Brain and Behaviour

Question 1

what are the basic stages of memory formation?

Answer 1

1) registration (from the senses into system )
2) encoding (processing and combining the sensory input)
3) storage (holding on to information)
4) retrieval (recovering stored information ie. remembering)

Question 2

what are the different types of memory, divided based on duration?

Answer 2

1) sensory
2) working/short term: technically spans a few seconds
3) long term

Question 3

where is information lost when forming long term memories?

Answer 3

in attention and working memory

Question 4

where is the transition when retrieving memories?

Answer 4

from long term to working memory

Question 5

what are the divisions in long term memory ?

Answer 5

1) declarative (explicit):
- episodic (events)
- semantic (facts)

2) non-declarative (implicit):
- procedural (skills and habits)
- priming
- simple classic conditioning (emotional and MSK)
- non-associative learning

Question 6

which brain parts have a role in the subdivision of long term memory?

Answer 6

declarative: facts and events
- hippocampus

non-declarative: via performance

• striatum (procedural)
• neocortex (priming)
• amygdala (emotional responses)
• cerebellum (MSK response)

Question 7

what part of the brain is involved in episodic memories?

Answer 7

medial temporal lobes including hippocampus, entorhinal cortex (parahippocampal cortex) mamillary bodies,

Question 8

which side of the brain is used for verbal and non-verbal information?

Answer 8

left–> verbal

right–> non-verbal e.g. face recognition

Question 9

how do we tend to remember a conversation at a consultation?

Answer 9

patients remember the beginning and end of the consultation best due to primacy and recency effects (the more prominent)

• therefore info needs to be emphasised and repeated
• info must be chunked up and not overloaded onto the patient

Question 10

what affects our likelihood of remembering something like a shopping list?

Answer 10

the order
personal salience
number of words
chunking strategy
delay time
distractions

Question 11

what are the time periods in a period of “attention paying” that we remember most?

Answer 11

1) primacy effect (lost in Parkinsons so they lack the encoding process in memory formation)
2) recency effect- i.e. the most recent information shared in the conversation for example

Question 12

what are the smallest units of language? what is the next smallest?

Answer 12

Phoneme
– smallest unit of speech sound that signals a difference in meaning (humans produce over 100).

Morphemes
– smallest units of meaning in a language.
- Typically, one syllable.
- Morphemes are combined into words.

Question 13

what is syntax?

Answer 13

rules and principles that govern the way in which morphemes can be combined to communicate meaning in a language.

Question 14

what is the theory of universal grammar?

Answer 14

under normal conditions, human beings will develop language with particular properties
– e.g. distinguish nouns from verbs.

Question 15

how does language development change over time in an infant?

Answer 15

• distinguishes speech from non-speech sounds
• Babbling
• Babbling phonemes narrow to local cultural phonemes
• First words
• use of single words to express whole phrases
• first rudimentary sentences (little/no use of articles)
• Vocabulary increases rapidly. Longer sentences often grammatically incorrect
• learned basic grammatical rules. Meaningful sentences

Question 16

when is the critical period for language acquisition?

Answer 16

before the age of 5

second language acquisition also exhibits the same pattern

Question 17

what mutation have been found in those with language acquisition problems?

Answer 17

FOXP2 gene mutations

Question 18

what side dominance do most all-handed people have?

Answer 18

left hemispheric

(95% of right-handed people have left-hemispheric dominance for language.
18.8% of left-handed people have right-hemispheric dominance for language).

19.8% of left-handed people have bi-lateral language functions

Question 19

what are the characteristics of Broca’s aphasia?

Answer 19

o Non-fluent speech.
o Impaired repetition.
o Poor ability to produce syntactically correct sentences.
o Intact comprehension – they know they are saying it wrong.

Question 20

what are the characteristics of Wernicke’s aphasia?

Answer 20

o Fluent meaningless speech.
– Unaware that they are speaking crap 
o Paraphasias 
– errors in producing specific words:
a- Semantic paraphasias 
– substituting words similar in meaning e.g. “barn” for “house”.
b- Phonemic paraphasias
– substituting words similar in sound e.g. “house” for “mouse”.
o Neologisms
 – non-words – e.g. “galump”.
o Poor repetition.
o Impairment in writing.

Question 21

what structure transmits information from Wernicke’s area to Broca’s area?

Answer 21

Arcuate fasciculus

they are actually multiple structures that connect e.g. uncinate fasciculus

Question 22

what is the result of impairment at the arcuate fasciculus?

Answer 22

o Difficulty speaking repeated words.
o Retaining comprehension.
o Retaining spontaneous conversation.

Question 23

what can cause the lesions at Broca’s or Wernicke’s?

Answer 23

o Stroke.
o Traumatic brain injury.
o Neurodegenerative conditions – i.e. Parkinson’s.

Question 24

what can cause transient aphasia?

Answer 24

TIA or migraine

Question 25

what is Dysexecutive Syndrome?

Answer 25

disruption of executive function closely related to frontal lobe damage.

therefore can not carry out tasks that require planning and judgement

Question 26

what are the executive functions of the brain?

Answer 26

• planning
• focused attention
• remembering instructions
• juggling multiple tasks

system that processes novel situations outside our automatic psychological processes.

Question 27

what are the causes of dysexecutive syndrome?

Answer 27

• head trauma
• tumours
• degenerative diseases (e.g. In Alzheimers, the frontal lobe is damaged last)
• cerebrovascular disease
• psychiatric conditions.

these have to affect the FRONTAL lobe

Question 28

what are the cognitive difficulties associated with dysexecutive syndrome?

Answer 28

o Poor planning/organisation.
o Attention and working memory difficulties.
o Difficulty remembering instructions
o Difficulty switching from task to task.
o Difficulty juggling multiple tasks.
o Difficulty with complex/abstract thinking.
o Difficulty coping with novel situations.

Question 29

what are the behavioural and emotional difficulties in dysexecutive syndrome?

Answer 29

• hypo or hyperactivity
• lack of drive or impulsiveness
• apathetic or disinhibited
• socially inappropriate
• poor initiation of tasks or perseverative
• emotional bluntness or dysregualtion
• reduced empathy
• rude, crass, prone to swearing

Question 30

what is declarative memory?

Answer 30

storage of our knowlegde

• episodic= memory related to personal experience
• semantic= memory of facts

Question 31

what is non-declarative memory?

Answer 31

familiarity; knowledge of how to interact with something or in a situation without thinking about it

Question 32

how can memory be enhanced?

Answer 32

1) by assimilation: link words with previous knowledge; give words a meaning
2) mnemonics: letter present words/knowledge, integrated into memorable sentence