Procedural memory

Conscious events interact with memory systems in learning, rehearsal and retrieval (Ebbinghaus 1885/1964; Tulving 1985). Here we present hypotheses that arise from the IDA computional model (Franklin, Kelemen and McCauley 1998; Franklin 2001b) of global workspace theory (Baars 1988, 2002). Our primary tool for this exploration is a flexible cognitive cycle employed by the IDA computational model and hypothesized to be a basic element of human cognitive processing. Since cognitive cycles are hypothesized to occur five to ten times a second and include interaction between conscious contents and several of the memory systems, they provide the means for an exceptionally fine-grained analysis of various cognitive tasks. We apply this tool to the small effect size of subliminal learning compared to supraliminal learning, to process dissociation, to implicit learning, to recognition vs. recall, and to the availability heuristic in recall. The IDA model elucidates the role of consciousness in the updating of perceptual memory, transient episodic memory, and procedural memory. In most cases, memory is hypothesized to interact with conscious events for its normal functioning. The methodology of the paper is unusual in that the hypotheses and explanations presented are derived from an empirically based, but broad and qualitative computational model of human cognition.

The study evaluates the efficacy of a procedural memory stimulation programme in mild and mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). Twenty basic and instrumental activities of daily living have been selected, and divided into two groups, comparable for difficulty. Ten normal elderly subjects (age 68.0L4.8 years; MMSE score: 28.7+ 0.9; education: 7.6k3.5 years) were asked to perform the two groups of daily activities and the time required to perform the tasks of each group was recorded and used as a reference. Ten mild and mild-moderate AD patients (age 77.2k5.3 years; MMSE score: 19.823.5; education: 7.3k4.7 years) without major behavioural disturbances constituted the experimental group. Patients were evaluated in all 20 daily activities and the time employed was recorded at baseline and after a 3-week training (1 h/d, 5 d/week) period. Five patients were trained during the 3 weeks on half of the 20 daily activities and the other five patients were trained on the remainder. This procedure was adopted in order to detect separately the improvement in "trained" and "not trained" activities, allowing to control better the effects of the intervention. The assessment of the functional impact of the training was directly measured, through the variation of time employed to perform tasks before and after training. After 3 weeks of training a significant improvement was observed for the trained activities, from 3.6 to 1.9 standard deviations below the performance of the normal elderly controls (P<O.O5). A D patients improved also in not-trained activities from 3.5 to 2.7 standard deviations below the controls' performance (P<O.O5). The rehabilitation of activities of daily living through developing procedural memory strategies may be effective in mild and mild-moderate problem is the

Objective: This review tests Ribot's classic twofold categorization of generalized amnesia (GA) into Type I, total loss of episodic memory, and Type II, additional more or less extensive loss of semantic and/or procedural memory. It also explores his law of regression, according to which, cast in modern terms, recovery of lost procedural and semantic memories precedes recovery of episodic memory, as well as reported aetiological factors. Method: Clinically and formally assessed cases of GA, published since 1845, were surveyed and further analyzed. Results: Over and above authentic episodic memory loss, cases differed widely in the extent of impairment of semantic and procedural memory. Recovery of semantic and procedural memory often preceded recovery of episodic memory. This particularly applied to authenticated trauma memories. To an extent, lost memories affected current functioning, and in some cases were associated with alternating dissociative personalities. Severe memory distortions upon memory recovery were not reported. Most cases were trauma or stress related, while in some cases the aetiology remained unknown. Conclusions: Contrary to the view expressed in DSM-IV, which states that dissociative amnesia pertains to an inability to recall personal information, GA may also involve loss and recovery of semantic and procedural memories. Since the loss of various memory types in GA is dimensional rather than categorical, Ribot's typological distinction does not hold. Some of the reviewed cases suggest a trauma-related aetiology. Generalized amnesia of varying degrees of severity can involve delayed retrieval of trauma memories, as well as the loss and delayed retrieval of the premorbid personality.

