Chapter 11, 12 & 15 Vocabulary Flashcards
Learning
The brain?s ability to change in response to experience
Memory
The brain?s ability to store and access the learned effects of experience
Amnesia
Any pathological loss of memory
Bilateral Medial Temporal Lobectomy
The removal of the medial portions of both temporal lobes including the hippocampus, amygdala and adjacent cortex.
Hippocampus
A structure of the medial temporal lobes that plays a role in memory for spatial location
Lobotomy
Operation in which a lobe is separated from the rest of the brain
Amygdala
Structure in the anterior temporal lobe, just anterior to the hippocampus; plays a role in emotion
Retrograde Amnesia
Inability to recall things prior to the episode
Anterograde Amnesia
Inability to form new memories since the episode
Short Term Memory
The capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time
Digit Span
The number of digits (numbers) one can remember
Digit Span + 1 Test
HM failed this test. People can normally repeat 15 digits after 25 digit span + 1 trials
Block-Tapping Memory-Span Test
9 blocks spread out on a board. Repeat a sequence. HM could do 5 block sequences but not 6
Block-Tapping Span
HM was within normal range of 5.
Global Amnesia
Amnesia for info presented in all sensory modalities
Block-Tapping Memory Span Test
Assesses visuo-spatial short term working memory. It involves mimicking a researcher as he/she taps a sequence of up to nine identical spatially separated blocks.
Mirror-Drawing Test
Like the straw drawing test we did. HM did not have problem with all long term memory. Over a three day set of trials, he got better at the drawing task, even though he could not remember performing the task the days before
Rotary-Pursuit Test
Try to keep the stylus on the revolving turntable. . Over a 9 day set of trials, he got better at the task, even though he could not remember performing the task the days before
Incomplete-Pictures Test
HM was capable of forming long term with the incomplete picture task. Presented five sets of fragmented drawings then progresses to showing more and more of the completed picture.
Remote Memory
memory that is serviceable for events long past, but not able to acquire new recollections
Memory Consolidation
Transfer of short-term memory to long-term memory
Explicit Memories
Conscious memory
Implicit Memories
unconscious memory
Medial Temporal Lobe Amnesia
Medial temporal lobe damage
Repetition Priming Tests
Tests that have been developed to assess implicit memory (incomplete picture test is an example)
Semantic Memories
Knowledge based memory
Episodic Memories
Personal memories or particular events
Autobiographical Memories
SAME AS EPISODIC
Cerebral Ischemia
Have experienced an interruption of blood supply to their brain
Pyramidal Cell Layer
a type of neuron found in areas of the brain including cerebral cortex, the hippocampus, and in the amygdala. Pyramidal neurons are the primary excitation units of the mammalian prefrontal cortex and the corticospinal tract.
CA1 Subfield
Major component of the hippocampus (case study of RB, this was damaged)
Korsakoff?s Syndrome
Disorder of memory that is common in ppl who have consumed large amounts of alcohol. Largely attributable to the brain damage associated with the thiamine deficiency that often accompanies heavy alcohol consumption. Advanced stages are characterized by a variety of sensory and motor problems, extreme confusion, personality changes, and a risk of death of the liver. Reveals lesions to the medial diencephalon and neocortex, hippocampus and the cerebellum.
Medial Diencephalon
The medial thalamus and the medial hypothalamus
Mammillary Bodies
The pair of spherical nuclei that are located on the inferior surface of the posterior hypothalamus
Mediodorsal Nuclei
A pair of medial diencephalic nuclei in the thalamus, damage to which is thought to be responsible for many of the memory deficits associated with Korsakoff?s syndrome
Medial Diencephalic Amnesia
Amnesia associated with the damage of the medial diencephalon (ie: Korsakoff?s Syndrome)
Alzheimer?s Disease
Major cause of amnesia. First sign is often mild deterioration of memory. Progressive and leads to dementia.
Dementia
serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person
Predementia Alzheimer?s Patients
Alzheimer?s patients that have not developed dementia
Basal Forebrain
Midline area located just above the hypothalamus. Degeneration of this occurs in Alzheimer?s patients
Concussion
Temporary disturbance of consciousness produced by a non-penetrating head injury
Coma
a state of unconsciousness lasting more than six hours,[1] in which a person: cannot be awakened; fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound; lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle; and, does not initiate voluntary actions.[
Posttraumatic Amnesia
Amnesia produced by non penetrating tramatic head injury
patients cannot remember anything during, amnesia they are very confused but once it passes their memory goes back to normal
Islands of Memory
Memories that sometimes survive for isolated events that occurred during periods that have otherwise been wiped out
Electroconvulsive Shock
An intense, brief, diffuse, seizure-inducing current administered to the brain via large electrodes attached to the scalp
Standard Consolidation Theory
Theory that memories are temporarily stored in the hippocampus until they can be transferred to a more stable cortical storage system.
