ABSTRACT
Learning is the process by which the brain's neural networks are developed—those that haven't been built in by heredity—and it is common to all animals and men. A popular theory leans heavily on the idea of changed functional patterns at the neurons' synapses. One school believes that neurons respond automatically to incoming stimuli and send on the resultant electrical impulses by various and accidentally chosen pathways. An increased amount of synaptic chemical activity could spread through a whole group of cells, linking them into assemblies that are unique for each bit of learning. Among the constituents of cells, two are of overriding importance: the genes, which are segments of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that fills the chromosomes in our cell nuclei; and cell proteins. To a biochemist, therefore, the significant aspect of an organism's inheritance is the link between these proteins and its DNA.
