chapter 13: memory, learning, and development Flashcards
learning
the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information, behavior patterns, or abilities, characterized by modifications of behavior as a result of practice, study, or experience
memory
- the ability to retain information, based on the mental processes of learning or encoding, retention across some interval of time (consolidation), and the retrieval or reactivation of the memory; 2. the specific information stored in the brain
amnesia
severe impairment of memory
retrograde amnesia
difficulty in retrieving memories formed before the onset of amnesia
patient H.M.
a patient who, because of damage to medial temporal lobe structure, was unable to encode new declarative memories
anterograde amnesia
difficulty in forming new memories beginning with the onset of the disorder
hippocampus
a medial temporal lobe structure that is important for learning and memory
declarative memory
a memory that can be stated or described
nondeclarative memory/procedural memory
a memory that is shown by performance rather than by conscious recollection
delayed non-matching-to-sample task
a test in which the subject must respond to the unfamiliar stimulus of a pair
patient N.A.
a patient who is unable to encode new declarative memories, because of damage to the dorsomedizal thalamus and the mammillary bodies
dorsomedial thalamus
a limbic system structure that is connected to the hippocampus
mammillary body
one of a pair of limbic system structures that are connected to the hippocampus
Korsakoff’s syndrome
a memory disorder, related to a thiamine deficiency, that is generally associated with chronic alcoholism; commonly accompanied with confabulation
confabulate
to fill in a gap in memory with a falsification
patient K.C.
a patient who sustained damage to the cortex that renders him unable to form and retrieve new episodic memories
episodic memory
memory of a particular incident or a particular time and place; also called autobiographical memory
semantic memory
generalized declarative memory, such as knowing the meaning of a word without knowing where or when you learned the word
skill learning
the process of learning to perform a challenging task simply by repeating it over and over
basal ganglia
a group of forebrain nuclei, including the caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, and putamen, found deep within the cerebral hemispheres; crucial for skill learning
priming
the phenomenon by which exposure to a stimulus facilitates subsequent responses to the same or a similar stimulus
associative learning
a type of learning in which an association is formed between two stimuli or between a stimulus and a response; includes both classical and instrumental conditioning
classical conditioning
a type of association in which an originally neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus, or CS) – through pairing with another stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus, or US) that elicits a particular response – acquires the power to elicit that response when presented alone; response elicited by the US is called an unconditioned response (UR), a response elicited by the CS alone is called a conditioned response (CR)
cerebellum
a structure located at the back of the brain, dorsal to the pons, that is involved in the central regulation of movement and in classical conditioning
instrumental conditioning or operant conditioning
a form of associative learning in which the likelihood that an act (instrumental response) will be performed depends on the consequences (reinforcing stimuli) that follow it
cognitive map
a mental representation of the relative spatial organization of objects and information
place cell
a neuron in the hippocampus that selectively fires when the animal is in a particular location
iconic memory
a very brief type of memory that stores the sensory impression of a scene
short-term memory (STM) or working memory
a form of memory that usually lasts only seconds, or as long as rehearsal continues
long-term memory (LTM)
an enduring form of memory that lasts days, weeks, months, or years and has a very large capacity
encoding
the first process in the memory system, in which the information entering sensory channels is passed into short-term memory
consolidation
the second process in the memory system, in which information in short-term memory is transferred to long-term memory
retrieval
the third process of the memory system, in which a stored memory is used by an organism
primacy effect
the superior performance seen in a memory task for items at the start of a list; it is usually attributed to long-term memory
recency effect
the superior performance seen in a memory task for items at the end of a list; it is usually attributed to short-term memory
memory trace
a persistent change in the brain that reflects the storage of memory
reconsolidation
the return of a memory trace to stable long-term storage after it has been temporarily made changeable during the process of recall
neuroplasticity
the ability of the nervous system to change in response to experience or the environment