Objective: This review tests Ribot's classic twofold categorization of generalized amnesia (GA) into Type I, total loss of episodic memory, and Type II, additional more or less extensive loss of semantic and/or procedural memory. It also explores his law of regression, according to which, cast in modern terms, recovery of lost procedural and semantic memories precedes recovery of episodic memory, as well as reported aetiological factors. Method: Clinically and formally assessed cases of GA, published since 1845, were surveyed and further analyzed. Results: Over and above authentic episodic memory loss, cases differed widely in the extent of impairment of semantic and procedural memory. Recovery of semantic and procedural memory often preceded recovery of episodic memory. This particularly applied to authenticated trauma memories. To an extent, lost memories affected current functioning, and in some cases were associated with alternating dissociative personalities. Severe memory distortions upon memory recovery were not reported. Most cases were trauma or stress related, while in some cases the aetiology remained unknown. Conclusions: Contrary to the view expressed in DSM-IV, which states that dissociative amnesia pertains to an inability to recall personal information, GA may also involve loss and recovery of semantic and procedural memories. Since the loss of various memory types in GA is dimensional rather than categorical, Ribot's typological distinction does not hold. Some of the reviewed cases suggest a trauma-related aetiology. Generalized amnesia of varying degrees of severity can involve delayed retrieval of trauma memories, as well as the loss and delayed retrieval of the premorbid personality.

Sleep spindles and rapid eye movements have been found to increase following an intense period of learning on a combination of procedural memory tasks. It is not clear whether these changes are task specific, or the result of learning in general. The current study investigated changes in spindles, rapid eye movements, K-complexes and EEG spectral power following learning in good sleepers randomly assigned to one of four learning conditions: Pursuit Rotor (n = 9), Mirror Tracing (n = 9), Paired Associates (n = 9), and non-learning controls (n = 9). Following Pursuit Rotor learning, there was an increase in the duration of Stage 2 sleep, spindle density (number of spindles/min), average spindle duration, and an increase in low frequency sigma power (12-14 Hz) at occipital regions during SWS and at frontal regions during Stage 2 sleep in the second half of the night. These findings are consistent with previous findings that Pursuit Rotor learning is consolidated during Stage 2 sleep, and provide additional data to suggest that spindles across all non-REM stages may be a mechanism for brain plasticity. Following Paired Associates learning, theta power increased significantly at central regions during REM sleep. This study provides the first evidence that REM sleep theta activity is involved in declarative memory consolidation. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that brain plasticity during sleep does not involve a unitary process; that is, different types of learning have unique sleep-related memory consolidation mechanisms that act in dissociable brain regions at different times throughout the night.

This study examined how individual differences in cognitive abilities account for variance in the attainment level of adult second language (L2) syntactic development. Participants completed assessments of declarative and procedural learning abilities. They subsequently learned an artificial L2 under implicit training conditions and received extended comprehension and production practice using the L2. Syntactic development was assessed at both early and late stages of acquisition. Results indicated positive relationships between declarative learning ability and syntactic development at early stages of acquisition and between procedural learning ability and development at later stages of acquisition. Individual differences in these memory abilities accounted for a large amount of variance at both stages of development. The findings are consistent with theoretical perspectives of L2 that posit different roles for these memory systems at different stages of development, and suggest that declarative and procedural memory learning abilities may predict L2 grammatical development, at least for implicitly trained learners.

This is an updated, improved version of my BA thesis from 2013. Only cosmetic changes were made; the meaning of the sentences is unaffected.

I researched Michael Ullman’s claims about the explanatory power of his declarative/procedural model of lexicon and grammar, which states that lexical information is stored in declarative memory, whereas grammatical rules (in this case, verbal inflection) are accessed “in real time” using procedural memory. I reviewed existing literature on the subject and ultimately found that even though Ullman’s model is neurologically accurate, it is not sufficiently powerful to explain the psycholinguistics of verb inflection.

English translation available.

This study was conducted to examine the neuropsychological effects of white matter and subcortical gray matter pathology. Nineteen patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), 16 with Huntington's disease (HD), and 17 normal controls (NC) participated. Participants completed the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), Rotary Pursuit (RP) and Mirror Tracing (MT) tasks, and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). The principal findings pertain to a dissociation in procedural memory: on RP, the HD group demonstrated impaired sequence learning compared to the MS group, which performed similarly to the NC group, yet on MT, the MS and HD groups demonstrated normal perceptual-motor integration learning. On the CVLT, both patient groups performed better on recognition than on recall. On the SDMT, both patient groups performed worse than the NC group, with the HD group performing more poorly than the MS and NC groups. These results suggest that involvement of white and subcortical gray matter may produce different neuropsychological effects.

