Describe the neuroanatomy of and neural processes related to learning based on current literature.

There is a subtle difference between learning and memory whereas learning is the process by which in ones mind there is an incorporation of new information and abilities and memory is the way in which the mind stores the information and abilities. There is a great importance from the outset that there are many kinds of memory such as procedural memory. Procedural memory is the process of remembering how to do certain things. Declarative memory is another memory where one can remember actual semantic information. These two memories are often unrelated in many instances. A prime example of these two memories would be a basketball player may have the perfect three point shot, but does not need to be fully aware of the physics that goes into shooting a three-pointer because procedural memory comes into play. To some extent this describes the difference between declarative and procedural memory. Even though that they are totally different form one another they both are a kind of memory. You can describe learning as a process in which experiences are incorporates into a persons memory. This definition can be broad and encompasses not only the most traditional type of learning such as school learning. Learning can also be described as people forming memories of significant events that have occurred in the past. However, biologically, learning encompasses all of these aspects because the same system is largely responsible for all different kinds of learning. This system is a part of the limbic system, with the main focus being on the hippocampus and the frontal lobe. Communication from the firing of electrical impulses in neurons comes from the limbic system. These neurons are known for storing different information in ways that are not fully understood. There is a property that regards these neurons which is known as plasticity. Plasticity is defined as determining factors which gives individual neurons the ability to take on new information. Neurons take on information when an individual is exposed to the stimulus to be learned. While at this time, the amplitude of the excitatory potential comes to rise for a long period of time which indicates learning. There is a different process in retrieval, but it also retains some similarities. When the retrieval process the reactivation of neurons, the information that is being learned is very exciting. When it comes to both long-term and short-term memories, the same process happens similarly. Both types of memories are stored in different places, but the process stays the same. When processing long-term memory, the pattern is as one would expect to ensure that the memories are permanently stores. This includes actual change to cell structure and the formation of new and unused synapses. This process is known as encoding which involves stimuli being translated into the storage system used by the brain, consolidation which is taking the encoded stimuli and linking with other memories, and retrieval which is accessing the memory of the stimuli at a later date.

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