bbb2 Flashcards
Semantic (declarative) memory is located in the ________ regions and the ______ brain regions.
medial-temporal
diencephalic
_____plays an important role in encoding emotional memories.
The amygdala
The _______ cortex has been shown to become activated during both verbal and spatial working memory tasks.
prefrontal
Evidence of the importance of the _______ for procedural memory comes from patients with Parkinson’s disease (a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes problems with movement such as tremor).
basal ganglia
Studies have shown that increased levels of circulating ________ leads to enhanced encoding of long-term memories.
adrenaline
Research has found that when people are under high levels of stress the increase in _______ leads to impairments in declarative and autobiographical memory recall, and causes deficits in _____ memory.
cortisol
working
During visual working memory, which brain area synchronizes its activity with that of other areas of the cerebral cortex?
Prefrontal cortex
Anterograde amnesia is loss of memory for ________, whereas retrograde amnesia is loss of memory for ________.
events after the damage . . .
events before the damage
Research on amnesia suggests what explanation for the usefulness of episodic memory?
Episodic memories help us plan for the future.
When researchers implanted electrodes into a person’s hippocampus, they found cells sensitive to what?
Location
The basal ganglia are primarily responsible for which type of learning?
Gradually learning habits, based on immediate feedback
Which brain area records the expected gains and losses associated with possible actions?
Ventral prefrontal cortex
Explicit long-term memory is broadly divided in two main categories: episodic and _______
semantic
Each time a memory is recalled or a similar experience occurs, a new __________ is formed, making that memory more difficult to forget.
engram
The Case of K.C., the Man Who Can’t Time Travel
K.C. had a motorcycle accident in 1981. He suffered diffuse brain damage, including damage to the medial temporal lobes.
Despite severe amnesia, K.C.’s other cognitive abilities remain remarkably normal. His general intelligence and use of language are normal; he has no difficulty concentrating; he plays the organ, chess, and various card games; and his reasoning abilities are good. His knowledge of mathematics, history, science, geography, and other school subjects is good.
Similarly, K.C. has good retention of many of the facts of his early life. He knows his birth date, where he lived as a youth, where his parents’ summer cottage was located, the names of schools he attended, the makes and colors of cars that he has owned.
Still, in the midst of these normal memories, K.C. has severe amnesia for personal experiences. He cannot recall a single personal event for more than a minute or two. This inability to recall any episodes (events) at which he was present covers his entire life. Despite these serious memory problems, K.C. has no difficulty having a conversation, and his memory problems are far less obvious to others than one would expect. Basically, he does quite well using only his semantic memory.
K.C. understands the concept of time but he cannot “time travel” into either the past or the future. He cannot imagine future events any better than he can recall his past: He can’t imagine what he will be doing for the rest of the day, the week, or his life.
People with _____________ lobe amnesia have particular difficulty with _______ memories.
medial temporal
episodic
One of the most famous case studies within memory research is the case of Henry Molaison. Henry Molaison (known only as HM in journal papers until his death in 2008) underwent brain surgery that removed the hippocampus from both sides of his temporal lobes. The aim of the operation was to reduce the frequency of HM’s debilitating epileptic seizures, and in this regard the operation was a success. However, shortly after the surgery a serious side effect of the operation came to light. HM was suffering from profound anterograde amnesia – that is to say, HM could no longer lay down any new memories. Interestingly, HM’s declarative memory prior to the operation was preserved and he was able to recall events from his past. HM commented on his condition that Every day is alone in itself, whatever enjoyment I’ve had, and whatever sorrow I’ve had (Milner et al., 1968, p217). However, although HM was unable to lay down new declarative memories, he was able to learn new procedural skills. For example, HM’s procedural memory appeared to be intact as he showed improvement on a mirror drawing task. However, HM’s declarative memory was so impaired that he did not lay down any memories about the training session and could not even recall having completed the mirror drawing task before (Corkin, 1984).