The hippocampal formation and striatum subserve declarative and procedural memory, respectively. However, experimental evidence suggests that the ventral striatum, as opposed to the dorsal striatum, does not lend itself to being part of either system. Instead, it may constitute a system integrating inputs from the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus to generate motivational, outcome-predicting signals that invigorate goal-directed behaviors. Inspired by reinforcement learning models, we suggest an alternative scheme for computational functions of the striatum. Dorsal and ventral striatum are proposed to compute outcome predictions largely in parallel, using different types of information as input. The nature of the inputs to striatum is furthermore combinatorial, and the specificity of predictions transcends the level of scalar value signals, incorporating episodic information.

Introduction: the diversity of embodied remembering Experiences of embodied remembering are familiar and diverse. We settle bodily into familiar chairs or find our way easily round familiar rooms. We inhabit our own kitchens or cars or workspaces effectively and comfortably, and feel disrupted when our habitual and accustomed objects or technologies change or break or are not available. Hearing a particular song can viscerally bring back either one conversation long ago, or just the urge to dance. Some people explicitly use their bodies to record, store, or cue memories. Others can move skilfully, without stopping to think, in complex and changing environments thanks to the cumulative expertise accrued in their history of fighting fires, or dancing, or playing hockey. The forms of memory involved in these cases may be distinct, operating at different timescales and levels, and by way of different mechanisms and media, but they often cooperate in the many contexts of our practices of remembering.

The goal of this chapter is to discuss the ACT-R cognitive architecture (Anderson et al., in press) from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Instead of the more traditional approach of presenting representations, performance mechanisms and learning mechanisms (e. g. Anderson & Lebiere, 1998), the architecture will be discussed along the lines of modeling paradigms, methods by which the architecture can be used to model specific phenomena. These modeling paradigms serve as templates and building blocks for cognitive models, including models of multi-agent interaction, of which examples will be presented in later chapters. The version of the architecture discussed here is ACT-R 5.0.Central to ACT-R is the notion of a declarative memory for facts, and a procedural memory for rules. ACT-R 5.0 extends this basis with a set of modules that interact with the outside world. As a consequence, declarative memory has become another module, while the production system takes the center...

In this paper we attempt to develop mechanisms for procedural memory and procedural learning for cognitive robots on the basis of what is known about the same facilities in humans and animals. The learning mechanism will provide agents with the ability to learn new actions and action sequences with which to accomplish novel tasks.

Are the linguistic forms that are memorized in the mental lexicon and those that are speciWed by the rules of grammar subserved by distinct neurocognitive systems or by a single computational system with relatively broad anatomic distribution? On a dual-system view, the productive -ed-suYxation of English regular past tense forms (e.g., look-looked) depends upon the mental grammar, whereas irregular forms (e.g., dig-dug) are retrieved from lexical memory. On a single-mechanism view, the computation of both past tense types depends on associative memory. Neurological double dissociations between regulars and irregulars strengthen the duaNSl-system view. The computation of real and novel, regular and irregular past tense forms was investigated in 20 aphasic subjects. Aphasics with non-Xuent agrammatic speech and left frontal lesions were consistently more impaired at the production, reading, and judgment of regular than irregular past tenses. Aphasics with Xuent speech and word-Wnding diYculties, and with left temporal/temporo-parietal lesions, showed the opposite pattern. These patterns held even when measures of frequency, phonological complexity, articulatory diYculty, and other factors were held constant. The data support the view that the memorized words of the mental lexicon are subserved by a brain system involving left temporal/temporo-parietal structures, whereas aspects of the mental grammar, in particular the computation of regular morphological forms, are subserved by a distinct system involving left frontal structures. 

This study investigated whether individual differences in declarative and procedural memory abilities predicted
the learning and retention of second language (L2) syntactic structures under incidental conditions. Participants
were exposed to novel syntactic structures in a semi-artificial language paradigmunder incidental learning conditions.
After exposure, theywere given a surprise recognition task inwhich they were asked to discriminate old
and new sentences, which only could be done on the basis of their syntactic structures. Participants were then
given an identical surprise test after a period of no exposure. Declarative memory abilities predicted performance
on the immediate, but not delayed, recognition task, whereas procedural memory abilities predicted performance
on the delayed, but not immediate, recognition task. The results demonstrate that the previouslyreported
relationships between declarative and procedural memory abilities and L2 development under intentional learning conditions can also be found under incidental learning conditions.

