Memory and learning

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡعِلۡمَ وَٱلۡإِيمَٰنَ لَقَدۡ لَبِثۡتُمۡ فِي كِتَٰبِ ٱللَّهِ إِلَىٰ يَوۡمِ ٱلۡبَعۡثِۖ فَهَٰذَا يَوۡمُ ٱلۡبَعۡثِ وَلَٰكِنَّكُمۡ كُنتُمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ

but those endowed with knowledge and faith will say, ‘In accordance with God’s decree, you actually lingered till the Day of Resurrection: this is the Day of Resurrection, yet you did not know.’

وَٱتَّبَعُواْ مَا تَتۡلُواْ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينُ عَلَىٰ مُلۡكِ سُلَيۡمَٰنَۖ وَمَا كَفَرَ سُلَيۡمَٰنُ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينَ كَفَرُواْ يُعَلِّمُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ ٱلسِّحۡرَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَى ٱلۡمَلَكَيۡنِ بِبَابِلَ هَٰرُوتَ وَمَٰرُوتَۚ وَمَا يُعَلِّمَانِ مِنۡ أَحَدٍ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَآ إِنَّمَا نَحۡنُ فِتۡنَةࣱ فَلَا تَكۡفُرۡۖ فَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مِنۡهُمَا مَا يُفَرِّقُونَ بِهِۦ بَيۡنَ ٱلۡمَرۡءِ وَزَوۡجِهِۦۚ وَمَا هُم بِضَآرِّينَ بِهِۦ مِنۡ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِ ٱللَّهِۚ وَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مَا يَضُرُّهُمۡ وَلَا يَنفَعُهُمۡۚ وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمُواْ لَمَنِ ٱشۡتَرَىٰهُ مَا لَهُۥ فِي ٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ مِنۡ خَلَٰقࣲۚ وَلَبِئۡسَ مَا شَرَوۡاْ بِهِۦٓ أَنفُسَهُمۡۚ لَوۡ كَانُواْ يَعۡلَمُونَ

and followed what the evil ones had fabricated about the Kingdom of Solomon instead. Not that Solomon himself was a disbeliever; it was the evil ones who were disbelievers. They taught people witchcraft and what was revealed in Babylon to the two angels Harut and Marut. Yet these two never taught anyone without first warning him, ‘We are sent only to tempt- do not disbelieve.’ From these two, they learned what can cause discord between man and wife, although they harm no one with it except by God’s leave. They learned what harmed them, not what benefited them, knowing full well that whoever gained [this knowledge] would lose any share in the Hereafter. Evil indeed is the [price] for which they sold their souls, if only they knew

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِذَا تَدَايَنتُم بِدَيۡنٍ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلࣲ مُّسَمࣰّ ى فَٱكۡتُبُوهُۚ وَلۡيَكۡتُب بَّيۡنَكُمۡ كَاتِبُۢ بِٱلۡعَدۡلِۚ وَلَا يَأۡبَ كَاتِبٌ أَن يَكۡتُبَ كَمَا عَلَّمَهُ ٱللَّهُۚ فَلۡيَكۡتُبۡ وَلۡيُمۡلِلِ ٱلَّذِي عَلَيۡهِ ٱلۡحَقُّ وَلۡيَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ رَبَّهُۥ وَلَا يَبۡخَسۡ مِنۡهُ شَيۡـࣰٔ اۚ فَإِن كَانَ ٱلَّذِي عَلَيۡهِ ٱلۡحَقُّ سَفِيهًا أَوۡ ضَعِيفًا أَوۡ لَا يَسۡتَطِيعُ أَن يُمِلَّ هُوَ فَلۡيُمۡلِلۡ وَلِيُّهُۥ بِٱلۡعَدۡلِۚ وَٱسۡتَشۡهِدُواْ شَهِيدَيۡنِ مِن رِّجَالِكُمۡۖ فَإِن لَّمۡ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيۡنِ فَرَجُلࣱ وَٱمۡرَأَتَانِ مِمَّن تَرۡضَوۡنَ مِنَ ٱلشُّهَدَآءِ أَن تَضِلَّ إِحۡدَىٰهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحۡدَىٰهُمَا ٱلۡأُخۡرَىٰۚ وَلَا يَأۡبَ ٱلشُّهَدَآءُ إِذَا مَا دُعُواْۚ وَلَا تَسۡـَٔمُوٓاْ أَن تَكۡتُبُوهُ صَغِيرًا أَوۡ كَبِيرًا إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلِهِۦۚ ذَٰلِكُمۡ أَقۡسَطُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَأَقۡوَمُ لِلشَّهَٰدَةِ وَأَدۡنَىٰٓ أَلَّا تَرۡتَابُوٓاْ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَ تِجَٰرَةً حَاضِرَةࣰ تُدِيرُونَهَا بَيۡنَكُمۡ فَلَيۡسَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ جُنَاحٌ أَلَّا تَكۡتُبُوهَاۗ وَأَشۡهِدُوٓاْ إِذَا تَبَايَعۡتُمۡۚ وَلَا يُضَآرَّ كَاتِبࣱ وَلَا شَهِيدࣱۚ وَإِن تَفۡعَلُواْ فَإِنَّهُۥ فُسُوقُۢ بِكُمۡۗ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَۖ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ ٱللَّهُۗ وَٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيۡءٍ عَلِيمࣱ‏

