12.The Biology of Learning and Memory

Question 1

What evidence led Lashley to draw his conclusions of equipotentiality and mass action?

a. Learning depends on changes at synapses using all types of neurotransmitters.
b. Electrical stimulation of the brain can produce either reward or punishment, depending on the intensity of stimulation.
c. EEG studies show activation throughout the brain during an experiment on learning.
d. Impairment of learning depended on the amount of cortical damage rather than the location.

Answer 1

d. Impairment of learning depended on the amount of cortical damage rather than the location.

Question 2

What happened when Thompson temporarily inactivated the lateral interpositus nucleus of a rabbit’s cerebellum during learning?

a. The rabbit showed no responses during training but showed evidence of learning as soon as the lateral interpositus nucleus recovered.
b. The rabbit showed no responses during training, and after the lateral interpositus nucleus recovered, the rabbit learned at the same pace as a rabbit with no previous training.
c. The rabbit showed no evidence of learning during training and no ability to learn even after the lateral interpositus nucleus recovered.
d. The rabbit showed normal responses during training but forgot them after the lateral interpositus nucleus recovered.

Answer 2

b. The rabbit showed no responses during training, and after the lateral interpositus nucleus recovered, the rabbit learned at the same pace as a rabbit with no previous training.

Question 3

What happened when Thompson temporarily inactivated the red nucleus during learning?

a. The rabbit showed no responses during training but showed evidence of learning as soon as the red nucleus recovered.
b. The rabbit showed no responses during training, and after the red nucleus recovered, the rabbit learned at the same pace as a rabbit with no previous training.
c. The rabbit showed no evidence of learning during training and no ability to learn even after the red nucleus recovered.
d. The rabbit showed normal responses during training but forgot them after the red nucleus recovered.

Answer 3

a. The rabbit showed no responses during training but showed evidence of learning as soon as the red nucleus recovered.

Question 4

Which of the following is an example of why the original idea of short-term and long-term memory is no longer considered adequate?

a. Memory consolidation depends on more than just the time necessary to synthesize proteins.
b. Short-term memory can hold as much information as long-term memory.
c. Short-term memories are never really forgotten.
d. Most emotional memories are quickly forgotten.

Answer 4

a. Memory consolidation depends on more than just the time necessary to synthesize proteins.

Question 5

During visual working memory, which brain area synchronizes its activity with that of other areas of the cerebral cortex?

a. Red nucleus
b. Hypothalamus
c. Substantia nigra
d. Prefrontal cortex

Answer 5

d. Prefrontal cortex

Question 6

Anterograde amnesia is loss of memory for ___, whereas retrograde amnesia is loss of memory for ___.

a. personal experiences…factual information
b. factual information…personal experiences
c. events before the damage…events after the damage
d. events after the damage…events before the damage

Answer 6

d. events after the damage…events before the damage

Question 7

Research on amnesia suggests what explanation for the usefulness of episodic memory?

a. Episodic memories keep the brain active so it can store more useful memories.
b. Episodic memories give us something to talk about.
c. Episodic memories help us plan for the future.
d. Episodic memories help us reduce our fear.

Answer 7

c. Episodic memories help us plan for the future.

Question 8

Suppose a rat is in a radial maze in which six arms have food once per day, and two other arms never have food. What kind of mistake does a rat with hippocampal damage make?

a. It enters the two arms that never have food.
b. It avoids two other arms that sometimes do have food.
c. It fails to enter any of the arms.
d. It enters one arm more than once before trying all the other arms.

Answer 8

d. It enters one arm more than once before trying all the other arms.

Question 9

When researchers implanted electrodes into a person’s hippocampus, they found cells sensitive to what?

a. Color
b. Temperature
c. Location
d. Rhyming

Answer 9

c. Location

Question 10

The basal ganglia are primarily responsible for which type of learning?

a. Gradually learning habits, based on immediate feedback
b. Acquiring and storing episodic memories
c. Memories that people can easily describe in words
d. Quickly adapting learned behaviors to new circumstances

Answer 10

a. Gradually learning habits, based on immediate feedback

Question 11

Which of the following would probably prevent most cases of Korsakoff’s syndrome?

a. Increase the availability of free exercise facilities
b. Decrease the prevalence of particulate matter in air pollution
c. Outlaw the possession of handguns in heavily populated areas
d. Require all alcoholic beverages to be fortified with vitamins

Answer 11

d. Require all alcoholic beverages to be fortified with vitamins

Question 12

What is the relation of genetics to Alzheimer’s disease?

a. Identified genes have a strong effect on early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and a weaker effect on late-onset disease.
b. Identified genes have a weak effect on early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and a stronger effect on late-onset disease.
c. Identified genes have a strong effect on both the early and late onset forms of Alzheimer’s disease.
d. Identified genes have little or no effect on Alzheimer’s disease, regardless of time of onset.

Answer 12

a. Identified genes have a strong effect on early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and a weaker effect on late-onset disease.

Question 13

Which brain area records the expected gains and losses associated with possible actions?

a .Anterior temporal cortex

b. Amygdala
c. Parietal cortex
d. Ventral prefrontal cortex

Answer 13

d. Ventral prefrontal cortex

Question 14

How does the orbitofrontal cortex contribute to decision making?

a. It responds to the average value of each response over a long period of time.
b. It responds to how a reward compares to other possible outcomes.
c. It responds based on how soon the reward is likely to arrive.
d. It directly controls the muscle movements after a decision is made.

Answer 14

b. It responds to how a reward compares to other possible outcomes.

