ABSTRACT
By what means is it possible to sample from “the fields and spacious palaces” of memory to “discern the breath of lilies from violets, though smelling nothing”? The question of how experiences from the past can be brought forth into the present has for centuries interested not only saints, but philosophers, scientists, practitioners, and the lay public alike. In previous chapters, I made passing references to the means by which this feat is accomplished. In the present chapter, we move beyond the metaphors of “fields and spacious palaces” to the more concrete reality of the true place of residence of memories-namely, the brain. Although the 21st-century version of the location in which memories reside is not as poetic as that of Augustine’s time, the question of the origin and later reproduction of memories remains every bit as compelling: How is it that the roughly 1,500 grams (3½ pounds) of tissue that sits in the bony case atop our shoulders re-creates, in living color, the times of our lives once they are past? Although nearly two centuries have gone by since the time of Saint Augustine, we have not solved the entire mystery. Yet in the relatively recent
history of modern brain science, we have made good progress. In this chapter, I provide a brief introduction to the major methods employed to investigate the neural bases of memory and then outline what we have learned using them. The present discussion is confined to function in the mature organism. Developmental issues are the subject of chapter 6.