You who believe, when you contract a debt for a stated term, put it down in writing: have a scribe write it down justly between you. No scribe should refuse to write: let him write as God has taught him, let the debtor dictate, and let him fear God, his Lord, and not diminish [the debt] at all. If the debtor is feeble-minded, weak, or unable to dictate, then let his guardian dictate justly. Call in two men as witnesses. If two men are not there, then call one man and two women out of those you approve as witnesses, so that if one of the two women should forget the other can remind her. Let the witnesses not refuse when they are summoned. Do not disdain to write the debt down, be it small or large, along with the time it falls due: this way is more equitable in God’s eyes, more reliable as testimony, and more likely to prevent doubts arising between you. But if the merchandise is there and you hand it over, there is no blame on you if you do not write it down. Have witnesses present whenever you trade with one another, and let no harm be done to either scribe or witness, for if you did cause them harm, it would be a crime on your part. Be mindful of God, and He will teach you: He has full knowledge of everything

وَلَن تَرۡضَىٰ عَنكَ ٱلۡيَهُودُ وَلَا ٱلنَّصَٰرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمۡۗ قُلۡ إِنَّ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ هُوَ ٱلۡهُدَىٰۗ وَلَئِنِ ٱتَّبَعۡتَ أَهۡوَآءَهُم بَعۡدَ ٱلَّذِي جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلۡعِلۡمِ مَا لَكَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مِن وَلِيࣲّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ

The Jews and the Christians will never be pleased with you unless you follow their ways. Say, ‘God’s guidance is the only true guidance.’ If you were to follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, you would find no one to protect you from God or help you

وَلَئِنۡ أَتَيۡتَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ بِكُلِّ ءَايَةࣲ مَّا تَبِعُواْ قِبۡلَتَكَۚ وَمَآ أَنتَ بِتَابِعࣲ قِبۡلَتَهُمۡۚ وَمَا بَعۡضُهُم بِتَابِعࣲ قِبۡلَةَ بَعۡضࣲۚ وَلَئِنِ ٱتَّبَعۡتَ أَهۡوَآءَهُم مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ مَا جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلۡعِلۡمِ إِنَّكَ إِذࣰ ا لَّمِنَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ

Yet even if you brought every proof to those who were given the Scripture, they would not follow your prayer direction, nor will you follow theirs, nor indeed will any of them follow one another’s direction. If you [Prophet] were to follow their desires, after the knowledge brought to you, you would be doing wrong

وَقَالَ لَهُمۡ نَبِيُّهُمۡ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَدۡ بَعَثَ لَكُمۡ طَالُوتَ مَلِكࣰ اۚ قَالُوٓاْ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لَهُ ٱلۡمُلۡكُ عَلَيۡنَا وَنَحۡنُ أَحَقُّ بِٱلۡمُلۡكِ مِنۡهُ وَلَمۡ يُؤۡتَ سَعَةࣰ مِّنَ ٱلۡمَالِۚ قَالَ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱصۡطَفَىٰهُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَزَادَهُۥ بَسۡطَةࣰ فِي ٱلۡعِلۡمِ وَٱلۡجِسۡمِۖ وَٱللَّهُ يُؤۡتِي مُلۡكَهُۥ مَن يَشَآءُۚ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمࣱ‏

Their prophet said to them, ‘God has now appointed Talut to be your king,’ but they said, ‘How can he be king over us when we have a greater right to rule than he? He does not even have great wealth.’ He said, ‘God has chosen him over you, and has given him great knowledge and stature. God grants His authority to whoever He pleases: God is magnanimous, all knowing.’

(And follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon�) [2:102]. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Qantari informed us> Abu'l-Fadl al-Haddadi> Abu Yazid al-Khalidi> Ishaq ibn Ibrahim> Jarir> Husayn ibn 'Abd al-Rahman> 'Imran ibn al-Harith who said: �Once as we were sitting with Ibn 'Abbas when he said: 'The devils used to eavesdrop on heaven. One of them would bring a word of truth from therein, and when he is trusted for telling the truth, he would add to it seventy lies with which he earns the hearts of people. When Solomon came to know about it, he took it and buried it beneath his throne. When he died, a devil stood in the street and said: 'Shall I guide you to Solomon's guarded treasure, the like of which he does not have?' They said: 'Yes, do'. He said: 'It is under his throne; go and unearth it'. They said: 'This is magic'. Different nations then copied it f

But those who have been given knowledge and faith of angels and others shall say ‘You have remained according to God’s decree in accordance with what He had decreed for you in His prior knowledge until the Day of Resurrection. This is the Day of Resurrection which you rejected but you did not know’ that it would come to pass.

