About the Memory Theme
Research
Memory Theme Members
Overview of Memory Theme Research
From the University of Otago's 1998 Research Report
Memory is a central process of human and animal behaviour. Human memory might seem more familiar to us as something we can’t always rely on, being prone to error and distortion. But scientific studies of the memory system have revealed the vast capacity of human memory and its extraordinary flexibility. This is not surprising, since memory is essential to a biological system that must be able to adapt to new situations. It is the means by which prior experience and knowledge is maintained, both across an individual's lifetime learning, and in the cultural or social knowledge of a group. In animals, memory is at work when individuals search for the most productive feeding patches or engage in patterns of behaviour essential for their survival. Memory is the essential component of an adaptive system.
By researching the underlying physiological processes involved in memory, researchers at the University of Otago are investigating what happens when human memory fails. The more serious failures might occur during the expert operation of complex machinery or public transport. Other instances are failing memory due to aging, and neurological problems such as Alzheimers disease. By understanding the brain mechanisms behind memory, and how memory depends on events in the everyday environment, Otago researchers hope to develop methods for alleviating or rehabilitating memory problems.
At the University of Otago, memory processes are documented through psychological studies of encoding and retrieval, development delayed discrimination, neurological deficit and cognition, and simulated through computer modelling. Other projects aim to understand the brain mechanisms of memory formation. Memory research is applied to situations of organic diseases and neurological disorders, head injury, eyewitness testimony, ageing, skilled performance and individual learning.
Research into the mechanisms of memory storage in the central nervous system ranges from the cellularlevel - including the analysis of memory-related changes in the synaptic connections between nerve cells in the brain – to pharmacological studies of various drugs that affect learning and memory, and behavioural research investigating which parts of the brain are involved in specific types of memory. The comparative studies of animals and humans under way at the University of Otago aim to understand the basic characteristics of memory storage and retrieval in order to identify their underlying principles.
An increasingly important area of memory research at Otago is the development of computer models that involve memory storage as a fundamental characteristic. In these models, the interface between the neural systems and human cognition is explored in terms of decision processes, information processing and connectionist models.
The development of memory - in particular, how memory changes with age - is another major research area. Working with children of different ages, from six month old infants to schoolage children, researchers are investigating early memory processes, the influence of language acquisition on memory, and how well children remember early experiences that may later become part of their autobiographical memories.
Increasingly frequently, young children are being called upon to provide testimony in legal contexts, and the reliability of their memory has come under scrutiny as a consequence. Children's eye-witness memory is being explored following delays ranging in time from one day to five years, in order to examine the developmental differences in memory that contribute to changes in children's reports of past events.
Another aspect of this research is concerned with developing and assessing techniques that may increase children's recall of their experiences and that bolster their resistance to misleading questions.
Staff involved in memory research are drawn from the Departments of Anatomy and Structural Biology, Biochemistry, Computer Science, Pharmacology, Physiology, Physical Education, Psychology and Zoology, and there is an extensive collaboration with overseas institutions.
Professor Harlene Hayne (centre) and researcher Gabrielle Simcock developed the 'Magic Shrinking Machine' to study how memory develops. Large objects placed in the machine 'magically' emerge at a smaller size. Children from eighteen months to four years are tested to see how much they remember about the magic machine from previous visits, and how these memories are linked to language acquisition.