Introduction: Most authors argue that the main cause of reading difficulties is the phonological dimension. Nevertheless, there are alternative explanations, since the phonological processing includes three distinct processes. Regarding the role of memory, literature focuses mainly on visual and auditory memory, dismissing other types and memory function (e.g., procedural memory), whose impact may be important in reading.
Aim: To study the relationship between the visual, auditory and procedural memory on sublexical, lexical, syntactic and semantic reading processes.
Method: 110 children aged 7-11 years from several Portuguese schools completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, CPM, PROLEC-R, PADD, PMI4, Rey Complex Figure, TOMAL, MAI, Yuste Memory, Tower of Hanoi and TOMAL.
Results: Visual memory contributes to explain the statistical variance of the identification of letters, as well as sublexical, lexical, syntactic and semantic processes. The same applies to auditory memory, except regarding lexical processes. The procedural memory only contributes to the explanation of sublexical, lexical and syntactical processes.
Conclusions: Several modalities of memory (visual, auditory and procedural) play an important role in the explanation of reading processes.

Evidence will be reviewed suggesting a fairly direct link between the human ability to think about entities which one has never perceived-here called 'cognition by description'-and procedural memory. Cognition by description is a uniquely hominid trait which makes religion, science, and history possible. It is hypothesized that cognition by description (in the manner of Bertrand Russell's 'knowledge by description') requires variable binding, which in turn utilizes quantifier raising. Quantifier raising plausibly depends upon the computational core of language, specifically the element of it which Noam Chomsky calls 'internal Merge'. Internal Merge produces hierarchical structures by means of a memory of derivational steps, a process plausibly involving procedural memory. The hypothesis is testable, predicting that procedural memory deficits will be accompanied by impairments in cognition by description. We also discuss neural mechanisms plausibly underlying procedural memory and also, by our hypothesis, cognition by description.

Objective: This review tests Ribot's classic twofold categorization of generalized amnesia (GA) into Type I, total loss of episodic memory, and Type II, additional more or less extensive loss of semantic and/or procedural memory. It also explores his law of regression, according to which, cast in modern terms, recovery of lost procedural and semantic memories precedes recovery of episodic memory, as well as reported aetiological factors. Method: Clinically and formally assessed cases of GA, published since 1845, were surveyed and further analyzed. Results: Over and above authentic episodic memory loss, cases differed widely in the extent of impairment of semantic and procedural memory. Recovery of semantic and procedural memory often preceded recovery of episodic memory. This particularly applied to authenticated trauma memories. To an extent, lost memories affected current functioning, and in some cases were associated with alternating dissociative personalities. Severe memory distortions upon memory recovery were not reported. Most cases were trauma or stress related, while in some cases the aetiology remained unknown. Conclusions: Contrary to the view expressed in DSM-IV, which states that dissociative amnesia pertains to an inability to recall personal information, GA may also involve loss and recovery of semantic and procedural memories. Since the loss of various memory types in GA is dimensional rather than categorical, Ribot's typological distinction does not hold. Some of the reviewed cases suggest a trauma-related aetiology. Generalized amnesia of varying degrees of severity can involve delayed retrieval of trauma memories, as well as the loss and delayed retrieval of the premorbid personality.

Sleep spindles and rapid eye movements have been found to increase following an intense period of learning on a combination of procedural memory tasks. It is not clear whether these changes are task specific, or the result of learning in general. The current study investigated changes in spindles, rapid eye movements, K-complexes and EEG spectral power following learning in good sleepers randomly assigned to one of four learning conditions: Pursuit Rotor (n = 9), Mirror Tracing (n = 9), Paired Associates (n = 9), and non-learning controls (n = 9). Following Pursuit Rotor learning, there was an increase in the duration of Stage 2 sleep, spindle density (number of spindles/min), average spindle duration, and an increase in low frequency sigma power (12-14 Hz) at occipital regions during SWS and at frontal regions during Stage 2 sleep in the second half of the night. These findings are consistent with previous findings that Pursuit Rotor learning is consolidated during Stage 2 sleep, and provide additional data to suggest that spindles across all non-REM stages may be a mechanism for brain plasticity. Following Paired Associates learning, theta power increased significantly at central regions during REM sleep. This study provides the first evidence that REM sleep theta activity is involved in declarative memory consolidation. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that brain plasticity during sleep does not involve a unitary process; that is, different types of learning have unique sleep-related memory consolidation mechanisms that act in dissociable brain regions at different times throughout the night.