And on the Day that the Hour will be established, the criminals will swear that they stayed not but an hour – thus were they ever deluded (55)And those who have been bestowed with knowledge and Faith will say: "Indeed you have stayed according to the decree of Allah, until the Day of Resurrection; so this is the Day of Resurrection, but you knew not. (56)So, on that Day no excuse of theirs will avail those who did wrong, nor will they be allowed to return to seek (Allah's) pleasure (57) The Ignorance of the Disbelievers in this World and in the Hereafter Here Allah tells us of the ignorance of the disbelievers in this world and in the Hereafter. In this world they worship idols, and in the Hereafter they will also display great ignorance. They will swear by Allah that they did not even stay for one hour in this world. They will mean that there was not enough time given to establish pro

(And the Jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians�) [2:120]. The commentators of the Qur�an said: �They used to ask the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, for truce, giving him the impression that if he were to accord them truce and respite they will follow him and believe in him. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. But Ibn �Abbas said: �This was revealed regarding the qiblah. This is because the Jews of Medina and the Christians of Najran were in the hope that the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, will remain praying to their qiblah. When Allah directed him to pray toward the Ka�bah, they were disappointed and despaired of him ever following their religion. And so Allah revealed this verse�.

And they follow wa’ttaba‘ū is a supplement to nabadha ‘it cast away’ what the devils used to relate during the time of Solomon’s kingdom in the way of sorcery it is said that they the devils buried these books of sorcery underneath his throne when his kingdom was taken from him; it is also said that they used to listen stealthily and add fabrications to what they heard and then pass it on to the priests who would compile it in books; this would be disseminated and rumours spread that the jinn had knowledge of the Unseen. Solomon gathered these books and buried them. When he died the devils showed people where these books were and the latter brought them out and found that they contained sorcery and said ‘Your kingdom was only thanks to what is in here’; they then took to learning them and rejected the Scriptures of their prophets. In order to demonstrate Solomon’s innocence and in repudi

O you who believe when you contract when you are dealing with a debt such as in prepayment for future delivery of goods or a loan one upon another for a stated a known term write it down as confirmation and security against any dispute; and let a writer write it the contract of debt down between you justly accurately not increasing or decreasing the amount or the terms; and let not any writer refuse to write it down if he is requested for such a task as God has taught him the kāf of ka-mā ‘as’ is semantically connected to the verb ya’ba ‘refuse’ that is just as He has given him the advantage of knowing how to write he should not be niggardly in this respect; so let him write repeated for emphasis and let the debtor dictate to the one writing the contract for he is the one being witnessed and must be fully aware of his obligations; and let him fear God his Lord when dictating and not dimi

حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ حُجْرٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الأُمَوِيُّ، عَنِ ابْنِ جُرَيْجٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي مُلَيْكَةَ، عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ، قَالَتْ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُقَطِّعُ قِرَاءَتَهُ يَقْرَأُ ‏(‏الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ‏)‏ ثُمَّ يَقِفُ ‏(‏ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ ‏)‏ ثُمَّ يَقِفُ وَكَانَ يَقْرَؤُهَا ‏(‏مَلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ‏)‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ وَبِهِ يَقْرَأُ أَبُو عُبَيْدٍ وَيَخْتَارُهُ هَكَذَا رَوَى يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الأُمَوِيُّ وَغَيْرُهُ عَنِ ابْنِ جُرَيْجٍ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي مُلَيْكَةَ عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ وَلَيْسَ إِسْنَادُهُ بِمُتَّصِلٍ لأَنَّ اللَّيْثَ بْنَ سَعْدٍ رَوَى هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي مُلَيْكَةَ عَنْ يَعْلَى بْنِ مَمْلَكٍ عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ أَنَّهَا وَصَفَتْ قِرَاءَةَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم حَرْفًا حَرْفًا وَحَدِيثُ اللَّيْثِ أَصَحُّ وَلَيْسَ فِي حَدِيثِ اللَّيْثِ وَكَانَ يَقْرَأُ ‏(‏مَلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ‏)‏ ‏.‏

Narrated Ibn Abi Mulaikah:that Umm Salamah said: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would separate recitation reciting: 'Al-Hamdulillahi Rabbil-'Alamin' then he would stop. 'Ar-Rahmanir-Rahim' then he would stop. And he would recite it: 'Maliki Yawmid-Din

