Berryhill: Memory Flashcards
What are the two components of declarative memory?
episodic
semantic
What can a memory be acquainted to?
a painting
What is episodic memory?
memory of events (i.e. graduation day)
What is semantic memory?
memory of facts (i.e. knowledge about the world)
What is non-declarative memory?
non-declarative is how we remember behaviors on autopilot (i.e. “short cuts” that allow us to go through life without having to make major decisions every instant)
What type of memory is like the “executive function?”
working memory
With working memory, how long can we maintain information? How many items can we remember at one time?
for ~30sec; ~4 items at one time
Also referred to as autobiographical memory
episodic long term memory
During what time in life do we remember the most? During what time in our life do we remember the least?
the most: b/w ages 16-20ish because there are many primary moments that occur during this time (i.e. graduation, getting married, etc)
the least: during childhood
After about age 65, what happens to memory?
increase in ability to recall recent events
What explains childhood amnesia?
children don’t have a large vocabulary, so they will generally not remember items that they do not have a name for (ex: the incredible shrinking machine - children will remember that a ball was involved, but will forget about the xylophone)
Emotional memory (like a fearful memory) is associated w what structure in the brain?
amygdala
So what happened in the case w Sue, in which she had bilateral amygdala damage?
Sue had no conditioned fear response. She “laughed” in the face of danger, because she was unable to store memories of the fear that was felt during past ominous events.
What are these?
Personal memories of surprising events
flashbulb memories
Are people more confident OR accurate in their flashbulb memories?
more confident, less accurate
T/F: When you have high confidence in something you are saying vs having low confidence in something you are saying, different areas of the cortex are activated.
True
What does inferior parietal lobe damage cause?
bizarre deficits in memory *particularly in determining whether an event happened to you or to someone you know or read about
T/F: Recalling a past event and anticipating a future event activates similar areas of cortex (medial prefrontal and parietal lobe).
True
HM was a fellow with bilateral medial temporal lobe damage. What were his symptoms?
HM could not form new episodic memories. Every day, the people working w him had to reintroduce themselves. However, he had normal distant long term memory, semantic memory, procedural memory, and priming.
If you take out the medial temporal lobe, you get amnesia. Is it retrograde or anterograde?
Mostly anterograde (can’t form NEW memories), but you also may lose a year or so of retrograde memory
Caused by chronic alcohol abuse (Vit B1 deficiency) Leads to damage of mammillary bodies Causes confabulation (fabricated/distorted memories)
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
This disease can also cause diminished mamillary bodies
obstructive sleep apnea
What type of memory loss does Alzheimer’s disease produce?
anterograde (can’t form new memories)
also has a retrograde component as the disease progresses
What’s this?
caused by herpes simplex virus
intense hemorrhagic necrosis of the affected tissue (often in the MTL)
serious neurologic deficits, amnesia, global dementia
herpes encephalitis
T/F: Animal models have demonstrated that there are place cells, direction cells, and grid cells, which are activated by where you are in space, what direction you are facing, etc. These are involved in spatial processing.
True
What was the deal w taxi cab drivers and their posterior hippocampus?
the longer the subject had been a taxi driver, the larger their POSTERIOR hippocampus (this suggests that the posterior hippocampus is like a volume store of navigational memory)
*side note, those w more driving experience had smaller ANTERIOR hippocampus(es)…
Is the hippocampus like a hub for memory? Or does it “point to” the neurons necessary to retrieve info?
The hippocampus is NOT what stores memories, but “points” to the neurons necessary to retrieve them
Think about it like this: when you think of frogs, must reactivate parts of the brain that activate “green” and activate “frog like shape.” The hippocampus coordinates all of this and creates memory.
What is semantic dementia?
Losing the detail about facts over time (i.e. 1990 “That’s a chicken” … 1993 “That’s a… bird” …1996 “…that is an animal for sure!”)
What lobe is responsible for the following:
Receives processed info from cortical regions
Returns projections to these same cortical regions
Controls reorganization in the cortex
Binds info together from multiple geographically separate cortical regions
medial temporal lobe
What's this: procedural memory (skills, habits, behaviors)
implicit memory
Classical conditioning is a form of (blank) memory
implicit
What is priming?
When you show someone a sketch of a partially drawn camel (“What is that!?”) they will be faster to identify a fully drawn picture of a camel (“That is a camel!”)
What type of reward interval makes it most difficult to extinguish a conditioned response?
variable ratio *unpredictable
think of gambling…. when you win spontaneously, it is harder to break the habit of gambling
What test is this?
A tool that can be used to assess mental status. It is an 11-question measure that tests five areas of cognitive function: orientation, registration, attention and calculation, recall, and language. The maximum score is 30. A score of 23 or lower is indicative of cognitive impairment. The MMSE takes 5-10 minutes to administer and is practical to use repeatedly and routinely.
MMSE
What test is this?
combines a 3-item recall test with a clock-drawing test (CDT)
mini-cog assessment
What type of memory includes procedural, priming and perceptual learning, simple classical conditioning, and non-associative learning?
non-declarative (implicit)
