Chap 11: Learning, Memory, & Amnesia Flashcards
Bilateral medial temporal lobectomy
The removal of the medical portions of both temporal lobes including most of the hippocampus amygdala and adjacent cortex
Amnesia
Any pathological loss of memory
Lobectomy
Is an operation in which a lobe, or a major part of one, is removed from the brain
Lobotomy
Is an operation in which a lobe or a major part of one is separated from the rest of the brain by a large cut but is not removed
Short term memory
Storage of new information for brief periods of time while a person attends to it
Long term memory
Storage of new information once the person stops attending to it
Global amnesia
Amnesia for information presented in all sensory modalities
Rotary pursuit test
The subject tries to keep the tip of a stylus in contact with a target that rotates on a revolving turntable
Incomplete pictures test
A nonsensorimotor test of memory that employs five sets of fragmented drawings
Remote memory
Memory for experiences in the distant past
Memory consolidation
The translation of short term memories into long term memories
Explicit memories
Conscious long term memories
Implicit memories
Long term memories without conscious awareness
Medial temporal lobe amnesia
Preserved intellectual functioning and with evidence of medial temporal lobe damage
Repetition priming tests
Tests that have been developed to asses implicit memory
The incomplete pictures test
Semantic memories
Are explicit memories for general facts or information
Episodic memories
Are explicit memories for the particular events of ones life
Cerebral ischemia
Experience an interruption of blood supply to their brains often suffer from medial temporal lobe amnesia
Korsakoff’s syndrome
Is a disorder of memory that is common in people who have consumed large amounts of alcohol
Medial diencephalon
The medial thalamus and the medial hypothalamus and diffuse damage to several other brain structures most notably the neocortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum
Medial diencephalic amnesia
Amnesia such as Korsakoff amnesia associated with damage to the medial diencephalon
Alzheimer’s disease
Is another major cause of amnesia
Eventually dementia develops and becomes so severe that the patient is incapable of even simple activities
Post traumatic amnesia PTA
Amnesia following a nonpenetrating blow to the head
Electroconvulsive ECS
Is an intense brief diffuse seizure inducing current that is administered current that us administered to the brain through large electrodes attached to the scalp
Standard consolidation theory
Memories are temporarily stored in the hippocampus until they can be transferred to a more stable cortical storage system
Multiple trace theory
Is particularly compatible with the finding that gradients of retrograde amnesia are often very long
Engram
A change in the brain that stores a memory is established and linked to the original engram making the memory easier to recall and the original engram more difficult to disrupt
Morris water maze test
Intact rats placed at various locations in a circular pool of murky water rapidly learn to swim to a stationary platform hidden just below the surface
Radial arm maze test
Several arms radiate out from a central starting chamber and the same few arms are baited with food each day
Reference memory
Memory for the general principles and skills that are required to perform a task and the ability to refrain from visiting an arm more than once in a given day is a measure of working memory, temporary memory that is necessary for the successful performance of a task on which one is currently working
Grid cells
Are enthorhinal neurons that each have an extensive array of evenly spaced fields producing a pattern reminiscent of graph paper
Inferotemporal cortex
The cortex of the inferior temporal lobe is involved in the visual perception of objects it is thought to participate in concert with the perirhinal cortex in storing memories of visual patterns
Amygdala
Is thought to play a special role in memory for the emotional significance of experiences
Prefrontal cortex
The area of frontal cortex anterior to motor cortex are not grossly amnesic they often display no deficits at all on conventional tests of memory
Cerebellum
Is thought to participate in the storage of memories of learned sensorimotor skills through its various neuroplastic mechanism
Striatum
Is thought to store memories for consistent relationships between stimuli and responses the type of memories that develop incrementally over many trails
Long term potentiation LTP
Facilitation of synaptic transmission following high frequency electrical stimulation applied to presynaptic neurons
Dendritic spines
The calcium ions that enter a dendritic spine do not readily pass out of it and thus they exert effects locally
Transcription factors
Intracellular proteins that bind to DNA and influence the operation of particular genes that are activated by neural activity
Nitric oxide
Is synthesized in the post synaptic neurons in response to calcium influx and then diffuses back into the terminal buttons of the presynaptic neurons
Infantile amnesia
That is we remember virtually nothing of the events of our infancy