حَدَّثَنَا الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْبَصْرِيُّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ حَفْصٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا ثَابِتٌ الْبُنَانِيُّ، عَنْ شَهْرِ بْنِ حَوْشَبٍ، عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ يَقْرَؤُهَا ‏(‏إِنَّهُ عَمِلَ غَيْرَ صَالِحٍ ‏)‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ قَدْ رَوَاهُ غَيْرُ وَاحِدٍ عَنْ ثَابِتٍ الْبُنَانِيِّ نَحْوَ هَذَا وَهُوَ حَدِيثُ ثَابِتٍ الْبُنَانِيِّ وَرُوِيَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ أَيْضًا عَنْ شَهْرِ بْنِ حَوْشَبٍ عَنْ أَسْمَاءَ بِنْتِ يَزِيدَ ‏.‏ وَسَمِعْتُ عَبْدَ بْنَ حُمَيْدٍ يَقُولُ أَسْمَاءُ بِنْتُ يَزِيدَ هِيَ أُمُّ سَلَمَةَ الأَنْصَارِيَّةُ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى كِلاَ الْحَدِيثَيْنِ عِنْدِي وَاحِدٌ وَقَدْ رَوَى شَهْرُ بْنُ حَوْشَبٍ غَيْرَ حَدِيثٍ عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ الأَنْصَارِيَّةِ وَهِيَ أَسْمَاءُ بِنْتُ يَزِيدَ وَقَدْ رُوِيَ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم نَحْوُ هَذَا ‏.‏

Narrated Umm Salamah:"The Prophet (ﷺ) would recite: 'Innahu 'Amila Ghaira Salih

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الأَعْرَجِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ابْنِ بُحَيْنَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّهُ قَالَ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَامَ مِنِ اثْنَتَيْنِ مِنَ الظُّهْرِ لَمْ يَجْلِسْ بَيْنَهُمَا، فَلَمَّا قَضَى صَلاَتَهُ سَجَدَ سَجْدَتَيْنِ ثُمَّ سَلَّمَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ‏.‏

Narrated `Abdullah bin Buhaina:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) got up after the second rak`a of the Zuhr prayer without sitting in between (the second and the third rak`at). When he finished the prayer he performed two prostrations (of Sahu) and then finished the prayer with Taslim

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْوَلِيدِ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنِ الْحَكَمِ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم صَلَّى الظُّهْرَ خَمْسًا فَقِيلَ لَهُ أَزِيدَ فِي الصَّلاَةِ فَقَالَ ‏ "‏ وَمَا ذَاكَ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ صَلَّيْتَ خَمْسًا‏.‏ فَسَجَدَ سَجْدَتَيْنِ بَعْدَ مَا سَلَّمَ‏.‏

Narrated' `Abdullah:Once Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) offered five rak`at in the Zuhr prayer, and somebody asked him whether there was some increase in the prayer. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "What is that?" He said, "You have offered five rak`at." So Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) performed two prostrations of Sahu after Taslim

أَخْبَرَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَلِيٍّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا غَيْلاَنُ بْنُ جَرِيرٍ، عَنْ مُطَرِّفِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ صَلَّى عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ فَكَانَ يُكَبِّرُ فِي كُلِّ خَفْضٍ وَرَفْعٍ يُتِمُّ التَّكْبِيرَ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ عِمْرَانُ بْنُ حُصَيْنٍ لَقَدْ ذَكَّرَنِي هَذَا صَلاَةَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏.‏

It was narrated that Mutarrif bin 'Abdullah said:"Ali bin Abi Talib prayed, and he said the takbir every time he went down and came up, in all movements of the prayer. 'Imran bin Husain said: 'This reminds me of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)

أَخْبَرَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الدَّوْرَقِيُّ، وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، - وَاللَّفْظُ لَهُ - قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْحَمِيدِ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَمْرِو بْنِ عَطَاءٍ، عَنْ أَبِي حُمَيْدٍ السَّاعِدِيِّ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُهُ يُحَدِّثُ، قَالَ كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِذَا قَامَ مِنَ السَّجْدَتَيْنِ كَبَّرَ وَرَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ حَتَّى يُحَاذِيَ بِهِمَا مَنْكِبَيْهِ كَمَا صَنَعَ حِينَ افْتَتَحَ الصَّلاَةَ ‏.‏

It was narrated from Abu Humaid As-Sa'idi that:When the Prophet (ﷺ) stood up following two prostrations, he would say the takbir and raise his hands until they were level with his shoulders, as he had done at the beginning of the prayer

وفيه سبعة أبواب الباب الأول في فضل العلم والتعليم والتعلم

وقال الزهري رحمه الله العلم ذكر ولا تحبه إلا ذكران الرجال فضيلة التعلم

وقيل أول العلم الصمت ثم الاستماع ثم الحفظ ثم العمل ثم نشره

| الفائدة الأولى التعليم والتعلم

فالمحتاج إلى التعلم لما هو فرض عليه عاص بالعزلة

والسفر هو المعين على التعلم في الابتداء

Cued memory reactivation during sleep influences skill learning.: Information acquired during waking can be reactivated during sleep, promoting memory stabilization. After people learned to produce two melodies in time with moving visual symbols, we enhanced relative performance by presenting one melody during an afternoon nap. Electrophysiological signs of memory processing during sleep corroborated the notion that appropriate auditory stimulation that does not disrupt sleep can nevertheless bias memory consolidation in relevant brain circuitry.

