Neural Basis of Learning and Memory
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this graduate-level course on how memory works at the cellular, molecular, and cognitive levels. Sessions pair lectures with discussion of primary research papers, covering hippocampal mechanisms in both human and animal models. Topics include synaptic plasticity, long-term potentiation, and the neuroscience linking molecular storage processes to higher-level cognitive function. The course draws on Brain and Cognitive Sciences faculty research and assigns students to read and critique published studies alongside the lecture material. Course materials include readings lists and assignments, distributed under MIT's open license, free to access with no certificate offered. It suits students who already have background in neuroscience and want a research-oriented look at how the brain encodes and retrieves memory, rather than an introductory survey.