Hebbian Learning
by Tim Brunson, PhD
Strangely enough one of the most profound discoveries came not from a neuroscientist, but a Canadian psychologist. In 1949, Donald Hebb, PhD, was trying to explain how neurons reacted to an animal's experience. His focus was on learning and memory. He noted (Begley, 2007) that when a presynaptic neuron's firing changed, the postsynaptic neuron changed as well. This simultaneous response led to the phrase, "Cells that fire together, wire together." The significance of this came from the realization that patterns of synaptic firing followed perceptions and thoughts.