The effects of acute stress on episodic memory: A meta-analysis and integrative review.: A growing body of research has indicated that acute stress can critically impact memory. However, there are a number of inconsistencies in the literature, and important questions remain regarding the conditions under which stress effects emerge as well as basic questions about how stress impacts different phases of memory. In this meta-analysis, we examined 113 independent studies in humans with 6,216 participants that explored effects of stress on encoding, postencoding, retrieval, or postreact

Off-line learning of motor skill memory: a double dissociation of goal and movement.: Acquiring a new skill requires learning multiple aspects of a task simultaneously. For example, learning a piano sonata requires learning the musical notes and being able to implement this goal by learning the appropriate sequence of finger movements. After practice, skill continues to develop off-line during a period of consolidation. Here we show that different aspects of a procedural memory are processed separately during consolidation: Only the movement sequence is enhanced over the day; whe

The role of sleep in false memory formation.: Memories are not stored as exact copies of our experiences. As a result, remembering is subject not only to memory failure, but to inaccuracies and distortions as well. Although such distortions are often retained or even enhanced over time, sleep's contribution to the development of false memories is unknown. Here, we report that a night of sleep increases both veridical and false recall in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, compared to an equivalent period of daytime wakefulness. But

Memory for therapy in bipolar disorder and comorbid insomnia.: Objective: To examine the extent to which patients recall the contents of therapy from 1 session to the next and to determine whether recall is associated with treatment outcome. Method: Thirty interepisode individuals with bipolar disorder and comorbid insomnia (ages 21-62 years, 56.7% women, 56.7% Caucasian) participated in a randomized controlled trial of psychotherapies. Patients received either cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBTI-BP; n = 17) or psychoeducation (PE; n = 13). At the

Computerized cognitive training in cognitively healthy older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of effect modifiers.: Background: New effective interventions to attenuate age-related cognitive decline are a global priority. Computerized cognitive training (CCT) is believed to be safe and can be inexpensive, but neither its efficacy in enhancing cognitive performance in healthy older adults nor the impact of design factors on such efficacy has been systematically analyzed. Our aim therefore was to quantitatively assess whether CCT programs can enhance cognition in healthy older adults, discriminate responsive fr

High symptom reporters are less interoceptively accurate in a symptom-related context.

Objective: We investigated the role of a symptom interpretation frame on the accuracy of interoception and on retrospective symptom reporting in nonclinical high and low reporters of medically unexplained symptoms. Methods: All participants (N=74) went through two subsequent trials of the Rebreathing Test, inducing altered respiration and other physical sensations as a result of a gradually increasing pCO(2) level in the blood. Each trial consisted of a baseline (60 s), a rebreathing phase (150 s), and a recovery phase (150 s). In one trial, the sensations were framed in a neutral way ("the gas mixture might alter breathing behavior and induce respiratory sensations"). In the other trial, a symptom frame was induced ("the gas mixture might alter breathing behavior and induce respiratory symptoms"). Breathing behavior was continuously monitored, subjective sensations were rated every 10 s…

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The formation of abnormal associations in schizophrenia: neural and behavioral evidence.

It is hypothesized that due to an abnormal functioning of the reward system patients with schizophrenia form context-inappropriate associations. It has been shown that the dopamine target regions, especially the ventral striatum, are critical in the formation of reward associations. We wanted to examine how the ventral striatum responds as patients learn reward-related associations and how this neural response is linked to objective and subjective behavioral measures. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) Blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) responses were examined using aversive Pavlovian learning in 13 medicated patients with schizophrenia and 13 matched healthy controls. Colored circles served as conditioned stimulus (CS+) while a loud, individually adjusted, noise served as the unconditioned stimulus. Circles of another color served as neutral comparators (CS-). Subjective indi…

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Prospective associations from family-of-origin interactions to adult marital interactions and relationship adjustment.

To test the social learning-based hypothesis that marital conflict resolution patterns are learned in the family of origin, longitudinal, observational data were used to assess prospective associations between family conflict interaction patterns during adolescence and offspring's later marital conflict interaction patterns. At age 14 years, 47 participants completed an observed family conflict resolution task with their parents. In a subsequent assessment 17 years later, the participants completed measures of marital adjustment and an observed marital conflict interaction task with their spouse. As predicted, levels of hostility and positive engagement expressed by parents and adolescents during family interactions were prospectively linked with levels of hostility and positive engagement expressed by offspring and their spouses during marital interactions. Family-of-origin hostility wa…

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Self-representation in social anxiety disorder: linguistic analysis of autobiographical narratives.

Cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) posit aberrant beliefs about the social self as a key psychological mechanism that maintains fear of negative evaluation in social and performance situations. Consequently, a distorted self-view should be evident when recalling painful autobiographical social memories, as reflected in linguistic expression, negative self-beliefs, and emotion and avoidance. To test this hypothesis, 42 adults diagnosed with SAD and 27 non-psychiatric healthy controls (HC) composed autobiographical narratives of distinct social anxiety related situations, generated negative self-beliefs (NSB), and provided emotion and avoidance ratings. Although narratives were matched for initial emotional intensity and present vividness, linguistic analyses demonstrated that, compared to HC, SAD employed more self-referential, anxiety, and sensory words, and made fewer ref…

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Not so innocent: does seeing one's own capacity for wrongdoing predict forgiveness?