Learning novel skills involves reorganization and optimization of cognitive processing involving a broad network of brain regions. Previous work has shown asymmetric costs of switching to a well-trained task vs. a poorly-trained task, but the neural basis of these differential switch costs is unclear. The current study examined the neural signature of task switching in the context of acquisition of new skill. Human participants alternated randomly between a novel visual task (mirror-reversed word reading) and a highly practiced one (plain word reading), allowing the isolation of task switching and skill set maintenance. Two scan sessions were separated by 2 weeks, with behavioral training on the mirror reading task in between the two sessions. Broad cortical regions, including bilateral prefrontal, parietal, and extrastriate cortices, showed decreased activity associated with learning of the mirror reading skill. In contrast, learning to switch to the novel skill was associated with...

Introduction and Context The following article examines the discourse surrounding the use of implicit memory (or 'muscle memory') and explicit memory within guitar performance practice. Given the dependance guitarists have towards muscle memory and concerns students have invariably expressed towards me concerning the musical 'limitations' of prescribed, uninspiring finger patterns and shapes, I felt it was a significant to address this through examining how implicit and explicit memory is employed from a guitarist's perspective. The Cambridge Dictionary 1 defines muscle memory as: 'the ability to move a part of your body without thinking about it, learned by repeating the movement many times'. Muscle memory is also referred to as procedural memory, motor memory, implicit or even non-declarative memory. However, explicit memory (also known as declarative) is based on the conscious recollection of facts and/or events. These differentiations are highlighted by Kim Ann Zimmerman 2 : 'Declarative memory consists of facts and events that can be consciously recalled or "declared." Also known as explicit memory, it is based on the concept that this type of memory consists of information that can be explicitly stored and retrieved. Declarative memory differs from procedural memory, which encompasses skills such as the use of objects or movements of the body that are deeply embedded and are performed without being aware.' An over-reliance on existing muscle memory is commonplace among guitarists and this is often seen as a catalyst by the player to seek out new material using different fretboard patterns and shapes. While this can be effective, I have realised as a guitar teacher that often it is the sounds generated by the muscle memory the player wishes to change, not the muscle memory itself. After all, muscle memory provides enormous technical advantages for the guitarist, such as facilitating the execution of fast single note passages or being able to draw upon a range of chord voicings with ease. My experimentation with alternate tunings has demonstrated that by changing the tuning, not the muscle memory motions, a guitarist can in fact retain existing muscle memory movements while at the same time completely changing the harmonic, melodic and timbral implications of the sounds they are generating. Changing the tuning also causes the player to develop new muscle memory shapes and patterns in line with their own musical aesthetics. Indeed, should the player find themselves in the same uninspiring situation with another tuning, there are virtually an infinite number of alternatives they can try.

Although research has examined factors influencing understanding of informed consent in biomedical and forensic research, less is known about participants' attention to details in consent documents in psychological survey research. The present study used a randomized experimental design and found the majority of participants were unable to recall information from the consent form in both in-person and online formats. Participants were also relatively poor at recognizing important aspects of the consent form including risks to participants and confidentiality procedures. Memory effects and individual difference characteristics also appeared to influence recall and recognition of consent form information.

Sleep has been identified as a state that optimizes the consolidation of newly acquired information in memory. Straight memory deficits and sleep disturbances are well-known in patients with schizophrenia. This study tested the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia have a deficit in procedural and declarative memory consolidation after a short midday nap when compared to healthy controls and patients with remitted to moderate major depression.

This is an abstract for a paper in which we proposed to describe our perspective on the structure of deductive reasoning, that is, we describe the principal psychological components of that reasoning and how they interact.  The components include: consciousness, the automated guiding of actions, stimulus-independent thought, and what we call local memory, a temporary, easily accessed, part of memory. In discussing deductive reasoning, we restrict our attention to the construction of mathematical arguments, and in particular, to proof construction, but no prior knowledge of mathematics will be required to understand our examples.

