PSYC 2330 Lecture Notes - Learning, Habituation, Reverberatory Furnace
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Questions & answers november 29: mack 238 2:30-3:30, mack 234 3:30-4:30, not a mandatory class. Hebb rule: learning is a process by which experiences change our nervous system. Let us assume, then, that the persistance or repetition of a reverberatory activity (or "trace") tends to induce lasting cellular changes that add to its stability. The assumption can be precisely stated as follows: Important idea: a connection between two neurons takes place only if both neurons are firing at about the same time: hebb rule. Activity-dependent changes in synaptic transmission: two types of learning, 1. Repeated stimulation of a single synapse: pre-synaptic action potentials leave an after-effect that alter the release of neurotransmitter in response to subsequent action potentials. If the after-effect increases the amount of neurotransmitter released by successive action potentials, it is referred to as synaptic enhancement: conversely, if the after-effect reduces the release by subsequent action potentials, it is referred to as synaptic depression.