People are more forgiving toward transgressors if they see themselves as capable of committing similar offenses, as demonstrated in 7 studies. Methods included hypothetical scenarios, actual recalled offenses, individual and group processes, and correlational and experimental designs. Three factors mediated the link between personal capability and forgiveness: seeing the other's offense as less severe, greater empathic understanding, and perceiving oneself as similar to the transgressor. In terms of predicting forgiveness, it was important that people's own offenses were similar to the target offense in terms of both severity and type. The personal capability effect was independent of other established predictors of forgiveness and was more pronounced among men than women.

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Intergenerational transmission of social anxiety: the role of social referencing processes in infancy.

Responses to an unfamiliar adult were examined in infants of mothers with social phobia (N= 79) and infants of nonanxious comparison mothers (N= 77) at 10 and 14 months in a social referencing paradigm. On each occasion, a female stranger first interacted with the mother and then approached and interacted with the infant. Over time, infants of mothers with social phobia showed increasing avoidance of the stranger, particularly when they were behaviorally inhibited. In boys, maternal social phobia was associated with increasing fearful responses. Infant avoidance was predicted by expressed maternal anxiety and low levels of encouragement to interact with the stranger. The findings are discussed in relation to theories concerning the intergenerational transmission of social anxiety.

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Dynamic changes in accumbens dopamine correlate with learning during intracranial self-stimulation.

Dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is an important neurotransmitter for reward-seeking behaviors such as intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS), although its precise role remains unclear. Here, dynamic fluctuations in extracellular dopamine were measured during ICSS in the rat NAc shell with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes. Rats were trained to press a lever to deliver electrical stimulation to the substantia nigra (SNc)/ventral tegmental area (VTA) after the random onset of a cue that predicted reward availability. Latency to respond after cue onset significantly declined across trials, indicative of learning. Dopamine release was evoked by the stimulation but also developed across trials in a time-locked fashion to the cue. Once established, the cue-evoked dopamine transients continued to grow in amplitude, although they were variable from trial to trial…

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Reduced autobiographical memory specificity predicts depression and posttraumatic stress disorder after recent trauma.

In this prospective longitudinal study, the authors examined the relationship between reduced specificity in autobiographical memory retrieval and the development of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and specific phobia after injury in an assault. Assault survivors (N = 203) completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (J. M. G. Williams & K. Broadbent, 1986) at 2 weeks after the trauma as well as structured clinical interviews at 2 weeks and 6 months. Participants with acute stress disorder or major depression at 2 weeks, but not those with phobia, retrieved fewer specific autobiographical memories than those without the respective disorder. Reduced memory specificity at 2 weeks also predicted subsequent PTSD and major depression at 6 months over and above what could be predicted from initial diagnoses and symptom severity. Moderator analyses showed that low memory specifi…

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Toward a functional neuroanatomy of premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Background: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a prevalent disorder in the spectrum of affective illness, and is associated with significant morbidity. The neurobiology of this underdiagnosed and undertreated illness is poorly understood. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) probe of fronto-limbic function was used to advance understanding of PMDD pathophysiology. Methods: We applied BOLD fMRI and Statistical Parametric Mapping to study neural response to emotional words in the context of an emotional Go/NoGo inhibitory control task. We examined alterations in this response across the menstrual cycle, in the premenstrual (late luteal) phase and the postmenstrual (late follicular) phase. Results: In the premenstrual (vs. postmenstrual) phase, PMDD subjects, compared with asymptomatic subjects, showed an increased amygdala response to negative vs. neutral stimuli, and a de…

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Processing memories of anger-eliciting events: the effect of asking 'why' from a distance.

Preliminary experimental evidence suggests that ruminating about anger-eliciting events exacerbates anger and associated affect. However, no research has investigated the effect of rumination on processing memories of these events. This study examined the impact of manipulating cognitive processing when recalling anger-eliciting events. Participants (N=60) outlined an anger-related experience and were randomly allocated to recall the event according to an experimental instruction that manipulated recall perspective and emotional focus (distanced-why, distanced-what, immersed-why or immersed-what). Participants completed measures of negative affect and implicit and explicit anger, and returned the following day to complete measures that indexed frequency of intrusive memories of the event and memory-related distress. Contrary to prediction, participants allocated to the distanced-why cond…

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On the mediating role of subtypes of rumination in the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and depressed mood: brooding versus reflection.

Background: We examined the mediating role of rumination in the relationship between emotional abuse and depression, focusing on two subtypes of rumination: reflection versus brooding. Methods: Students (n=101) completed the Emotional Abuse subscale of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire; the Ruminative Response Scale; and the Beck Depression Inventory. Results: Rumination was found to mediate the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and depressive symptoms. Further analyses showed that this was only the case for the brooding but not the reflective subtype of rumination. Conclusions: Results further evidence the role of rumination as a mediator of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depression, and are consistent with the recently proposed distinction between different subtypes or forms of rumination.

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Prenatal restraint stress generates two distinct behavioral and neurochemical profiles in male and female rats.

