[MURG] Non-invasive 3-D Scanning

[digfarenough]

> > I don't believe that LTP makes me "me" -- it forms
> and fades away on 
> > the order of minutes to hours. [...] Long-term
> memory is almost
> > certainly encoded in structural changes,  e.g. the
> formation of new
> > synapses and withdrawal of old ones.
> 

that's definitely one part of long-term plasticity,
but not all of it.. synapses can change strength
without disappearing

> Are you saying that every time you remember a phone
> number, your brain
> is re-wired? I thought structural changes only
> followed extended
> training (like a physical skill which is practiced
> many times) and
> that memory of fact and experiences was chemical.
> 

actually memories indeed are reencoded after they are
retrieved, so in a sense, yes..
structural changes really are chemical, if you think
about it.. and the chemical changes of plasticity are
structural as well in a sense

the difference between cortical plasticity (where your
factual knowledge and experiences and such are store)
and hippocampal plasticity (where recent events are
stored for a smaller amount of time while they are
being consolidated) is that cortical plasticity is
much harder to induce, but lasts a lot longer, while
hippocampal plasticity is quick to come and quick to
go
I'm not sure how short-term or working memory fit into
that.. I oughtta look it up..
 -Eric

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