Page 54 - Use Your Memory

THE HISTORY OF MEMORY
at the moment to make it a useful idea.' It was not for some fifty
years that localising the area of memory function became a useful
pursuit.
Another major theory presented in this century was that of Pierre
Flourens, a French physiologist, who 'located' the memory in every
part of the brain. He said that the brain acted as a whole and could
not be considered as the interaction of elementary parts.

Modern Theories
Developments in memory research have been aided to an enor-
mous degree by advances in technology and methodology. Almost
without exception psychologists and other thinkers in this field
agree that memory is located in the cerebrum, which is the large
area of the brain covering the surface of the cortex. Even today,
however, the exact localisation of memory areas is proving a
difficult task, as is the accurate understanding of the function of
memory itself. Current thought has progressed from Hermann
Ebbinghaus's work, at the turn of the century, with regard to basic
learning and forgetting curves (see chapter 25), to advanced and
complex theories. Research and theory can be roughly divided
into three main areas: work on establishing a biochemical basis for
memory; theories suggesting that memory can no longer be con-
sidered as a single process but must be broken down into divi-
sions; and the clinical surgeon Wilder Penfield's work on brain
stimulation.
Research into the biochemical basis for memory was initiated in
the late 1950s. This theory suggests that RNA (ribonucleic acid),
a complex molecule, serves as a chemical mediator for memory.
RNA is produced by the substance DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid),
which is responsible for our genetic inheritance. For example,
DNA determines eye colour. A number of experiments have been
performed with RNA that lend support to the idea that RNA does
indeed have a lot to do with the way in which we remember things.
In one instance, when animals were given certain types of training,
the RNA found in specific cells was changed. And further, if the
production of RNA in an animal's body was stopped or modified,
this animal was unable to learn or remember. An even more
exciting experiment showed that when RNA was taken from one
rat and injected into another, the second rat 'remembered' things
that he had never been taught but that the first rat had.
While research into this aspect of memory is progressing, other
theorists are saying that we should stop emphasising 'memory'
and concentrate more on the study of 'forgetting'. Their position

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