Chapter 12 - Learning & Memory Flashcards
(27 cards)
Anterograde amnesia
An impairment in forming new memories. Means “moving forward”.
Retrograde amnesia
Inability to remember events prior to impairment.
Consolidation
Process in which the brain forms a more or less permanent physical representation of a memory.
Basically turning a short term memory into a long term one.
Retrieval
The process of accessing stored memories.
The act of remembering.
Declarative Memory
Involves learning that results in memories of facts, people, and events that a person can verbalize or declare.
Subtypes of Declarative Memory
- Episodic memory (events
- Factual memory (facts)
- Autobiographical memory (information about oneself)
- Spatial memory (location of the individual and of objects in space)
Nondeclarative Memory
- Involves memories for behaviors.
* These memories result from: procedural or skills learning, emotional learning, and stimulus-response conditioning.
Declarative Memory is __________
While Nondeclaritive Memory is more concerned with ____________
- Informational
* The control of behavior
Working Memory
Provides a temporary “register” for information while it is being used.
Example: working memory holds a phone number that you looked up or remembered while you dial the number.
Hebb Rule
If an axon of a presynaptic neuron is active while the postsynaptic neuron is firing, the synapse will be strengthened.
Substantial loss of memory and other cognitive abilities in the elderly is referred to as ___________
Dementia
Alzheimer’s Disease
A disorder characterized by progressive brain deterioration and impaired memory and other mental abilities.
Most common cause of dementia.
Earliest and most severe symptom of Alzheimer’s is usually ________
Impaired declarative memory.
Example: forgets names, events from day before, has trouble finding the right word in a conversation.
Eventually starts repeating questions and telling the same story again. Then fails to recognize friends and family.
Symptoms and impairments from Alzheimer’s disease:
- Language
- Visual-spatial functioning and reasoning
- Aggressiveness
- Wandering away from home
Causes of Alzheimer’s disease - the 2 notable characteristics:
Plaques and Tangles
-they attack frontal lobes
Possibly ADDL
Heredity
Plaques
Clumps of amyloid, a type of protein, that cluster among axon terminals and interfere with neural transmission.
Abnormal accumulation of the protein tau form _________ _________
inside neurons.
Associated with the death of brain cells
Neurofibrillary tangles
Amyloid precursor protein (APP)
Mutations in this gene have been linked to Alzheimer’s
Treatment of Alzheimer’s:
4 drugs in use
-3 are cholinesterase inhibitors
Functions of the hippocampus:
- Declarative memories
- Directs consolidation
Functions of the amygdala:
- Nondeclarative emotional learning
- Strengthens declarative memories about emotional events
Functions of the cerebellum:
- implicit memory
- Sensorimotor skills
Functions of the prefrontal cortex:
- Determines where to focus attention
- Temporal order of events
- Working memory
Korsakoff’s syndrome
Progressive irreversible brain deterioration caused by alcoholism.
Confabulation
Deficiency in thiamine (B1) due to diet.
Causes anterograde amnesia: declarative memory.