standard condition (SC)
the usual environment for laboratory rodents, with very few animals in a cage and adequate food and water, but no complex stimulation
impoverished condition (IC)
an environment for laboratory rodents in which animals are housed singly in a small cage without complex stimuli; also called isolated condition
enriched condition (EC)
an environment for laboratory rodents in which animals are grot-housed with a wide variety of stimulus objects
nonassociative learning
a type of learning in which presentation of a particular stimulus alters the strength or probability of a response according to the strength and temporal spacing of that stimulus; includes habituation and sensitization
habituation
a form of non associative learning in which an organism becomes less responses following repeated presentation of a stimulus
Hebbian synapse
a synapse that is strengthened when it successfully drives the postsynaptic cell
tetanus
an intense volley of action potentials
long-term potentiation
a stable and enduring increase in the effectiveness of synapses following repeated strong stimulation
dentate gyrus
a strip of gray matter in the hippocampal formation
glutamate
an amino acid transmitter, the most common excitatory transmitter
NMDA receptor
a glutamate receptor that also binds the glutamate agonist NMDA and that is both ligand-gated and voltage-sensitive
AMPA receptor
a glutamate receptor that also binds the glutamate agonist AMPA
retrograde transmitter
a neurotransmitter that is released by the postsynaptic region, diffuses back across the synapse, and alters the functioning of the presynaptic neuron
ectoderm
the outer cellular layer of the developing fetus, giving rise to the skin and the nervous system
neural tube
an embryonic structure with subdivisions that correspond to the future forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain
forebrain
the front division of the brain, which, in the mature vertebrate, contains the cerebral hemispheres, the thalamus, and the hypothalamus
midbrain
the middle division of the brain
hindbrain
the rear division of the brain, which, in the mature vertebrate, contains the cerebellum, pons, and medulla
embryo
the earliest stage in a developing animal
fetus
a developing individual after the embryo stage
neurogenesis
the mitotic division of nonneural cells to produce neurons
mitosis
the process of division of somatic cells that involves duplication of DNA
ventricular zone
a region lining the cerebral ventricles that displays mitosis, providing neurons early in development and glial cells throughout life
cell migration
the movement of cells from site of origin to final location
gene expression
the process by which a cell makes an mRNA transcript of a particular gene
cell differentiation
the developmental stage in which cells acquire distinctive characteristics, such as those of neurons, as a result of expressing particular genes
synaptogenesis
the establishment of synaptic connections as axons and dendrites grow
cell-cell interaction
the general process during development in which once cell affects the differentiation of other, usually neighboring cells
stem cell
a cell that is undifferentiated and therefore can take on the fate of any cell that a donor organism can produce
adult neurogenesis
the creation of new neurons in the brain of an adult
cell death or apoptosis
the developmental process during which “surplus” cells die
death gene
a gene that is expressed only when a cell becomes committed to natural cell death (apoptosis)
neurotrophic factor
a target-derived chemical that acts as if it “feeds” certain neurons to help them survive
synapse rearrangement
the loss of some synapses and the development of others; a refinement of synaptic connections that is often seen in development
genotype
all the genetic information that one specific individual has inherited
phenotype
the sum of an individual’s physical characteristic at one particular time
phenylketonuria (PKU)
an inherited disorder of protein metabolism in which the absence of an enzyme leads to a toxic buildup of certain compounds, causing intellectual disability
clones
asexually produced organisms that are genetically identical
epigenetics
the study of factors that affect gene expression without making any changes in the nucleotide sequence of the genes themselves
methylation
a chemical modification of DNA that does not affect the nucleotide sequence of a gene but makes that gene less likely to be expressed
Alzheimer’s disease
a form of dementia that may appear in middle age but is more frequent among the aged
dementia
drastic failure of cognitive ability, including memory failure and loss of orientation
amyloid plaque
a small are of the brain that has abnormal cellular and chemical patterns; correlates with dementia
beta-amyloid
a protein that accumulates in amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease
neurofibrillary tangle
an abnormal whorl of neurofilaments within nerve cells that is seen in Alzheimer’s disease
tau
a protein associated with neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer’s disease