Prenatal Restraint Stress (PRS) in rats is a validated model of early stress resulting in permanent behavioral and neurobiological outcomes. Although sexual dimorphism in the effects of PRS has been hypothesized for more than 30 years, few studies in this long period have directly addressed the issue. Our group has uncovered a pronounced gender difference in the effects of PRS (stress delivered to the mothers 3 times per day during the last 10 days of pregnancy) on anxiety, spatial learning, and a series of neurobiological parameters classically associated with hippocampus-dependent behaviors. Adult male rats subjected to PRS ("PRS rats") showed increased anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze (EPM), a reduction in the survival of newborn cells in the dentate gyrus, a reduction in the activity of mGlu1/5 metabotropic glutamate receptors in the ventral hippocampus, and an increas…

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Effects of pre-learning stress on memory for neutral, positive and negative words: Different roles of cortisol and autonomic arousal.

Stress can have enhancing or impairing effects on memory. Here, we addressed the effect of pre-learning stress on subsequent memory and asked whether neutral and emotionally valent information are differentially affected by specific stress components, autonomic arousal and stress-induced cortisol. Ninety-six healthy men and women underwent either a stressor (modified cold pressor test) or a control warm water exposure. During stress, participants showed comparable autonomic arousal (heart rate, blood pressure), while 60 percent showed an increase of cortisol (responders vs. 40 percent non-responders). Ten minutes after the cold pressor test neutral, positive and negative words were presented. Free recall was tested 1 and 24h later. Overall, positive and negative words were better recalled than neutral words. Stress enhanced the recall of neutral words independently of cortisol response. …

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God and the government: testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems.

The authors propose that the high levels of support often observed for governmental and religious systems can be explained, in part, as a means of coping with the threat posed by chronically or situationally fluctuating levels of perceived personal control. Three experiments demonstrated a causal relation between lowered perceptions of personal control and the defense of external systems, including increased beliefs in the existence of a controlling God (Studies 1 and 2) and defense of the overarching socio-political system (Study 4). A 4th experiment (Study 5) showed the converse to be true: A challenge to the usefulness of external systems of control led to increased illusory perceptions of personal control. In addition, a cross-national data set demonstrated that lower levels of personal control are associated with higher support for governmental control (across 67 nations; Study 3). …

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Overlapping neuronal circuits in addiction and obesity: evidence of systems pathology.

Drugs and food exert their reinforcing effects in part by increasing dopamine (DA) in limbic regions, which has generated interest in understanding how drug abuse/addiction relates to obesity. Here, we integrate findings from positron emission tomography imaging studies on DA's role in drug abuse/addiction and in obesity and propose a common model for these two conditions. Both in abuse/addiction and in obesity, there is an enhanced value of one type of reinforcer (drugs and food, respectively) at the expense of other reinforcers, which is a consequence of conditioned learning and resetting of reward thresholds secondary to repeated stimulation by drugs (abuse/addiction) and by large quantities of palatable food (obesity) in vulnerable individuals (i.e. genetic factors). In this model, during exposure to the reinforcer or to conditioned cues, the expected reward (processed by memory circ…

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Reward-predictive cues enhance excitatory synaptic strength onto midbrain dopamine neurons.

Using sensory information for the prediction of future events is essential for survival. Midbrain dopamine neurons are activated by environmental cues that predict rewards, but the cellular mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon remain elusive. We used in vivo voltammetry and in vitro patch-clamp electrophysiology to show that both dopamine release to reward predictive cues and enhanced synaptic strength onto dopamine neurons develop over the course of cue-reward learning. Increased synaptic strength was not observed after stable behavioral responding. Thus, enhanced synaptic strength onto dopamine neurons may act to facilitate the transformation of neutral environmental stimuli to salient reward-predictive cues.

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Influence of chronic mild stress on the behavioural effects of acute tryptophan depletion induced by a gelatin-based mixture.

Several types of stress can increase vulnerability to developing depression. This depression may be caused by the effects of stress on the serotonergic system, which may make the system more vulnerable. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate whether chronic mild stress (CMS) resulted in long-lasting vulnerability of the serotonergic system, reflected by stronger behavioural responses to a serotonergic challenge with acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) several weeks after the CMS had ended. Male Wistar rats were exposed to 3 weeks of CMS followed by a 2-week resting period. CMS resulted in blunted weight gain and lower sucrose consumption. After the resting period, rats were repeatedly treated with a gelatin-based protein-carbohydrate mixture, either with or without L-tryptophan, to acutely challenge the serotonergic system and the rats were tested in several tests of anxiety-related and…

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Do children transcend death? An examination of the terror management function of offspring.

The concept of offspring provides a symbolic shield against the fear of death. The existential function of offspring was examined in two studies conducted in China employing real-life dependent measures. In Study 1, reminders of death through a word-completion task increased the disapproval of a birth-control policy in China. In Study 2, hospitalized patients generally preferred young family members more than other family members. Cancer patients showed this preference to a greater extent than non-cancer patients. Taken together, the findings showed that the death-anxiety-buffering function of offspring affects people's judgments and desires in real-life settings.

