The nature of memory

Memory, and its failings, are surely the most important factors in determining human behaviour. In humans and the higher animals the memory process is manifestly so complex as to defy direct experimental investigation. However, the snail Hermissenda crassicornis, with a nervous system many orders of magnitude simpler, has been shown to be capable of associative learning, and investigation of its cellular basis throws light on the mechanisms governing the memory process generally, and, more specifically, as now being revealed in the rabbit hippocampus and cerebellum.