Psychologist Eric Kandel, according to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, defined learning as "a more or less permanent change in behavior which occurs as a result of practice." Learning involves the formation of responses achieved by the repetition of neural action, which forms new neural pathways in the brain. Kandel, according to the aforementioned source, defined memory as "the process by which that knowledge of the world is encoded, stored, and later retrieved." Two kinds of memory, explicit and implicit, are associated with distinct mental processes; they fulfill different functions.
Procedural memory helps us draw on and reinforce a skill or process we have already learned. This kind of memory is unconscious; driving, for example, is a type of procedural memory we rely on to operate a vehicle, even though we largely do it unconsciously while our mind focuses elsewhere. The cerebellum is the center of procedural memory and relies on "synaptic plasticity," the ability of the neurons to communicate with the synapse.
Certain memory techniques can be applied to enhance learning capacity. These techniques bolster the brain's ability to store information for subsequent retrieval. Chunking is one memory technique in which data is arranged in a simplified or logical way, such as how we divide phone numbers into groups of digits to better recall them. Rehearsal, as the word implies, is a memory technique in which repeated review of the information solidifies its place in memory.
Psychologists distinguish between short-term and long-term memory, both of which are instrumental in the learning process. A "sensory buffer" is received by the person forming memories. Sensory data becomes short-term memory, which may feed back into itself or be encoded as long-term memory, enabling the person to "learn" the received data.