The case study of HM has therefore helped biological psychologists to locate _______________ memory within the ___________ regions.
declarative
medial temporal
The reward system involves a wide range of cortical and subcortical regions including:
the hypothalamus
septum
nucleus accumbens
amygdala
orbitofrontal cortex
Label the parts (regions) in the picture below.
nema slika
Explain the Dopamine pathways in the reward system.
slika
Dopamine pathways play an important role in the reward system. The reward system includes various brain regions including the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and frontal cortex. Dopamine pathways extend from the ventral tegmental area to limbic structures, to the frontal cortex, and from the substantia nigra to the striatum. These pathways mediate the salience of rewards and are responsible for influencing motivation and addictive behaviors.
It has been argued that the __________ hypothalamus and __________ hypothalamus control satiety and hunger respectively, largely based on studies demonstrating that lesions to these areas lead to excessive eating or the cessation of eating.
ventromedial
lateral
Explain the addiction cycle:
slika
The addiction cycle consists of three interconnected stages. The initial stage involves preoccupation and anticipation, followed by binging and intoxication in the second stage. the final stage is characterized by withdrawal and negative effects, during which individuals experience various psychological and physical symptoms.
Broca’s area is associated with the _____ and ________, and the ______________.
speech
syntax
comprehension of grammar
Wernicke’s area is associated with the _____________
comprehension of language.
Inferior parietal lobule (Geschwind’s territory) it is believed that this area plays a major role in:
language development during childhood culminating in the ability to read and write and is also key to understanding the evolution of language in humans.
The _________ cortex controls the muscles of articulation.
primary motor
The __________ cortex perceives the written word.
primary visual
The ________ cortex perceives the spoken word.
primary auditory
Below is an example of the speech of _________ aphasic.
C.B.
I can’t tell you what that is, but I know what it is, but I don’t know where it is. But I don’t know what’s under. I know it’s you couldn’t say it’s … I couldn’t say what it was. I couldn’t say what that was. This shu– that should be right in here. That’s /bêÏli/ bad in there. Anyway, this one here, and that, and that’s it. This is the getting in here and that’s the getting around here, and that, and that’s it. This is getting in here and that’s getting around here, this one and one with this one. And this one, and that’s it, isn’t it? I don’t know what else you’d want.
Wernicke’s
Which of the following is characteristic of Broca’s aphasia?
Poor pronunciation and difficulty using and understanding grammar
Which of the following is most damaged in Broca’s aphasia?
The ability to produce certain aspects of language
Which of the following is characteristic of Wernicke’s aphasia?
Good, fluent pronunciation but poor comprehension and difficulty remembering names of objects
The human brain is strongly lateralized, and most language functions are concentrated on the ________ of the cerebral hemisphere.
left side
Consciousness seems to depend on the interaction between widely distributed neural networks, including the ________ as well as the ________ area.
thalamocortical system
brainstem
Body awareness is largely dependent on the ______ cortex.
anterior insular
At the very basic level, the _________ – a network of nerve fibers and cells in the brain stem extending to other regions of the brain – is responsible for maintaining functions such as the sleep–wake cycle, motor control and pain modulation, and conscious experiences.
reticular formation
The ________ has a major role in distributing motor and sensory signals to the cerebral cortex and regulates our conscious states of sleep and alertness.
thalamus
The __________ cortex creates a subjective awareness of the self and is also important in how we perceive other individuals as intentional creatures.
prefrontal
Once a stimulus has been defined as being dangerous the sensory input is passed to the _________, which is responsible for the processing of emotional stimuli.
amygdala
If the __________ confirms that the body is facing a serious threat, then the _____ triggers two main physiological systems.
amygdala
hypothalamus
Explain the activation of the sympathomedullary pathway (SAM) that is responsible for the short-term fight or flight response.
Identification of the threat by the hypothalamus leads to activation of the adrenal medulla, which leads to secretion of adrenaline. Adrenaline induces activation of the SNS and causes physiological responses. Once the threat is removed the body returns to normal functioning
Explain the activation of the slower acting hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis is designed to maintain a more sustained response to threat.
When a threat is recognized, the hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary gland which secretes ACTH. ACTH stimulates the adrenal glands that lead to production of cortisol which helps the body to maintain a physical response to threat.
