Attention and Memory Flashcards
How is arousal defined in relation to attention?
General state of wakefulness and responsivity
How is vigilance defined in relation to attention?
capacity to maintain attention over prolonged periods of time
How is divided attention defined?
ability to response to more than one task at a time
How is selective attention defined?
ability to focus on one stimulus whilst suppressing competing stimuli
What may be the results of a breakdown in domain specific attention such as following a non-dominant hemisphere stroke?
Visual inattention
Sensory inattention
neglect
What structures are involved in cortical top down modulation of attention?
Prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, limbic system
What structures make up the limbic system?
Cingulate gyrus
hippocampus (formic, amygdala, orbital and pre-frontal cortex)
mamillary bodies
Top down modulation of attention is a conscious process. T/F?
True
Bottom up modulation of attention is a conscious process. T/F?
False
What is top down modulation of attention?
A conscious process where particular features can be selected and acted upon
The ascending reticular activating system is involved in bottom up modulation of attention. What structures does this comprise?
brainstem nuclei
thalamic nuclei
cortex
What is bottom up regulation of attention?
Unconscious modulation such as reacting to a stimuli
How can attention be assessed at the beside?
Serial 7s
digit span and digits backwards
months of the year in reverse order
What further specialist tests may be done by a neuropsychologist to assess attention?
Strrop test
alternation tasks
star cancellation test
Working memory is a facet of attention and concentration. T/F?
True
In which area of the brain is spatial information processed as part of working memory?
The non-dominant parieto-occipital lobe
In which area of the brain are words, numbers and melodies processed in working memory?
The dominant perisylvian language areas
What are the two sub groups of explicit memory?
Episodic and semantic
What are the two subgroups of implicit memory?
Motor skills
classical conditioning
Explicit memory is available to conscious access. T/F?
True
The circuit fo Papez is part fo the limbic system and is particularly involved in what type of memory?
Episodic memory
What is episodic memory?
Personally experienced with temporally specific episodes or events
(what we typically think of as memory)
What structures are involved in the circuit of papez in episodic memory?
medial temporal lobe hippocampus entorhinal cortex mamillary bodies thalamic nuclei
Give examples of acute impairment of episodic memory?
Transient global ischaemia
transient epileptic amnesia
How can episodic memory be tested?
Recall of complex verbal information
word list learning
recognition of newly encountered words and faces
recall of geometric figures
What is semantic memory?
Memory of factual information and vocabulary independent of context, time and personal relevance
Semantic memory is dependent on the limbic system. T/F?
False
Different aspects of semantic memory are stored in different areas of the temporal lobe. T/F?
True - visual and complex information is stored ventrally whereas basic object memory is stored posteriorly and non-visual information is stored dorsolaterally
How can semantic memory be tested?
General knowledge, vocabulary, object naming to confrontation, person-based taels, fluency
Profound amnesia can occur without affecting the implicit memory. T/F?
True
What structures in the brain are involved in implicit memory?
Basal ganglia
Cerebellum
