This Nova Science Video allows you to watch a fascinating account of the Aplysia sea slug and what it has taught us about the brain and memory. Since its neurons are very large, scientists can use them to find out about the “bedrock” of memory formation; that is, what happens to the neurons of the brain as we form memories.
Here is a fascinating summary of Kandel’s research into the sea slug, a creature with only 20,000 neurons. You need to scroll to the bottom of this web page to read this account:
♦By viewing this dissection of a sheep’s brain, you will gain some appreciation of the differing brain structures that underlie our various memory capacities. These help to explain, for instance, why it was possible for a profound amnesiac such as HM to learn new skills but not new information: