Chapter 12 - Learning & Memory Flashcards
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.
Fromtotemporal dementia (FTD) picks disease.
Portions of the frontal and temporal regions degenerate.
Symptoms:
Inability to connect with others. Changes in personality. Loss of judgement.
Causes:
Tau protein
Brain area affected:
Frontal lobe-VEN cells
Anterior temporal lobe
Long term potentiation (associative):
Weak synapse strengthened through induction.
Glutamate receptors necessary for LTP:
Small stimulation triggers AMPA receptors (short acting)
Large stimulation triggers NDMA receptors (long lasting, LTP)
