Recall cell body-> axon hillock-> electrical impulse down axon-> release neurotransmitters in synapse-> neurotransmitters bind to dendrite receptors-> electrical signal up dendrites-> cell body-> onwards if and only if axon hillock fires. Also recall- "In the most well understood form of LTP, enhanced communication is predominantly carried out by improving the postsynaptic cell's sensitivity to signals received from the presynaptic cell.- Malenka R, Bear M (2004). "LTP and LTD: an embarrassment of riches". Neuron 44 (1): 5–21. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2004.09.012. PMID 15450156.
A person who remembers everything would have a high "build" rate of receptors or whatever machinery needed to enhance this structure by deduction. It would also seem by deduction that a lot of building=remembering would lead to a lot of old debris ie collateral damage to the area BUT I think people with bigger memories also tend to dement less so than people with lesser memories. If this latter caveat is true, either there is less collateral "garbage" or the means to clean up the "garbage" is increased for the memory endowed person. Hence we have more building with less garbage (more building with less chance of error ie less garbage seems ridiculous, analogous to violating the second law of thermodynamics) or more building with better cleanup crews.
Hence, I slant toward if 1) enhanced communication is predominantly carried out by improving the postsynaptic cell's sensitivity to signals received from the presynaptic cell=> a pathway must be built? b/c it is new knowledge (is knowledge merely pathways of neurons in the brain?), contrasting with crews cleaning up already present pathways w/c just need to be cleaned.=> high memory achievers must be either faster builders/faster cleaners, average builders/faster cleaning, or faster builders/average cleaning.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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