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