The Hebb Synapse Before Hebb: Theories of Synaptic Function in Learning and Memory Before Hebb (1949), With a Discussion of the Long-Lost Synaptic Theory of William McDougall
Since the work of Semon was rediscovered by Schacter in 1978, there has been a renewed interest is searching for the “engram” as the locus of memory in the brain and Hebb’s cell assembly has been equated with Semon’s engram. There have been many theories of memory involving some concept of synaptic...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-10-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.732195/full |
| _version_ | 1819033901619740672 |
|---|---|
| author | Richard E. Brown Thaddeus W. B. Bligh Jessica F. Garden |
| author_facet | Richard E. Brown Thaddeus W. B. Bligh Jessica F. Garden |
| author_sort | Richard E. Brown |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since the work of Semon was rediscovered by Schacter in 1978, there has been a renewed interest is searching for the “engram” as the locus of memory in the brain and Hebb’s cell assembly has been equated with Semon’s engram. There have been many theories of memory involving some concept of synaptic change, culminating in the “Hebb Synapse” theory in 1949. However, Hebb said that the idea that any two cells or systems of cells that are repeatedly active at the same time will tend to become “associated,” was not his idea, but an old one. In this manuscript we give an overview of some of the theories of the neural basis of learning and memory before Hebb and describe the synaptic theory of William McDougall, which appears to have been an idea ahead of its time; so far ahead of its time that it was completely ignored by his contemporaries. We conclude by examining some critiques of McDougall’s theory of inhibition and with a short discussion on the fate of neuroscientists whose ideas were neglected when first presented but were accepted as important many decades later. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T07:25:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b0d5273e794e42b3ac7286b77dfb6701 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T07:25:12Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-b0d5273e794e42b3ac7286b77dfb67012022-12-21T19:11:41ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532021-10-011510.3389/fnbeh.2021.732195732195The Hebb Synapse Before Hebb: Theories of Synaptic Function in Learning and Memory Before Hebb (1949), With a Discussion of the Long-Lost Synaptic Theory of William McDougallRichard E. BrownThaddeus W. B. BlighJessica F. GardenSince the work of Semon was rediscovered by Schacter in 1978, there has been a renewed interest is searching for the “engram” as the locus of memory in the brain and Hebb’s cell assembly has been equated with Semon’s engram. There have been many theories of memory involving some concept of synaptic change, culminating in the “Hebb Synapse” theory in 1949. However, Hebb said that the idea that any two cells or systems of cells that are repeatedly active at the same time will tend to become “associated,” was not his idea, but an old one. In this manuscript we give an overview of some of the theories of the neural basis of learning and memory before Hebb and describe the synaptic theory of William McDougall, which appears to have been an idea ahead of its time; so far ahead of its time that it was completely ignored by his contemporaries. We conclude by examining some critiques of McDougall’s theory of inhibition and with a short discussion on the fate of neuroscientists whose ideas were neglected when first presented but were accepted as important many decades later.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.732195/fullengramsynaptic theorycell assemblyideas before their timehistory |
| spellingShingle | Richard E. Brown Thaddeus W. B. Bligh Jessica F. Garden The Hebb Synapse Before Hebb: Theories of Synaptic Function in Learning and Memory Before Hebb (1949), With a Discussion of the Long-Lost Synaptic Theory of William McDougall Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience engram synaptic theory cell assembly ideas before their time history |
| title | The Hebb Synapse Before Hebb: Theories of Synaptic Function in Learning and Memory Before Hebb (1949), With a Discussion of the Long-Lost Synaptic Theory of William McDougall |
| title_full | The Hebb Synapse Before Hebb: Theories of Synaptic Function in Learning and Memory Before Hebb (1949), With a Discussion of the Long-Lost Synaptic Theory of William McDougall |
| title_fullStr | The Hebb Synapse Before Hebb: Theories of Synaptic Function in Learning and Memory Before Hebb (1949), With a Discussion of the Long-Lost Synaptic Theory of William McDougall |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Hebb Synapse Before Hebb: Theories of Synaptic Function in Learning and Memory Before Hebb (1949), With a Discussion of the Long-Lost Synaptic Theory of William McDougall |
| title_short | The Hebb Synapse Before Hebb: Theories of Synaptic Function in Learning and Memory Before Hebb (1949), With a Discussion of the Long-Lost Synaptic Theory of William McDougall |
| title_sort | hebb synapse before hebb theories of synaptic function in learning and memory before hebb 1949 with a discussion of the long lost synaptic theory of william mcdougall |
| topic | engram synaptic theory cell assembly ideas before their time history |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.732195/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT richardebrown thehebbsynapsebeforehebbtheoriesofsynapticfunctioninlearningandmemorybeforehebb1949withadiscussionofthelonglostsynaptictheoryofwilliammcdougall AT thaddeuswbbligh thehebbsynapsebeforehebbtheoriesofsynapticfunctioninlearningandmemorybeforehebb1949withadiscussionofthelonglostsynaptictheoryofwilliammcdougall AT jessicafgarden thehebbsynapsebeforehebbtheoriesofsynapticfunctioninlearningandmemorybeforehebb1949withadiscussionofthelonglostsynaptictheoryofwilliammcdougall AT richardebrown hebbsynapsebeforehebbtheoriesofsynapticfunctioninlearningandmemorybeforehebb1949withadiscussionofthelonglostsynaptictheoryofwilliammcdougall AT thaddeuswbbligh hebbsynapsebeforehebbtheoriesofsynapticfunctioninlearningandmemorybeforehebb1949withadiscussionofthelonglostsynaptictheoryofwilliammcdougall AT jessicafgarden hebbsynapsebeforehebbtheoriesofsynapticfunctioninlearningandmemorybeforehebb1949withadiscussionofthelonglostsynaptictheoryofwilliammcdougall |