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Lessons from animal teaching.

Many species are known to acquire valuable life skills and information from others, but until recently it was widely believed that animals did not actively facilitate learning in others. Teaching was regarded as a uniquely human faculty. However, recent studies suggest that teaching might be more common in animals than previously thought. Teaching is present in bees, ants, babblers, meerkats and other carnivores but is absent in chimpanzees, a bizarre taxonomic distribution that makes sense if teaching is treated as a form of altruism. Drawing on both mechanistic and functional arguments, we integrate teaching with the broader field of animal social learning, and show how this aids understanding of how and why teaching evolved, and the diversity of teaching mechanisms.

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Neural coding of reward-prediction error signals during classical conditioning with attractive faces.

Attractive faces can be considered to be a form of visual reward. Previous imaging studies have reported activity in reward structures including orbitofrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens during presentation of attractive faces. Given that these stimuli appear to act as rewards, we set out to explore whether it was possible to establish conditioning in human subjects by pairing presentation of arbitrary affectively neutral stimuli with subsequent presentation of attractive and unattractive faces. Furthermore, we scanned human subjects with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they underwent this conditioning procedure to determine whether a reward-prediction error signal is engaged during learning with attractive faces as is known to be the case for learning with other types of reward such as juice and money. Subjects showed changes in behavioral ratings to the conditioned …

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Cognitive avoidance of intrusive memories: recall vantage perspective and associations with depression.

Although recent research demonstrates that intrusive memories represent an overlapping cognitive feature of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there is still a general paucity of research investigating the prevalence and maintenance of intrusive memories in depression. The current study investigated the association between a range of cognitive avoidant mechanisms that characterize PTSD samples (i.e., suppression, rumination, emotional detachment, and an observer vantage perspective) and intrusive memories of negative autobiographical events in relation to dysphoria. Hypotheses were based on the proposition that employment of these cognitive mechanisms would hinder the emotional processing of the negative event, thus contributing to the maintenance of intrusions. Results supported an association between negative intrusive memories, dysphoria, and avoidant mechanisms. Si…

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Rumination in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Recent studies have shown that rumination is a powerful predictor of persistent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, to date, the mechanisms by which rumination maintains PTSD symptoms are little understood. Two studies of assault survivors, a cross-sectional (N = 81) and a 6-month prospective longitudinal study (N = 73), examined several facets of ruminative thinking to establish which aspects of rumination provide the link to PTSD. The current investigation showed that rumination is not only used as a strategy to cope with intrusive memories but it also triggers such memories. Certain characteristics of rumination, such as compulsion to continue ruminating, occurrence of unproductive thoughts, and "why" and "what if" type questions, as well as negative emotions before and after rumination, were significantly associated with PTSD, concurrently and prospectively. These characte…

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Reconciling reinforcement learning models with behavioral extinction and renewal: implications for addiction, relapse, and problem gambling.

Because learned associations are quickly renewed following extinction, the extinction process must include processes other than unlearning. However, reinforcement learning models, such as the temporal difference reinforcement learning (TDRL) model, treat extinction as an unlearning of associated value and are thus unable to capture renewal. TDRL models are based on the hypothesis that dopamine carries a reward prediction error signal; these models predict reward by driving that reward error to zero. The authors construct a TDRL model that can accommodate extinction and renewal through two simple processes: (a) a TDRL process that learns the value of situation-action pairs and (b) a situation recognition process that categorizes the observed cues into situations. This model has implications for dysfunctional states, including relapse after addiction and problem gambling.

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Iterated learning: intergenerational knowledge transmission reveals inductive biases.

Cultural transmission of information plays a central role in shaping human knowledge. Some of the most complex knowledge that people acquire, such as languages or cultural norms, can only be learned from other people, who themselves learned from previous generations. The prevalence of this process of "iterated learning" as a mode of cultural transmission raises the question of how it affects the information being transmitted. Analyses of iterated learning utilizing the assumption that the learners are Bayesian agents predict that this process should converge to an equilibrium that reflects the inductive biases of the learners. An experiment in iterated function learning with human participants confirmed this prediction, providing insight into the consequences of intergenerational knowledge transmission and a method for discovering the inductive biases that guide human inferences.

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Changes in cortical activity after training of working memory--a single-subject analysis.

Working memory (WM) capacity is an important factor for a wide range of cognitive skills. This capacity has generally been assumed to be fixed. However, recent studies have suggested that WM can be improved by intensive, computerized training [Klingberg T, Fernell E, Olesen P, Johnson M, Gustafsson P, Dahlström K, et al. Computerized training of working memory in children with ADHD--a randomized, controlled trial. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psych 2005;44:177--86]. A recent study by Olesen, Westerberg and Klingberg [Olesen P, Westerberg H, Klingberg T. Increased prefrontal and parietal brain activity after training of working memory. Nat Neurosci 2004;7:75--9] showed that group analysis of brain activity data show increases in prefrontal and parietal cortices after WM training. In the present study we performed single-subject analysis of the changes in brain activity after five weeks of trai…

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