The tradeoff between stability and plasticity may also explain why the brain uses two information stores. Like information in RAM, patterns of spiking change quickly and are suited to active manipulation of information during perception and thought. Because they are easily disturbed by new perceptions and thoughts, patterns of spiking are useful

Ordering in time also seems important for some associations. As a child you recited the letters of the alphabet repeatedly until you knew them by heart. You learned the association from each letter to the next,

This tradeoff has been named the “stability–plasticity dilemma”

Perception is the association of an idea with a stimulus, while thought is the association of an idea with another idea.

every stream has a bed.

a feeling of difficulty often accompanies the experience of memory, while perception usually feels effortless.

The best way of making humans effective is to minimize the time they waste on trivial tasks.

Today maps are practical items for me, not magical objects. As my childhood memories grow faint, I wonder whether my fascination with maps helped me cope with a fear of the world’s vastness. Back then, I never ventured beyond the streets of my neighborhood without my parents; the city beyond seemed frightening. Placing the entire world on a sphere

If two neurons are repeatedly activated sequentially, the connection from the first to the second is strengthened.