Sleep has been found to enhance consolidation of many different forms of memory. However in most procedural tasks, a sleep-independent, fast learning component interacts with slow, sleep-dependent improvements. Here, we show that in humans a visuo-motor saccade learning task shows no improvements during training, but only during a delayed recall testing after a period of sleep. Subjects were trained in a prosaccade task (saccade to a visual target). Performance was tested in the prosaccade and the antisaccade task (saccade to opposite direction of the target) before training, after a night of sleep or sleep deprivation, after a night of recovery sleep, and finally in a follow-up test 4 weeks later. We found no immediate improvement in saccadic reaction time (SRT) during training, but a delayed reduction in SRT, indicating a slow-learning process. This reduction occurred only after a period of sleep, i.e. after the first night in the sleep group and after recovery sleep in the sleep deprivation group. This improvement was stable during the 4-week follow-up. Saccadic training can thus induce covert changes in the saccade generation pathway. During the following sleep period, these changes in turn bring about overt performance improvements, presuming a learning effect based on synaptic tagging.

This study evaluated the efficacy of two different group procedures of non-pharmacological treatment in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thirty-two patients entered the study and were divided in groups of four subjects. We compared recreational activities ('global' stimulation) with a combination of procedural memory training on activities of daily living and neuropsychological rehabilitation of 'residual' functions ('cognitive-specific'). All patients and caregivers were ensured psychological support. Both group treatments were delivered for six weeks. Multidimensional efficacy assessment of functional, behavioural and neuropsychological aspects was performed. Patients receiving 'global' stimulation showed a substantial reduction in behavioural disturbances (Neuropsychiatric Inventory [NPI]: frequency p ¼ 0.034; severity p ¼ 0.012); Revised Memory Behaviour Problems Checklist (frequency p ¼ 0.008; reaction p ¼ 0.027), and better performance in the Functional Living Skills Assessment (FLSA), a standardized direct measure of performance in everyday life (p ¼ 0.021) and Verbal Fluency for Letters (p ¼ 0.000). Patients receiving 'cognitive-specific' treatment improved only on the scale evaluating functional competence in daily living (Nurses' Observation Scale for Geriatric Patients [NOSGER] p ¼ 0.018). At follow-up (six months later), compared with baseline, patients following the 'global' stimulation treatment showed an improvement at caregiver distress on NPI (p ¼ 0.04). No other significant difference was detected. Our results support the contention that a 'global' treatment can lead to a significant improvement in AD patients, both for behavioural and functional aspects. The 'cognitive-specific' treatment we used in this research did not show better efficacy.

The Tower of Hanoi has been widely accepted as an evaluation of cognitive procedural learning in amnesia but inconsistent findings have raised questions about the nature of the learning process involved in this task. This article presents the performance of a hippocampal amnesic, MS, who, showing poor learning across daily sessions of a formal evaluation, subsequently solved the puzzle through spontaneous use of a declarative-level strategy (the oddeven rule), suggesting that his primary approach to the task was the deployment of declarative solution-searching strategies. The presented data suggest normal learning within daily sessions, but subnormal learning across daily sessions due to the forgetting of acquired declarative information. It is suggested that tasks that are potentially solvable by an algorithm or rule, as is the Tower of Hanoi, be regarded as inappropriate for use in cognitive procedural assessments.

In this paper, we present LIDA, a working model of, and theoretical foundation for, machine consciousness. LIDA&#x27;s architecture and mechanisms were inspired by a variety of computational paradigms and LIDA implements the Global Workspace Theory of consciousness. The LIDA architecture&#x27;s cognitive modules include perceptual associative memory, episodic memory, functional consciousness, procedural memory and action-selection. Cognitive robots and software agents controlled by the LIDA architecture will be ...

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Procedural memory is characterised by a relative resistance to pathology, making its assessment of the utmost importance. However, few studies have looked at the cognitive processes involved in cognitive procedural learning. In an initial experiment, we studied the role of different cognitive functions in massed cognitive procedural learning. Our results confirmed the existence of three separate learning phases and, for the first time, demonstrated the involvement of episodic memory and executive functions in the first learning phase. In a second experiment, we studied the effect of distributed learning conditions on the dynamics of procedural learning. This second study confirmed our results but showed that these conditions slow down the process of cognitive procedural learning. Our overall findings call into question the status of functionally autonomous memory system that is currently allotted to procedural memory, and suggest that the role of nonprocedural cognitive components should be taken into account in patient rehabilitation.