Reconsolidation
Each time a memory is retrieved from long-term storage, it is temporarily held in labile (changeable or unstable) short term memory, where it is once again susceptible to posttraumatic amnesia before it is reconsolidated
Multiple-Trace Theory
Theory that memories are encoded in a distributed fashion throughout the hippocampus and other brain structures for as long as the memories exist
Engram
A change in the brain that stores a memory
Delayed Nonmatching-to-Sample Test
A test in which subjects is presented with an unfamiliar sample object and then after a delay, is presented with a choice between the sample object and an unfamiliar object, where the correct choice is the unfamiliar object
Rhinal Cortex
An area of medial temporal cortex adjacent to the amygalda and hippocampus
Mumby Box
An apparatus that is used in a rat version of the delayed non matching- to-sample test
Entorhinal Cortex
The portion of the rhinal cortex within the rhinal fissure
Perirhinal Cortex
The portion of the rhinal cortex around the rhinal fissure
Morris Water Maze
A pool of milky water that has a goal platform invisible just beneath its surface and is used to study the ability of rats to learn spatial locations
Radial Arm Maze
A maze in which several arms radiate out from a central starting chamber, commonly used to study spatial learning in rats
Reference Memory
Memory for the general principles and skills that are required to perform a task
Working Memory
Temporary memory necessary for the successful performance of a task on which one is currently working
Place Cells
Neurons that develop place fields-that is, that respond only when the subject is in a particular place in a familiar test environment
Grid Cells
a place-modulated neuron whose multiple firing locations define a periodic triangular array covering the entire available surface of an open two-dimensional environment.
Head Direction Cells
neurons found in several brain areas that discharge in relation to the animal?s directional heading with respect to the environment in the horizontal (yaw) plane.
Place Fields
Neurons that respond only when a subject is in specific locations
Cognitive Map Theory
The theory that the main function of the hippocampus is to store memories of spatial location
Inferotemporal Cortex
The cortex of the inferior temporal love, in which is located an area of secondary visual cortex that is involved in object recognition
Prefrontal Cortex
The area of the frontal cortex that is anterior to motor cortex
Cerebellum
The metencephalic structure that has been shown to mediate the retention of Pavlovian eye blink conditioning
Striatum
A structure of the basal ganglia that is the terminal of the dopaminergic nigrostrial pathway and is damaged in Parkinson?s patients; it seems to play a role in memory for consistent relationships between stimuli and responses in multiple-trail tasks
Long-Term Potentiation
The enduring facilitation of synaptic transmission that occurs following activation of synapses by high-frequency stimulation of the presynaptic
Co-occurrence
Firing in presynaptic and postsynaptic cells is now recognized as the critical factor in LTP
Hebb?s Postulate for Learning
Assumption that co-occurrence is a physiological necessity for learning and memory
NMDA Receptor
Glutamate receptors tat play key roles in the development of stroke-induced brain damage and long term potentiation at glutamingeric synapses
Glutamate
The brain?s most prevalent excitatory neurotransmitter, whose excessive release causes much of the brain damage resulting from cerebral ischemia
Protein Kinases
A class of enzymes that influence many chemical reactions of the cell
Dendritic Spines
A small membranous protrusion from a neuron’s dendrite that typically receives input from a single synapse of an axon. Dendritic spines serve as a storage site for synaptic strength and help transmit electrical signals to the neuron’s cell body
Transcription Factors
Any intracellular proteins that bind to DNA and influence the operation of particular genes
Nitric Oxide
A soluble gas neurotransmitter
Infantile Amnesia
We remember virtually nothing of the events of our infancy
Anorexia Nervosa
3% suffer from this or bulimia. It?s an eating disorder characterized by immoderate food restriction and irrational fear of gaining weight, as well as a distorted body self-perception.
Bulimia Nervosa
3% suffer from this or anorexia. Bulimia is an illness in which a person binges on food or has regular episodes of overeating and feels a loss of control. The person then uses different methods – such as vomiting or abusing laxatives – to prevent weight gain
Set Point
Prescribed optimal level
Gastrointestinal Tract
Parotid gland, slaivary gland, esophagus, stomach, liver, pyloric sphinctrer, gall bladder, pancreas, duodenum, large intestine, small intestine and the anus
Digestion
Gastointestinal process of breaking down food and absorbing its constituents into the body.
