Chapter 11 - Learning, Memory and Amnesia Flashcards
Learning
deals with how experience changes the brain
Memory
how the changes, which occurred because of the learning, are stored and subsequently reactivated
Amnesia
any pathological loss of memory
Bilateral medial temporal lobectomy
the removal of the medial portions of both temporal lobes, including most of the hippocampus, amygdala and adjacent cortex
Hippocampus
A structure of the medial temporal lobes that plays a role in various forms of memory
Amygdala
structure in the anterior temporal lobe, just anterior to the hippocampus, plays a role in emotion
Lobectomy
an operation in which a lobe, or a major part of one, is removed from the brain
• Lobotomy
an operation in which a lobe, or a major part of one, is removed from the brain
• Retrograde amnesia
Loss of memory for events or information learned before the amnesia-inducing brain injury (backward acting)
• Anterograde amnesia
Loss of memory for events occurring after the amnesia-inducing brain injury (forward-acting)
• Short-Term memory
storage of information for brief periods of time while a person attends to it
• Long-term memory
storage to new information once the person stops attending to it
• Digit span
the longest sequence of random digits that can be repeated correctly 50% of the time – most people have a digit span of 7
• Global amnesia
amnesia for information presented in all sensory modalities
• Block-tapping memory test
kind of like “Simon says” lol, an array of nine blocks was spread out on a board in front of the patient, who is asked to watch the instructor to repeat the sequence of blocks he is touching; normal range is around 5
• Incomplete pictures test
A test of memory measuring the improved ability to identify fragmented pictures that have been previously observed
• Remote memory
memory for experiences in the distant past
• Memory consolidation
the translation from short-term memories to long-term memories
• Explicit memories: = declarative memory
conscious, long-term memories
• Implicit memories
memories that are expressed by improved performance without conscious recall or recognition
• Medial temporal lobe amnesia
Amnesia associated with bilateral amnesia to the medial temporal lobes; its major features are anterograde and retrograde amnesia for explicit memories with preserved, intellectual functioning
• Semantic memories
explicit memories for general facts or information
• Episodic memory
explicit memories for specific events (i.e., episodes) of one’s life
• Global cerebral ischemia
an interruption of blood supply to the entire brain; people who have experienced this often suffer from medial temporal lobe amnesia
• Pyramidal cells
large multipolar cortical neurons with a pyramid-shaped cell body, an apical dendrite and a very long axon
• Pyramidal cell layer
one of the major layers of cell bodies in the hippocampus
• CA1 subfield
a region of the hippocampus that is commonly damaged by cerebral ischemia
• Transient global amnesia
defined by its sudden onset in the absence of any obvious cause in otherwise normal adults; [ a sudden onset severe anterograde amnesia and moderate retrograde amnesia for explicit episodic memory that is transient (vorrübergehend) – typically lasting only between 4-6 hours
• Korsakoff’s syndrome
disorder of memory common in people who have consumed large amounts of alcohol; the brain damage is largely attributable to the brain damage associated with the thiamine deficiency that often accompanies heavy alcohol consumption; in its advanced stages it is characterized by a variety of sensory and motor problems, extreme confusion; personality changes and a risk of death from liver, gastrointestinal or heart disorders
• Mediodorsal nuclei
a pair of thalamic nuclei, damage to which is thought to be responsible for many of the memory deficits associated with Korsakoff’s syndrome
• Medial diencephalic amnesia
amnesia that is associated with damage to the medial diencephalon
• Alzheimer’s disease
: the most common form of dementia in the elderly; it’s three defining characteristics are neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid plaque and neuron loss
• Basal forebrain
a midline area located just above the hypothalamus, brain’s main source of acetylcholine
• Posttraumatic amnesia (PTA):
amnesia following a nonpenetrating blow to the head
• Electroconvulsive shock (ECS)
intense, brief, diffuse, seizure-inducing current that is administered to the brain through large electrodes attached to the scalp
• Engram
a change in the brain that stores a memory
• Standard consolidation theory/ dual trace memory
the theory that memories are temporarily stored in the hippocampus until they can be transferred to a more stable cortical storage system
• Delayed nonmatching-to-sample test
a test in which the subject is presented with an unfamiliar sample object and then, after a delay, is presented with a choice between the sample object an unfamiliar object, where the correct choice is the unfamiliar object
• Medial temporal cortex
cortex in the medial temporal lobe that lies adjacent to the hippocampus and amygdala
• Mumby box
an apparatus that is used in the rat version of the Delayed nonmatching-to-sample test
• Morris Water maze test
: a widely used test of spatial memory in which rats must learn to swim directly to a platform hidden just beneath the surface of a circular pool of murky water
• Radial arm maze test
a widely used test of rats’ spatial ability in which the same arms are baited on each trial, and the rat must learn to visit only the baited arms once per trial
• Reference memory
memory for the general principles and skills that are required to perform a task
• Working memory
Temporary memory that is necessary for the successful performance of a task which one is currently working on
• Place cells
neurons that respond only when the subject is in specific locations
• Entorhinal cortex
an area of the medial temporal cortex that is a major source of neural signals to the hippocampus
• Grid cells
entorhinal neurons that each have an extensive array of evenly spaced place fields, producing a pattern reminiscent of graph paper
• Jennifer Aniston Neurons
Neurons, such as those found in the medial temporal lobe, that respond to ideas or concepts rather than to particulars; also known as concept cells
• Engram cells
neurons that maintain an engram [change in the brain that stores memory]
• Inferotemporal cortex
cortex of the inferior temporal cortex), complex visual functions
• Prefrontal cortex
the area of the frontal cortex anterior to the motor cortex
• Cerebellum
a metencephalic structure that is thought to participate in the storage of memories of learned sensorimotor skills
• Striatum
structure of the basal ganglia that is the terminal of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway; thought to store memories for consistent relationships between stimuli and responses (the type of memory that develop incrementally over many trials) –> sometimes this striatum-based learning is referred to as habit formation
• Long-term potentiation (LTP
the enduring facilitation of synaptic transmission that occurs following activation of synapses by high-intensity, high-frequency stimulation of presynaptic neurons
• NMDA receptor
: = N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors – Glutamate receptors that play key roles in the development of stroke-induced brain damage and LTP at glutaminergic synapses
• Dendritic spines
tiny protrusions of various shapes that are located on the surface of many dendrites
• Transcription factors
: intracellular proteins that bind to DNA and influence the operation of particular genes
• Long-term depression (LTD
a long-lasting decrease in synaptic efficacy (the flip side of LTP) that occurs in response to prolonged low-frequency stimulation of presynaptic neuronsv
• Metaplasticity
refers to the fact that LTP and/or LTD can be modulated by prior synaptic activity
• Infantile amnesia
we remember virtually nothing of the events from our infancy
• Nootropics/ smart drugs
substances (drugs, supplements, herbal extracts,) that are thought to improve memory
