Chapter 12 Flashcards
What are the three processes of memory?
Encoding (Acquisition), Storing (Consolidation), Retrieving
What are Flashbulb memories?
vivid and detailed memories of emotionally charged events
- more stable and long lasting
- because of emotional arousal during it
- memory of a traumatic event (e.g., a car accident) is clearer and more vivid due to the release of stress hormones during the event
What is the theorical mechanism of memory?
release of stress hormones,
such as cortisol, during stressful experiences enhances the encoding process, tagging them as significant
What are the different types of memory?
Short-term Memory (Working Memory): Temporary storage of
information.
Long-term Memory: Permanent storage of information.
Procedural Memory: Memory for skills (e.g., riding a bike)
- skill learning
- priming
- conditioning
Declarative Memory: Memory for facts and event
- episodic
- semantic
What is the Yerkes-Dodson Law
Learning performance is affected by arousal
–>performance is best at moderate
levels of arousal, while too low or too high arousal impairs learning
What is non associative memory?
Nonassociative Learning: Learning in response to a single stimulus.
- Sensitization: Increased response to a stimulus after repeated
exposure or after a strong initial stimulus.
- Habituation: Decreased response after repeated exposure to a
harmless stimulus
What is associative learning?
Learning through association-> classical conditioning
- neutral stimulus (bell) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (food) to elicit a conditioned response (salivation)
What are is Skinner’s Learning Theory and the role of hormones in it?
Operant Conditioning: Learning occurs when behaviors are reinforced. A subject learns to associate a behavior with its
outcome (reinforcement).
- Hormones such as dopamine play a role in reinforcing behaviors by increasing the reward value of a stimulus
What is the difference between active and passive avoidance?
Active avoidance-> form of associative learning where an animal must engage in a behavior to avoid an unpleasant stimulus
Passive avoidance-> inhibition of a behavior that the animal would
otherwise engage in, to avoid an unpleasant stimulus
What is fear conditioning?
type of associative learning occurs when an animal learns to associate a neutral stimulus, such as a sound or light, with an aversive stimulus like a foot shock
What is the fear response in the brain?
Stimuli-> Sensory organs-> thalamus-> sensory cortex/ hippocampus-> amygdala-> emotional responses
What is the role of epinephrine on learning?
released during learning-> enhance memory retention
What is the Yerkes-Dodson Curve ?
The curve showing epinephrine’s effect on memory follows an inverted U-shaped curve
- moderate levels enhance memory
- most effective when administrated immediatly after training
What is the ultimate level of epinephrine for avoidance memory in rats?
1500 pg/ml
How does epinephrine enhance memory?
Cannot cross the blood-brain barrier
- act on adrenergic receptors
- they communicate with central nervous system
How does epinephrine act on the amygdala?
epinephrine-> noradrenergic receptors-> vagus nerve-> nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS)-> amygdala
–>enhance memory retention
–>adrenergic blocker impaired recall of emotional memory
What does salevary A-amylase (sAA) show?
sAA is a biomarker for adrenergic activity
- show improved emotional memory recall
- stronger response in women
By which mechanisms do epinephrine enhances memory?
elevates blood glucose and enhances memory
- improves synaptic functions
secrete more glucocorticoid
What is the glucose theory of memory?
Glucose is optimal at 100mg/kg
- inversed u-shaped dose-response
- timing of glucose is very important
What is the link between insulin and memory?
Insulin’s role: Regulates glucose metabolism and affects memory
- Insulin receptors-> particularly in the hippocampus
Diabetes-> link to cognitive impairments
- verbal memory
- both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia
What is the role of Streptozotocin in rodents?
Used to induced diabetes in rodents
- induced cognitive impairment in rodents as well
- impaired spatial learning
- insulin treatment at the onset prevent learning deficits but post-onset treatment does not reverse cognitive impairments
- impaired hippocampal long term potentiation (LTP) in diabetic rats
What is the role of acute stress and chronic stress on learning and memory?
Acute stress-> promote lasting memory formation
- release of glucocorticoids facilitates memory consolidation and learning facilitation
- BUT can impair memory retrieval
Chronic stress-> impairs memory
- glucocorticoids then promote forgetting-> amnestic agent
What is the link between stress and spatial memory?
Chronic stress-> impairs spatial memory
- corticosterone also impairs spatial learning EXCEPT in hoarding birds
What is the role of basolateral amygdala (BLA) in memory?
mediates the memory-enhancing
effects of glucocorticoids
- Lesions in the BLA block the memory-facilitating effects of stress
