The nature of memory has been the subject of considerable speculation in
the past. It has long been felt intuitively that retention of
information in the central nervous system involves either an alteration
of preexisting material or structure, or, alternatively, synthesis of
materials not present previously. The cellular site of operational
alteration was unknown but, again intuitively, was felt to be closely
associated with the synapses. The problems faced by early investigators
were great; but nevertheless much information relevant to the question
of biological information storage was obtained. With the relatively
recent advent of more refined tools and methodologies, there has been
rapid progress.
A significant amount of the work which has been conducted in the area of
biological information and communication systems is easily classified as
"basic research" (refs. [ref.106]-[ref.109]). This discussion will be
limited to those aspects closely related to the fields of molecular
biology and experimental psychology, which seem to have universal
application to all known animal life forms. Studies involving the basic
principles of acquisition, processing, storage, and retrieval of
information in living systems are emphasized.