Memory Matters

Over a century ago the renowned Spanish neuroanatomist Santiago Ramon
y Cajal proposed that: ‘neuronal connections are not definitive and
immutable, since, as it were, provisional associations are created
that are destined to remain or to be destroyed according to
indeterminate circumstances, a fact that, incidentally, demonstrates
the great initial mobility of the growth of neurons.’ This theory was
revolutionary in its time as it suggested that experience leaves a
trace in the human brain. That these traces are inscribed and linked,
vanish and change throughout life. They are a form of plasticity
allowing each person to be singular and each brain to be unique and
free.

Professor Ciaran M Regan of the Conway Institute in UCD will discuss
the crucial role for these memory traces in our personal survival and,
also, as a creative device that allows us imagine our future.

Memory Matters

Over a century ago the renowned Spanish neuroanatomist Santiago Ramon
y Cajal proposed that: ‘neuronal connections are not definitive and
immutable, since, as it were, provisional associations are created
that are destined to remain or to be destroyed according to
indeterminate circumstances, a fact that, incidentally, demonstrates
the great initial mobility of the growth of neurons.’ This theory was
revolutionary in its time as it suggested that experience leaves a
trace in the human brain. That these traces are inscribed and linked,
vanish and change throughout life. They are a form of plasticity
allowing each person to be singular and each brain to be unique and
free.

Professor Ciaran M Regan of the Conway Institute in UCD will discuss
the crucial role for these memory traces in our personal survival
and,
also, as a creative device that allows us imagine our future.

Date: Tuesday 10th November 2009
Location:The Mercantile, Dame St, Dublin 2
Time: 7.30pm (Sharp)
Admission: Free - All Welcome!