical law is summarized in a Standard Model. But this convention lumps together two quite different conceptual structures, and leaves out another. I think it is more accurate and informative to say that our current, working description of fundamental physics is based on three standard conceptual systems. These systems are ve...

Evolutionary psychology and consumer behavior: A constructive critique

We examine the theoretical basis for the evolutionary narrative common to the target papers by Saad (this issue) and by Griskevicius and Kenrick (this issue) and identify areas of controversy that have sparked debate about evolutionary psychology [EP] among biologists and behavioral ecologists. The two main areas of disagreement are over (1) the role of genetic adaptations resulting from natura...