The striatum is thought to play an essential role in the acquisition of a wide range of motor, perceptual, and cognitive skills, but neuroimaging has not yet demonstrated striatal activation during nonmotor skill learning. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed while participants learned probabilistic classification, a cognitive task known to rely on procedural memory early in learning and declarative memory later in learning. Multiple brain regions were active during probabilistic classification compared with a perceptual-motor control task, including bilateral frontal cortices, occipital cortex, and the right caudate nucleus in the striatum. The left hippocampus was less active bilaterally during probabilistic classification than during the control task, and the time course of this hippocampal deactivation paralleled the expected involvement of medial temporal structures based on behavioral studies of amnesic patients. Findings provide initial evidence for the role of frontostriatal systems in normal cognitive skill learning.

Objectives According to the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH) abnormalities in brain structures underlying
procedural memory, largely explain language deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI).
The PDH assumes that the procedural memory affects the learning of grammar but the lexical knowledge is
not affected. This study aims to examine the procedural memory and its relationship with language skills, in
particular with grammar, in children with SLI.
Methods and Materials In this case-control study, We investigated the performance of 9 children with SLI
and 9 typically developing children on a number of language and memory tasks. Children with SLI were
chosen from speech therapy clinics in Mashhad. The typically developing children selected randomly among
kids in a kindergarten. Tools used in this study included Told-P:3, Raven's standard progressive matrices, Expressive
One-word Picture Vocabulary Test, Renfrew Action Picture Test, sentence completion subtest from
the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), and the Serial Reaction Time task (SRT).
To analyze the data, we used the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient was also
used to measure the dependence between the variables.
Results This study provides evidence of abnormal procedural memory functioning in children with SLI
based on the PDH; however there is no correlation between grammar deficits and abnormal procedural
memory in either the SLI (r-value = -0.52, sig. = 0.14) or the control group (r-value = 0.73, sig. =0.73).
Conclusion The results provide mixed support for the PDH. Thus, additional research is required to substantiate
the results observed in this study.

Since the seminal research by Jenkins and Dallenbach in the 1920s, it has been well proven that sleep has a major effect on the memory of pre-sleep material. However, there is still sparse knowledge about exactly which features of sleep have the most impact.

The basal ganglia play a central role in cognition and are involved in such general functions as action selection and reinforcement learning. Here, we present a model exploring the hypothesis that the basal ganglia implement a conditional information-routing system. The system directs the transmission of cortical signals between pairs of regions by manipulating separately the selection of sources and destinations of information transfers. We suggest that such a mechanism provides an account for several cognitive functions of the basal ganglia. The model also incorporates a possible mechanism by which subsequent transfers of information control the release of dopamine. This signal is used to produce novel stimulus-response associations by internalizing transferred cortical representations in the striatum. We discuss how the model is related to production systems and cognitive architectures. A series of simulations is presented to illustrate how the model can perform simple stimulus-response tasks, develop automatic behaviors, and provide an account of impairments in Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

Changing routines and creating new routinization processes are difficult tasks involving both cognitive and political mechanisms. In this paper we use Defial- a French meet proessing firm- in order to illustrate some of the problems involved in creating a new procedural memory in a workshop and in applying the concept of &#39;routine&#39;. We discuss some methodological implications resulting from our

This study was conducted to examine the neuropsychological effects of white matter and subcortical gray matter pathology. Nineteen patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), 16 with Huntington's disease (HD), and 17 normal controls (NC) participated. Participants completed the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), Rotary Pursuit (RP) and Mirror Tracing (MT) tasks, and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). The principal findings pertain to a dissociation in procedural memory: on RP, the HD group demonstrated impaired sequence learning compared to the MS group, which performed similarly to the NC group, yet on MT, the MS and HD groups demonstrated normal perceptual-motor integration learning. On the CVLT, both patient groups performed better on recognition than on recall. On the SDMT, both patient groups performed worse than the NC group, with the HD group performing more poorly than the MS and NC groups. These results suggest that involvement of white and subcortical gray matter may produce different neuropsychological effects. We thank Katie Carey for her assistance with project coordination and data collection, and Diane Bouhall, and Fred McCulley for their assistance with data collection.

The charge-pumping technique is used for the characterization of the lateral charge distribution in non-volatile memory devices that are based on localized trapping of charge. The lateral charge distribution is calculated directly from charge-pumping measurements using a deconvolution-based procedure. Memory cells employing either a siliconrich-oxide or Si 3 N 4 trapping medium have been analyzed. Electrons are injected into the trapping medium using channel-hot-electron-injection. The influence of programming pulse width, retention time and device channel length on the lateral charge distribution has been investigated.