7. Learning and Memory

Question 1

Def of learning

Answer 1

A process that expresses itself as an adaptive change in behavior in response to an environment

Question 2

Def of memory

Answer 2

The encoding, storage, and retrieval of info about past experience– necessary for learning to take place

Question 3

Patient H.M.

Answer 3

Suffered from severe epilepsy

Couldn’t form new memories, but retained short-term info

Retained unconscious muscle memory

Discovered that memory for facts (names, dates, facts) is different than procedural memory (riding a bike, walking, driving)

Knowing fact vs. knowing how

Question 4

Short-term vs. long-term memory

Answer 4

Patient H.M. helped us discover this differentiation

Question 5

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 5

Loss of memories formed prior to onset of amnesia

Question 6

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 6

Inability to form new memories after the onset of the disorder

Question 7

Declarative memory

Answer 7

Facts and info acquired from learning

Ex: knowing the capital of France

Question 8

Nondeclarative memory

Answer 8

Shown by performance rather than recollection

Ex: riding a bike

Question 9

H.M. star tracing task

Answer 9

H.M. was able to improve his motor skills with practice but did not remember all of his attempts

Showed difference between factual memory and procedural memory

Question 10

Hippocampal formation

Answer 10

Composed of hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, subiculum, and entorhinal cortex

All play significant roles in memory formation

We know the hippocampus is involved because of patient H.M.

Question 11

Key lessons from H.M.

Answer 11

Could remember things for a short time

The distinction between short-term and long-term memory

Without a hippocampus, H.M. was unable to form new declarative memories

The hippocampus is crucial for declarative memory formation

H.M. retained memories from early childhood

Able to form new procedural (non-declarative) memories
Supported by basal ganglia and cerebellum

Question 12

Testing declarative memories in animal models

Answer 12

Delayed non-matching-to-sample task: a test of object recognition memory, where the monkey must choose the object that was not seen previously

Question 13

Patient K.C.

Answer 13

Suffered brain damage from motorcycle accident

Wasn’t able to retrieve memories from his past (personal declarative or “episodic” memory)

He still retained generalized declarative memory

Showed cortex is essential for long-term memory

Question 14

Two subtypes of declarative memory

Answer 14

Semantic memory
Episodic memory

Question 15

Semantic memory

Answer 15

Generalized memory

Question 16

Episodic memory

Answer 16

Detailed autobiographical memory
Personal experiences and specific events with details about the time and place they occurred

Question 17

Three types of nondeclarative memory

Answer 17

Skill learning
Priming
Associative learning

Question 18

Skill learning

Answer 18

Learning to perform a task requiring motor coordination

Don’t need to think about what you’re doing (ex: driving)

Question 19

Priming

Answer 19

Repetition priming
Prior exposure to a stimulus changes the way you respond later

Question 20

Associative learning

Answer 20

Relationships between things in the environment

Ex: backpack and school

Classical and operant conditioning

Question 21

Classical conditioning

Answer 21

Pavlov’s dogs

Food, salivating, bell
Repeated pairings

Timing matters– two stimuli need to happen at the same time
Bell then food immediately after

Question 22

Operant conditioning

Answer 22

Associate actions with rewards or consequences

Question 23

Long-term memory

Answer 23

Can last for days or years

Not meant for us to recount our complete life stories, just important events to shape our future behavior in adaptive ways

Important component is forgetting– pruning of unimportant memories to preserve cognitive resources

Question 24

3 stages of long-term memory

Answer 24

Encoding
Consolidation
Retrieval

Question 25

Encoding

Answer 25

When sensory info is brought into short-term/working memory
Ex: learning in lecture

Question 26

Consolidation

Answer 26

Transferring info from short-term memory to long-term storage
Ex: studying for a test

Question 27

Retrieval

Answer 27

Taking memory out of long-term storage
Ex: taking a test

Question 28

Neuroplasticity

Answer 28

Neurons and neural circuits remodel in response to experience or the environment

Question 29

The Synaptic Plasticity Hypothesis

Answer 29

Synapses between neurons can be created and modified by experience

Synapses can weaken and strengthen
Ex: forgetting your hometown roads when you leave for college

Question 30

Changes in synapses can be measured…

Answer 30

Physiologically

May be presynaptic, postsynaptic, or both

Increased neurotransmitter release or changes in neurotransmitter-receptor interactions

Question 31

Structural changes to the synapse

Answer 31

New synapses could form with training/use, or some could be eliminated with lack of use

Training might lead to synaptic organization

Question 32

Synaptic organization

Answer 32

Altering the structure of the circuits; alter how your brain is communicating

Rearrangement of synapses

Question 33

Hebbian synapses

Answer 33

Donald Hebb: “Cells that fire together, wire together”

If a presynaptic neuron repeatedly activates a postsynaptic neuron, connection becomes stable and strong

Question 34

Cell assemblies

Answer 34

Groups of neurons

Act together to store memories

Question 35

Long-term potentiation

Answer 35

Increase in effectiveness of synapses, which causes addition of AMPA receptors on the postsynaptic membrane

Question 36

Long-term depression

Answer 36

Weakening of synaptic efficiency

Question 37

Animals housed in enriched condition compared to those in impoverished condition developed:

Answer 37

Heavier, thicker cortex

Enhanced cholinergic activity

More dendritic branches with dendritic spines