Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

Living Edition
| Editors: Jennifer Vonk, Todd Shackelford

Long-Term Memory

  • Jason N. BruckEmail author
Living reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_783-1
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Synonyms

Autobiographical memory and procedural memory; Declarative memory; Episodic memory; Explicit memory; Semantic memory

Definition of Long-Term Memory

Long-term memory is, conceptually, the process by which events, skills, procedures, and concepts are stored indefinitely in the mind. That is not to say that forgetting is impossible, just that there is no precisely defined point when that will happen (Greene 1987). The model most people are familiar with involves the movement of concepts from short-term or working memory into long-term memory with rehearsal or practice (Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968). It is thought that information moving through short-term memory is encoded into long-term memory through a process called synaptic consolidation which leads to the formation of a permanent change in the brain defined as an engram (Dudai 2004; Liu et al. 2012). This change in brain connections is thought to materialize physically as increased synaptic strength (increased dendritic...

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Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Integrative BiologyOklahoma State UniversityStillwaterUSA

Section editors and affiliations

  • Kenneth Leising
    • 1
  1. 1.Texas Christian UniversityForth WorthUSA