The Evolutionary Road to Human Memory

by Elisabeth A. Murray, Steven P. Wise, Mary K.L. Baldwin

We tend to think about memory in terms of the human experience, neglecting the fact that we can trace a direct line of descent from the earliest vertebrates to modern humans. But the evolutionary history that we share with other vertebrates has left a mark on modern memory, complemented by unique forms of memory that emerged in humans.

This book tells an intriguing story about how evolution shaped human memory. It explains how a series of now-extinct ancestral species adapted to life in their world, in their time and place. As they did, new brain areas appeared, each of which supported an innovative form of memory that helped them gain an advantage in life. Through inheritance and modification across millions of years, these evolutionary developments created several kinds of memory that influence the human mind today. Then, during human evolution, yet another new kind of memory emerged: about ourselves and others. This evolutionary innovation ignited human imagination; empowered us to remember and talk about a personal past; and enabled the sharing of knowledge about our world, our culture, and ourselves. Through these developments, our long journey along the evolutionary road to human memory made it possible for every individual, day upon day, to add new pages to the story of a life: the remarkably rich record of experiences and knowledge that make up a human mind.

Written in an engaging and accessible style, The Evolutionary Road to Human Memory will be enjoyable reading for anyone interested in the human mind.

224 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2020

About the author

Elisabeth A. (Betsy) Murray was raised with her three brothers in Syracuse, New York. She received a B.S. in Biology from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas. Dr. Murray is an elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, of the American Psychological Association, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She currently heads the Laboratory of Neuropsychology at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Research Interests
Dr. Murray’s laboratory studies the neural basis of learning, memory, emotion and response selection, with two main areas of focus. The first of these two research programs involves the independent mnemonic contributions of the different medial temporal lobes structures, the extent to which different medial temporal lobe structures must interact in storing information and their interaction with the prefrontal cortex. Her work has demonstrated that, for some types of memory, the entorhinal and perirhinal cortical regions in the ventral medial temporal lobe play a more important role than does the hippocampus. Not only does this area, termed the rhinal cortex, specialize in storing knowledge about objects, but it may serve as the core system for semantic memory.

A second focus of the Murray laboratory is the neural bases of decision making. This work examines the neural circuits critical for affective processing and the way in which affective information, including reward, guides response selection. This work has shown that the amygdala and orbital prefrontal cortex operate as part of a network involved in emotion, reward-based learning and goal-directed behavior. These circuits contribute importantly to behavioral flexibility in the face of changes in reward contingencies or reward value. A key hypothesis is that the orbital prefrontal cortex is part of a larger prefrontal region critical for the valuation of choice outcomes.

Dr. Murray’s laboratory has pioneered the use of MRI-guided stereotaxic surgery, a method that has for the first time allowed examination of the selective mnemonic contributions of various medial temporal lobe structures.

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