AbstractThe idea that there are multiple memory systems can be traced to early philosophical considerations and introspection. However, the early experimental work considered memory a unitary phenomenon and focused on finding the mechanism upon which memory is based. A full reconciliation of debates about that mechanism, and a coincidental rediscovery of the idea of multiple memory systems, emerged from studies in the cognitive neuroscience of memory. This research has identified three major forms of memory that have distinct operating principles and are supported by different brain systems. These include: (1) a cortical‐hippocampal circuit that mediates declarative memory, our capacity to recollect facts and events; (2) procedural memory subsystems involving a cortical‐striatal circuit that mediates habit formation and a brainstem‐cerebellar circuit that mediates sensorimotor adaptations; and (3) a circuit involving subcortical and cortical pathways through the amygdala that mediates the attachment of affective status and emotional responses to previously neutral stimuli. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.This article is categorized under: Psychology > Memory Neuroscience > Cognition