In this chapter you will learn
 

• How and where memories are stored in the brain
• What changes occur in the brain during learning
• How aging and two major disorders impair learning

Now that we have finished the sections on the neurobiology of the nervous systems and the sensory systems, we are ready to discuss higher-order systems and behaviors. Chapter 12 begins the final part of the text, Complex Behavior, with a presentation of the topics of learning and memory. The discussion opens with a consideration of learning as the storage of memories, presented in the context of memory loss. The different types of amnesia are described in terms of the neural structures involved, with an In the News about the legacy of the patient HM. The brain changes that occur during learning, in particular long-term potentiation, are explained with a focus on the neural growth that occurs during learning and the consolidation of memories. Then, the chapter concludes with a discussion of the disorders of learning and memory. The negative effects of aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and Korsakoff’s syndrome on learning and memory are discussed, both from the biological as well as the environmental perspective.  The chapter concludes with the hopeful conclusion that the memory impairments of today may be cured in the future.