An argument that individuals and collectives form memories by analogous processes and a case study of collective retrograde amnesia.
We form individual memories by a process known as consolidation: the conversion of immediate and fleeting bits of information into a stable and accessible representation of facts and events. These memories provide a version of the past that helps us navigate the present and is critical to individual identity. In this book, Thomas Anastasio, Kristen Ann Ehrenberger, Patrick Watson, and Wenyi Zhang propose that social groups form collective memories by analogous processes. Using facts and insights from neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and history, they describe a single process of consolidation with analogous―not merely comparable―manifestations on any level, whether brain, family, or society. They propose a three-in-one model of memory consolidation, composed of a buffer, a relator, and a generalizer, all within the consolidating entity, that can explain memory consolidation phenomena on individual and collective levels.
When consolidation is disrupted by traumatic injury to a brain structure known as the hippocampus, memories in the process of being consolidated are lost. In individuals, this is known as retrograde amnesia. The authors hypothesize a "social hippocampus" and argue that disruption at the collective level can result in collective retrograde amnesia. They offer the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) as an example of trauma to the social hippocampus and present evidence for the loss of recent collective memory in mainland Chinese populations that experienced the Cultural Revolution.

Individual and Collective Memory Consolidation: Analogous Processes on Different Levels (Mit Press)

Self-Help

Watson, Patrick

Anastasio, Thomas J.

Ehrenberger, Kristen Ann

Zhang, Wenyi

Memory Improvement

Mit Pr

Individual and Collective Memory Consolidation: Analogous Processes on Different Levels

The MIT Press

Neural systems models are elegant conceptual tools that provide satisfying insight into brain function. The goal of this new book is to make these tools accessible. It is written specifically for students in neuroscience, cognitive science, and related areas who want to learn about neural systems modeling but lack extensive background in mathematics and computer programming. The book opens with an introduction to computer programming. Each of twelve subsequent chapters presents a different modeling paradigm by describing its basic structure and showing how it can be applied in understanding brain function. The text guides the reader through short, simple computer programs--printed in the book and available by download at the companion website--that implement the paradigms and simulate real neural systems. Motivation for the simulations is provided in the form of a narrative that places specific aspects of neural system behavior in the context of more general brain function. The narrative integrates instruction for using the programs with description of neural system function, and readers can actively experience the fun and excitement of doing the simulations themselves. Designed as a hands-on tutorial for students, this book also serves instructors as both a teaching tool and a source of examples and exercises that provide convenient starting points for more in-depth exploration of topics of their own specific interest. The distinguishing pedagogical feature of this book is its computer programs, written in MATLAB, that help readers develop basic skill in the area of neural systems modeling. (All of the program files are available online via the book's companion website.) Actual data on real neural systems is presented in the book for comparison with the results of the simulations. Also included are asides ("Math Boxes") that present mathematical material that is relevant but not essential to running the programs. Exercises and references at the end of each chapter invite readers to explore each topic area on their own.

Tutorial on Neural Systems Modeling

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Sinauer Associates is an imprint of Oxford University Press

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