Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter involved in learning and long-term potentiation. It activates NMDA receptors on dendrites which are vital for learning, as shown by experiments where blocking NMDA receptors prevented spatial learning in rats. The hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, and cerebellum are also involved in learning. The hippocampus is responsible for spatial learning and declarative memory formation. The amygdala is important for emotional learning and fear conditioning. The thalamus initiates and processes fear responses. The cerebellum is involved in motor learning.

1. Brain mechanisms involved in learning

2. Glutamate
• It is the most abundant excitatory
neurotransmitter in the nervous system
• It plays a key role in learning
(LTP), highly concentrated in
Hippocampus, amygdala
• Stored in the vesicles of the presynaptic
neuron
• Nerve impulses (action potential)
triggers release into the synapse
• Glutamite then binds with specialised
receptors on the dendrites of the
postsynaptic neuron

3. NMDA (N-methyl D-aspartate)
• A specialised receptor (found on dendrites) that
receives Glutamate (vital to LTP)

4. NMDA (N-methyl D-aspartate)
• Evidence: Morris water maze experiment - NDMA
blocked - rats unable to spatially learn (no LTP)
• Tissen's (2000) study on modified NMDA receptors
of mice

5. Hippocampus
• largely responsible for LTP
• Consolidation of declarative
memories
• involved in spatial learning and
navigation
• Along with the thalamus &
amygdala – it is responsible for
intiating and processing fear
response
• Evidence: MRI's indicate a
larger right hippocampus area
of London cab drivers
compared to population
• Morris water maze experiment
with removal of Hippocampus

6. Amygdala
• Responsible for emotional learning,
• fear conditioning (classical conditioning),
• It is also involved in positive conditioning
• Evidence: fMRI show greater amygdala
activity when consolidating memories
more emotional (stressful) in nature in
comparison to semantic type memories
• People who have had their amygdala
removed (for example in treatment of
extreme cases of epilepsy) not only lose
their ability to fear, they also do not
recognize anger in others.
• Anxiety disorders/ phobias = greater
activity in amygdala
• Bipolar patients have reduced volume in
amygdala

7. Thalamus
• Thalamus: is one of the brain
structures for initiating &
processing fear response (part
of classical conditioning)
• It is also responsible for spatial
learning
• Evidence - rats with damaged
thalamic regions showed no
improved in formation of
repetitive maze task.

8. Cerebellum
• Involve in motor learning (making
fine adjustments to movements)
• involved some emotional functions
such as regulating fear and pleasure
responses,
• it is even involved in triggering some
reflexive motor responses
(conditioned responses) such as an
eye blink in response to a
conditioned stimulus such as a tone
• Evidence: Neuroimaging - show
higher cerebellum activity when
observing/ imagining a sequence of
movements