The art of thinking · 7 · Brain and learning
Hebbian learning
Also known as: Hebb’s rule, Hebbian plasticity, Hebb’s postulate
German: Hebbsche Lernregel
In neuroscience, Hebbian learning is the principle that a connection between two neurons is strengthened when one of them repeatedly takes part in firing the other; Donald O. Hebb proposed it in The Organization of Behavior (1949).
- Cognitive psychology
- Brain research
- Learning
In one sentence
Hebbian learning: a connection between neurons is strengthened when one repeatedly takes part in firing the other (Donald O. Hebb, 1949).
Example
Long-term potentiation in the hippocampus — a lasting increase in synaptic strength after repeated stimulation, described by Bliss and Lømo in 1973 — is often cited as a mechanism consistent with Hebb’s postulate.
What the research shows
Donald O. Hebb stated his postulate in The Organization of Behavior (1949): when a cell repeatedly or persistently takes part in firing another, some growth process or metabolic change takes place that increases the first cell’s efficiency in firing the second. He used it to explain how groups of cells that are active together become “cell assemblies” that represent perceptions and ideas. The later short form “cells that fire together wire together” is a paraphrase, not Hebb’s wording.
Timothy Bliss and Terje Lømo (1973) described long-term potentiation: repeated stimulation of a pathway in the rabbit hippocampus produced a lasting increase in synaptic transmission. Later work on spike-timing-dependent plasticity refined the rule: the order and timing of activity decide whether a connection is strengthened or weakened.
Evidence status
Activity-dependent strengthening of synapses is well established, and Hebb’s postulate remains a foundation of neuroscience and of artificial neural networks. How such synaptic changes add up to learning in behavior is more complex than the rule alone, and the rule is one of several plasticity mechanisms.
How it applies
- As background: The rule explains why repetition matters at the level of the brain; it does not say how many repetitions a reader needs or how a document must be structured.
- Careful wording: The popular short form should be marked as a paraphrase when it is quoted.
Hebbian learning vs. habit formation
Hebbian learning is a principle about connections between neurons. Habit formation is a psychological process in which an action becomes linked to its context; it involves many brain systems and is studied with behavior, not with single synapses.
External references
- Hebb, D. O. (1949). The Organization of Behavior: A Neuropsychological Theory. New York: Wiley.
- Bliss, T. V. P., & Lømo, T. (1973). Long-lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate area of the anaesthetized rabbit following stimulation of the perforant path. The Journal of Physiology, 232(2), 331–356. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.1973.sp010273
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