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Alexander Chubykin
Research Interests:
Working memory is the type of memory necessary for storing and managing the information for a short time. It is required for complex cognitive tasks involving the selection, initiation, and termination of information-processing functions such as encoding, storing, and retrieving data. One of the typical tests of working memory is when an examiner asks a person to listen to a series of numbers and then to recall these numbers in order.
Extensive neurophysiological studies suggest that persistent neuronal activity correlates with working memory and may potentially provide its neuronal basis. Persistent neuronal firing after external stimulus removal has been observed in various brain regions including cortex, hippocampus and even brainstem. The concept of temporary information storage in ‘reverberating’ neuronal circuits was first introduced by Donald Hebb. However, Hebb also recognized that this short-term memory can not be stored forever, because the circuits can not reverberate forever. He suggested that this memory needs to be consolidated, i.e. converted from a short-term to a more long-term, more stable memory, by physical reorganization of the neural network.
The mechanisms underlying persistent activity and its effect on the structure of the neuronal circuit involved in this process are largely unknown. Elucidation of these mechanisms and their relation to working memory and memory consolidation remains my main scientific interest.
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