Lipids
Fats. One the the three forms that energy is delivered
Amino Acids
The breakdown products of proteins. One the the three forms that energy is delivered
Glucose
A simple sugar that is the breakdown product of complex carbs, that is, starches and sugars. One the the three forms that energy is delivered
Carbohydrates
Complex starches and sugars
Fats
They are a source of energy in foods. Fats belong to a group of substances called lipids, and come in liquid or solid form. All fats are combinations of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.
Glycogen
The chief carbohydrate storage material in animals, stored primarily in liver and muscle; it is synthesized and degraded for energy as demanded. Glycogen
Proteins
Proteins are large, complex molecules that play many critical roles in the body. They do most of the work in cells and are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the body?s tissues and organs
Energy Metabolism
The chemical changes by which energy is made available for an organisms use
Cephalic Phase
Preparatory phase, it often begins with the smell, sight or even the thought of food and it ends when the food starts to be absorbed into the bloodstream.
Absorptive Phase
Period during which the energy absorbed into the bloodstream from the meal is meeting the body?s immediate energy needs
Fasting Phase
Period during which all of the unstored energy from the previous meal has been used and the body is withdrawing energy from its reserves to meet immediate energy requirements
Insulin
Promotes the use of glucose as the primary source of energy by the body. It promotes the conversion of bloodborne fuels to forms that can be stored: glucose to glycogen and fat, and amino acids to proteins. It promotes the storage of glycogen in liver and muscle, fat in adipose tissue, and protein in muscle.
Glucagon
A pancreatic hormone that promotes the release of free fatty acids from adipose tissue, their conversion to ketones, and the use of both sources as energy.
Gluconeogenesis
The process by which protein is converted to glucose
Free Fatty Acids
The main source of the body?s energy during the fastest phase; released from adipose tissue in response to high levels of glucagon.
Ketones
Breakdown products of free fatty acids that are used by muscles as a source of energy during the fasting phase
Set-Point Assumption
The assumption that hunger is typically triggered by the decline of the body?s energy reserves below their set point.
Meal
A bout of eating
Hunger
The motivation to eat
Satiated
No longer hunger
Set-Point Mechanism
One of the components of all set point systems; defines the set point
Detector Mechanism
One of the components of all set point systems; detects deviations from the set point
Effector Mechanism
One of the components of all set point systems; acts to eliminate the deviations
Negative Feedback Systems
Systems in which feedback from changes in one direction elicit compensatory effects in the opposite direction
Homeostasis
Stable internal environment. Crucial for mammal?s survival
Glucostatic Theory
The idea that being hungry occurs when our blood glucose levels drop significantly below their set point and that we become satiated when eating returns our blood glucose levels to their set point.
Lipostatic Theory
Another set point theory, every person has a set point for body fat, and deviations from, this set point produce compensatory adjustments in the level of eating that return levels of body fat to their set point.
Positive-Incentive Theory
Humans and other animals are not normally driven to eat by internal energy deficits but are drawn to eat by anticipated pleasure of eating
Positive-Incentive Value
The anticipated pleasure of the behavior of eating
Thiamine
A vitamin used by the body to break down sugars in the diet.
Satiety
The motivational state that causes us to stop eating a meal when there is food remaining
Sham Eating
The experimental protocol in which an animal chew and swallows food, which immediately exits its body through a tube implanted in its esophagus.
Appetizer Effect
The fact that small amounts of food consumed before a meal actually increase hunger rather than reducing it
Cafeteria Diet
Varied diet of highly palatable food
Sensory-Specific Satiety
The fact that the consumption of a particular food produces increased satiety foods of the same taste than for other foods.
Lateral Hypothalamus
Suggested that it is one of the areas that control eating behavior. WRONG
Hyperphagia
Excessive eating
VMH Syndrome
Lesions to the VMH which leads to complications in eating; two phases static or dymanic
Dynamic Phase
Begins as soon as the subject regains conscieousness after the operation, is characterized by several weeks of grossly excessive eating and rapid weight gain.
Static Phase
Consumption gradually declines to a level that maintains a stable level of obesity.
LH Syndrome
Bilateral lesions to the LH; leads to aphagia and adipsia
Aphagia
A complete cessation of eating