Question 15

Suppose axon A weakly excites cell C, and axon B strongly excites it. If these are Hebbian synapses, under what circumstance will axon A’s synapse be strengthened?

a. Whenever axon A’s synapse is used
b. Whenever axon B’s synapse is used
c. If axon A’s synapse and axon B’s synapse are active at the same time
d. If axon A’s synapse and axon B’s synapse are active at different times

Answer 15

c. If axon A’s synapse and axon B’s synapse are active at the same time

Question 16

Why is Aplysia an appealing animal for studies of the physiology of learning?

a. Its axon is thicker than that of mammals and therefore easier to study.
b. Unlike mammals, it uses only one neurotransmitter and two types of receptors.
c. Compared to other invertebrates, it learns faster and remembers longer.
d. It has relatively few neurons, and they are the same from one individual to another.

Answer 16

d. It has relatively few neurons, and they are the same from one individual to another.

Question 17

What is meant by the “specificity” of LTP?

a. LTP occurs in certain parts of the brain and not others.
b. LTP occurs only at the synapses that have been activated.
c. Nearly simultaneous stimulation by two or more axons produces LTP more strongly than does repeated stimulation by just one axon.
d. LTP occurs only at glutamate synapses.

Answer 17

b. LTP occurs only at the synapses that have been activated.

Question 18

What is the difference between AMPA receptors and NMDA receptors?

a. They respond to different neurotransmitters.
b. AMPA receptors are excitatory, and NMDA receptors are inhibitory.
c. AMPA receptors are ionotropic, and NMDA receptors are metabotropic.
d. Although both respond to glutamate, different drugs activate them.

Answer 18

d. Although both respond to glutamate, different drugs activate them.

Question 19

At this point, what type of drug or chemical is most clearly shown to improve memory without unacceptable side effects?

a. Drugs that enhance LTP
b. Ginkgo biloba
c. Caffeine and other stimulants
d. The herb Bacopa monnieri

Answer 19

c. Caffeine and other stimulants

Question 20

What does CaMKII do?

a. It displaces magnesium and therefore permits glutamate to open calcium channels.
b. It releases a protein that alters the expression of several genes.
c. It diffuses from one synapse to another within the postsynaptic neuron.
d. It sends a message back to the presynaptic neuron to alter its release of neurotransmitters.

Answer 20

b. It releases a protein that alters the expression of several genes.

Question 21

Thompson found a localized engram, whereas Lashley did not. What key differences in procedures or assumptions were probably responsible for their different results?

Answer 21

Thompson studied a different, simpler type of learning. Also, he looked in the cerebellum instead of the cerebral cortex.

Question 22

What evidence indicates that the red nucleus is necessary for performance of a conditioned response but not for learning the response?

Answer 22

If the red nucleus is inactivated during training, the animal makes no conditioned responses during the training, so the red nucleus is necessary for the response. However, as soon as the red nucleus recovers, the animal can show conditioned responses at once, without any further training, so learning occurred while the red nucleus was inactivated.

Question 23

How do epinephrine and cortisol enhance memory storage?

Answer 23

Epinephrine and cortisol both enhance emotional memories by stimulating the amygdala and hippocampus.

Question 24

What is a way to test working memory in both humans and nonhumans?

Answer 24

The delayed-response task, in which an individual sees a stimulus briefly and responds to it after a delay.

Question 25

Which types of memory were most impaired in H. M. and people with similar types of amnesia?

Answer 25

H. M. had severe anterograde amnesia (difficulty forming new long-term memories) and a severe loss of episodic memories.

Question 26

Which types of memory were least impaired in H. M. and people with similar types of amnesia?

Answer 26

H. M. had nearly intact working memory, implicit memory, and procedural memory.

Question 27

What type of memory do the radial maze and the Morris water maze test?

Answer 27

They test spatial memory.

Question 28

According to the context hypothesis, why does hippocampal damage impair recent memories more than distant memories?

Answer 28

Recent memories include details of context, and the hippocampus is essential for memory of context. Most old memories include only the gist of the event, and the hippocampus is less important for memories of that type.

Question 29

On what kind of question is someone with Korsakoff’s syndrome most likely to confabulate?

Answer 29

Patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome confabulate on questions for which they would expect to know the answer, such as questions about themselves. Their confabulations are usually statements that were true at one time.

Question 30

Which type of memory is generally least impaired for people with Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 30

Procedural memory is generally the least impaired.

Question 31

How can a Hebbian synapse account for the basic phenomena of classical conditioning?

Answer 31

In a Hebbian synapse, pairing the activity of a weaker (CS) axon with a stronger (UCS) axon produces an action potential, and in the process strengthens the response of the cell to the CS axon. On later trials, it will produce a bigger depolarization of the postsynaptic cell, which we can regard as a conditioned response.

Question 32

When serotonin blocks potassium channels on the presynaptic terminal, what is the effect on transmission?

Answer 32

Blocking potassium channels prolongs the action potential and therefore prolongs the release of neurotransmitters, producing an increased response.

Question 33

Before LTP: In the normal state, what is the effect of glutamate at the AMPA receptors? At the NMDA receptors?

Answer 33

Before LTP, glutamate stimulates AMPA receptors but usually has little effect at the NMDA receptors because magnesium blocks them.

Question 34

During the formation of LTP, when a burst of intense stimulation releases much more glutamate than usual at two or more incoming axons, what is the effect of the glutamate at the AMPA receptors? At the NMDA receptors?

Answer 34

During the formation of LTP, the massive glutamate input strongly stimulates the AMPA receptors, thus depolarizing the dendrite. This depolarization enables glutamate to excite the NMDA receptors also.

Question 35

After the neuron has gone through LTP, what is now the effect of glutamate at the AMPA receptors? At the NMDA receptors?

Answer 35

After LTP has been established, glutamate stimulates the AMPA receptors more than before, mainly because of an increased number of AMPA receptors. At the NMDA receptors, it is again usually ineffective.