The Brain's Appendages
The cerebellum
[1] provides the basis
for organizing and smoothing gestures because it consists of a distinctive
set of neural circuits well suited to this task -- including inputs from
both the cerebral cortex and the spinal cord. It impacts memory by a process
Dr. Edelman (see Bibliography) calls "recategorization". In this process
the brain/mind having registered an experience (a sensory record with the
accompanying pattern of movement) dynamically reenters this experience into
memory with appropriate upgrades. This process needs to be done smoothly
and it is the role of the cerebellum to make this possible. When playing
tennis, for example, each gesture and change of posture needs to be smoothly
recategorized each time we hit the ball in order for practice to produce
improvement. 
The
basal ganglia
[2] differ from the
cerebellum by working over longer time scales and helping to coordinate sequences
of gestures in a plan. They are located in the limbic region of the brain.They
provide a way to plan for movement in advance. To go back to the tennis example:
to see the ball coming and anticipating the kind of stroke needed. To "pay
attention" to what is happening.
The primary
role of the hippocampus [3]
is to relate short-term memory to the establishment of long term memory.
It receives and sends signals from all regions of the cerebral cortex tied
to sensory processes, except for smell. It uses the circuits of the thalamus
to send and receive these signals. Without the functions provided by the
hippocampus, whole sets of events stored in memory -- from those in the immediate
past to those in very long term storage -- could not be linked to current
activities.
All three of the appendages
in their collaboration with the cortex of the brain are involved in the processes
of recording and recalling time and space events. These appendages have been
called the "organs of succession", because they have to do with ordering
(smoothing) the inputs and outputs of the brain. If memory is considered as "the ability to repeat a performance" it is obvious that the quality of performance depends on the system which supports memory. Unlike memory in a computer, which is rigidly determined by its electronic program, brain-based memory is inexact, but is capable of broad degrees of generalization. Our brains properties of inexactness, association, and generalization all derive from the fact that our memory records are selective - not everything we experience ends up as a record. Different individuals have different memories and they use them in different ways as a result of the way the appendages have processed the output of the brain.
Consequently, it seems likely that each person's experience of an architectural setting will be colored by their unique memories and the selective working of the way their appendages have recorded and recovered memories. In the later stages of these lessons we will explore how this influences the perception of architecture.
