Chapter 13 (Memory, Learning, & Development - Incomplete)

Question 1

delayed non-matching-to-sample task

Answer 1

A test in which the subject must respond to the unfamiliar stimulus of a pair.

Question 2

patient N.A.

Answer 2

A patient who is unable to encode new declarative memories, because of damage to the dorsomedial thalamus and the mammillary bodies.

Question 3

dorsomedial thalamus

Answer 3

A limbic system structure that is connected to the hippocampus.

Question 4

mammillary body

Answer 4

One of a pair of limbic system structures that are connected to the hippocampus.

Question 5

confabulate

Answer 5

To fill in a gap in memory with a falsification. Confabulation is often seen in Korsakoff’s syndrome.

Question 6

patient K.C.

Answer 6

A patient who sustained damage to the cortex that renders him unable to form and retrieve new episodic memories.

Question 7

place cell

Answer 7

A neuron in the hippocampus that selectively fires when the animal is in a particular location

Question 8

memory trace

Answer 8

A persistent change in the brain that reflects the storage of memory.

Question 9

reconsolidation

Answer 9

The return of a memory trace to stable long-term storage after it has been temporarily made changeable during the process of recall.

Question 10

nonassociative learning

Answer 10

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. It includes habituation and sensitization.

Question 11

habituation

Answer 11

A form of nonassociative learning in which an organism becomes less responsive following repeated presentations of a stimulus.

Question 12

Hebbian synapse

Answer 12

A synapse that is strengthened when it successfully drives the postsynaptic cell.

Question 13

tetanus

Answer 13

An intense volley of action potentials.

Question 14

dentate gyrus

Answer 14

A strip of gray matter in the hippocampal formation.

Question 15

NMDA receptor

Answer 15

A glutamate receptor that also binds the glutamate agonist NMDA, and that is both ligand-gated and voltage-sensitive.

Question 16

AMPA receptor

Answer 16

A glutamate receptor that also binds the glutamate agonist AMPA.

Question 17

ectoderm

Answer 17

The outer cellular layer of the developing fetus, giving rise to the skin and the nervous system.

Question 18

ventricular zone

Answer 18

Also called ependymal layer. A region lining the cerebral ventricles that displays mitosis, providing neurons early in development and glial cells throughout life.

Question 19

death gene

Answer 19

A gene that is expressed only when a cell becomes committed to natural cell death (apoptosis).

Question 20

neurotropic factor

Answer 20

Also called trophic factor. A target-derived chemical that acts as if it “feeds” certain neurons to help them survive.

Question 21

synapse rearrangement

Answer 21

Also called synaptic remodeling. The loss of some synapses and the development of others; a refinement of synaptic connections that is often seen in development.

Question 22

phenylkenonuria (PKU)

Answer 22

An inherited disorder of protein metabolism in which the absence of an enzyme leads to a toxic buildup of certain compounds, causing intellectual disability.

Question 23

methylation

Answer 23

A chemical modification of DNA that does not affect the nucleotide sequence of a gene but makes that gene less likely to be expressed.

Question 24

amyloid plaque

Answer 24

Also called senile plaque. A small area of the brain that has abnormal cellular and chemical patterns. Amyloid plaques correlate with dementia.

Question 25

beta-amyloid

Answer 25

A protein that accumulates in amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease.

Question 26

neurofibrillary tangle

Answer 26

An abnormal whorl of neurofilaments within nerve cells that is seen in Alzheimer’s disease.

Question 27

tau

Answer 27

A protein associated with neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer’s disease.