Attention and Memory Flashcards
What are the three aspects in Mirsky’s model of attention?
- focus
- sustain
- shift
What is ‘focus’ in Mirsky’s model of attention?
- ability to select target information from an array for enhanced processing
What is ‘sustain’ in Mirsky’s model of attention?
- capacity to maintain focus and alertness over time
What is ‘shift’ in Mirsky’s model of attention?
- ability to change attentive focus in a flexible and adaptive manner
What did Peterson and Posner (2012) find?
- attention system is anatomically separate from sensory systems
- attention is not a single process but is networks of distributed anatomical areas
What are the 3 distinct networks that each represent a different set of attentional processes by Peterson and Posner (2012)?
- altering network
- orienting network
- dual executive networks
What is the alerting system?
- reticular activating system functions to maintain alertness
- key: adrenergic projection from locus coeruleus in brainstem
- suppresses other cerebral processing
What structures and modulator are associated with the orient function of Posner’s model?
- superior parietal
- temporal parietal junction
- frontal eye fields
- superior colliculus
- acetylcholine
What structures and modulator are associated with the alert function of the Posner’s model?
- locus coeruleus
- right frontal
- parietal cortex
- norepinephrine
What are the structures and modulator associated with the executive attention function of Posner’s model?
- anterior cingulate
- lateral ventral
- prefrontal
- basal ganglia
- dopamine
What is self-control correlated with?
- enhanced activation in lateral prefrontal and cingulate regions of attentional networks
What is self-regulation in young children based on?
- orientation to sensory events
- not developed until 3 to 4 years of age
What are the different models of memory?
- sensory based: memory for auditory, gustative, etc.
- content based: memory for faces, objects, etc.
- time based: past, present, future
- storage capacity based: sensory, short-term, long-term
What is short-term memory?
- temporary storage of information that is being processed in any range of cognitive tasks
- relay station
How is short-term memory used as a relay station?
- send chunks of data to long-term memory
- use chunks of data right away and forget them
- use chunks of data and save them for future use
What is working memory used for?
- executive control
- retaining of information
- 7 +/- 2
What are methods of retaining information?
- maintenance rehearsal (repetition)
- elaborative rehearsal
- chunking
What are the types of long-term memory?
- explicit memory
- implicit memory
- emotional memory
What is explicit memory?
- declarative knowledge
- semantic memory (facts, general knowledge)
- episodic memory (own experience)
What is implicit memory?
- nondeclarative knowledge
- conditioning
- procedural knowledge
- priming
What is semantic memory?
- all nonautobiographical knowledge
- does not depend on medial-temporal lobe – ventral-prefrontal-lobe memory system
What did Petri and Mishkin find?
- temporal-frontal-lobe neural basis for explicit memory
What are four main sections of hippocampal anatomy?
- dentate gyrus
- amnon’s horn
- Perforant pathway
- Fimbria-fornix
What are the key features of the dentate gyrus?
- cells are stellate granule cells
- “sensory” cells
- processing sensory
What are the key features of Amnon’s Horn?
- contains pyramidal cells divided into 4 groups (CA1, CA2, CA3, CA4)
- “motor” cells
- processing motor
What is the perforant pathway?
- connection between the hippocamus and the posterior temporal cortex neocortex
What is the fimbria-fornix?
- connects the hippocampus to the thalamus, prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, and the hypothalamus
What happens in the hippocampus as you get older?
- becomes looser and fills with more cerebrospinal fluid
Where does encoding take place?
- left prefrontal cortex
- left ventrolateral areas
- acquisition
- encoding and retrieval of semantic information
Where does retrieval take place?
- right prefrontal cortex
- recall
- right dorsolateral areas
- B parietal cortex
What did Petri and Mishkin suggest for neural substrates of implicit memory?
- suggested circuit for implicit memory that includes entire neocortex and basal ganglia
What did Paul Reber find in regards to neural substrates of implicit memory?
- implicit memory not supported by discrete neural circuit
- instead it reflects plastic changes that take place in the brain regions processing the information
What is anterograde amnesia?
- inability to acquire new memories
- could affect only one modality ex. sight or sound
What is global anterograde amnesia?
- impairment in the ability to form new memories across a variety of areas
What is retrograde amnesia?
- inability to access old memories
- may be incomplete: older memories accessible but more recent memories are not
What is time-dependent retrograde amnesia?
- commonly produced by traumatic brain injury
- severity of injury determines how far back in time the amnesia extends
What are the three theories of amnesia?
- system consolidation theory
- multiple trace theory
- reconsolidation theory
What is the system consolidation theory of amnesia?
- role of the hippocampus is to consolidate memories, make them permanent, hold them for a time, and then send them to be stored elsewhere
- accounts for preservation of old memories
- as more damage occurs, the more old memories will be lost
What is the multiple-trace theory?
- three types of memory (autobiographic, factual semantic, and general semantic) dependent on a different brain area
- old memories are more resistant to amnesia because they change location in the brain as they are recalled
What is the reconsolidation theory?
- memories rarely consist of single trace or neural substrate
- each time memory used it is reconsolidated
- results in many different traces for the same event
What condition did H.M. have and what symptom did it result in?
- bilateral transection of the temporal lobes for epilepsy
- anterograde amnesia
- good memory for events before the surgery and above average IQ
What does early hippocampal damage result in?
- inability to remember: familiar surroundings, appointments or events and daily activities
- (can remember: factual knowledge, reading, writing, and speaking)
What does damage to the fimbria-fornix pathway result in?
- retrograde and anterograde amnesia
Damage to what lobe contributes to amnesia?
- temporal lobe
What results from severing connections between the posterior neocortex and the temporal lobe?
- global amnesia?
What four conclusions are demonstrated by hippocampal patients?
- anterograde deficites are more severe than retrograde
- episodic memories are more affected than semantic memories
- autobiographic memory is especially severely affected
- time “travel” is diminished (ex. event happened a year ago but they think its been 10)
What is transient global amnesia?
- loss of old memories and inability to form new ones
- can be a one time event
- from a traumatic event
- doesn’t last forever
How does Herpes Simplex Encephalitis affect memory?
- medial-temporal lobe damage leads to anterograde amnesia
- damage to insula contributes to retrograde amnesia
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
- begins with cellular change in the medial temporal cortex and anterograde amnesia
- later, damage to the temporal association and frontal cortical areas is related to retrograde amnesia
What is Korsakoff’s syndrome characterized by?
- anterograde and retrograde amnesia
- confabulation
- meager content in conversation
- lack of insight
- apathy
What is Korsakoff’s syndrome caused by?
- thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency resulting from prolonged alcohol intake
- damage may be in medial thalamus, mammillary bodies of hypothalamus and frontal lobe atrophy
What are the psyhogenic amnesias?
- infantile amnesia: early years forgotten
- sleep amnesia: don’t remember anything after going to bed
- dissociative states (multiple personality)
How is Asperger’s syndrome related to memory?
- form of autism in which individuals have high intellectual function and excellent memory abilities
How is savant related to memory?
- person who has an intellectual disability but also has a special ability in math, memory or music
What is HSAM?
- highly superior autobiographical memory
- incredible memory ability
- can completely recall events in life including weather
