Chapter 13_Learning and Memory Flashcards
Learning
The process of acquiring new information or modifying existing knowledge, skills, behaviors, or preferences.
Memory
The retention and retrieval of information, experiences, and skills over time.
Patient HM
A famous case study of a patient with severe anterograde amnesia following bilateral medial temporal lobe surgery, which greatly informed neuroscience on memory processes.
Medial Temporal Lobe (MTL)
A brain region involved in the formation and consolidation of new declarative memories.
Declarative Memories
Memories of facts and events that can be consciously recalled; includes semantic and episodic memories.
Semantic Memories
Type of declarative memory involving general world knowledge, such as facts and concepts.
Episodic Memory
Type of declarative memory involving personal experiences and specific events.
Retrograde Amnesia
Memory loss for events that occurred prior to the onset of amnesia.
Anterograde Amnesia
The inability to form new memories following the onset of amnesia.
Procedural Memories
Implicit memories of skills and tasks, like riding a bike, which do not require conscious recall.
Mirror Tracing Task
A task used to assess procedural memory in which the subject traces an image by watching their hand in a mirror.
Associative Memory
A type of memory formed through associative learning, such as Pavlovian conditioning.
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
A stimulus that naturally elicits a response without prior conditioning, like food causing salivation in dogs.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
A previously neutral stimulus that, after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus, elicits a conditioned response.
Conditioned Response (CR)
The learned response to a conditioned stimulus, such as salivating in response to a bell.
Working Memory
A short-term memory system involved in holding and manipulating information temporarily.
Digit Span Test
A test that assesses working memory by requiring individuals to recall a sequence of digits.
Corsi Block Tapping Test
A spatial memory test where individuals replicate a sequence of tapped blocks.
The Hippocampus (HPC)
A structure in the medial temporal lobe involved in spatial memory and the formation of new declarative memories.
Limbic System
A network of brain structures associated with emotions, behavior, and memory.
Entorhinal Cortex
The main input region of the hippocampus, involved in spatial memory and navigation.
Spatial Memories
Memories of spatial environments and locations, essential for navigation and orientation.
Morris Water Maze
A spatial memory test in which animals locate a hidden platform in a pool, often used to study hippocampal function.
Radial Arm Maze
A memory test involving a platform with several arms, one of which is rewarded, testing the animal’s ability to remember spatial cues.
The Amygdala
A brain region in the medial temporal lobe involved in emotional learning and memory, especially fear.
Fear Conditioning
A type of associative learning where a neutral stimulus is paired with an aversive event, leading to a fear response.
Inferotemporal Cortex (IT)
A region involved in visual memory and recognition, especially facial recognition in the fusiform gyrus.
Fusiform Gyrus
Part of the inferior temporal cortex involved in facial recognition and visual memory.
Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA)
A region involved in recognizing places and environmental scenes, distinct from face or object recognition.
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)
A brain region involved in decision-making, personality, and short-term working memory.
Striatum
A part of the basal ganglia associated with habit formation and procedural memory.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors, associated with dysfunction in the striatum.
Cerebellum
A brain structure involved in motor coordination and procedural memory.
Hypermnesia
An exceptional ability to recall detailed memories, as documented in rare cases.
Encoding
The process of converting sensory input into a form that can be stored in memory.
Consolidation
The process by which memories become stable in the brain, often occurring during sleep.
Engram
A theoretical concept for the physical trace of a memory in the brain.
Reverberation
The repeated activation of neural circuits, which strengthens memory consolidation.
Donald O. Hebb
Neuroscientist known for Hebbian theory, summarized as “Cells that fire together, wire together.”
Retrieval
The process of accessing stored information from memory.
Free-Recall
A memory retrieval task where individuals recall information without specific cues.
Cued-Recall
A retrieval task where cues are provided to aid in memory recall.
False Memories
Recollections of events that are either distorted or did not actually occur.
Place Cells
Neurons in the hippocampus that activate when an animal is in a specific location, contributing to spatial memory.
Grid Cells
Neurons in the entorhinal cortex that provide a spatial framework for navigation.
Concept Cells
Neurons that respond to specific concepts, such as familiar people or objects, also known as “Jennifer Aniston neurons.”
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
A long-lasting increase in synaptic strength, thought to underlie learning and memory.
Long-Term Depression (LTD)
A long-lasting decrease in synaptic strength, which contributes to synaptic plasticity.
AMPA Receptors
Ionotropic glutamate receptors that mediate fast synaptic transmission, important for LTP.
NMDA Receptors
Receptors that allow Ca²⁺ influx during synaptic transmission, essential for initiating LTP when co-activated with AMPA receptors.
Habituation
A decrease in response to a repeated, non-threatening stimulus, a basic form of learning.
Sensitization
An increase in response to a repeated stimulus, often as a result of prior sensitizing exposure.
Endocannabinoid-Mediated LTD
A form of long-term depression involving endocannabinoids, which modulate synaptic plasticity.
Alzheimer’s Disease
A neurodegenerative disorder marked by memory loss, cognitive decline, amyloid plaques, and tau tangles.
Familial AD
A genetically inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease.
Sporadic AD
The most common form of Alzheimer’s without a clear genetic cause.
Apolipoprotein epsilon4 (ApoE4)
A genetic risk factor associated with a higher likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The Cholinergic Hypothesis
A theory that Alzheimer’s symptoms are due to a deficiency in acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter.
Amyloid-Beta Plaques (Aβ)
Protein aggregates associated with Alzheimer’s disease, thought to disrupt cell communication.
Neurofibrillary Tau-Tangles (NFT)
Twisted protein fibers found in Alzheimer’s disease that disrupt neuron structure and function.
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
A memory disorder caused by chronic alcoholism and thiamine deficiency, marked by anterograde and retrograde amnesia.
Traumatic Brain Injury
An injury to the brain from an external force, often resulting in long-term cognitive or behavioral impairments.
Coup
The primary impact site in a traumatic brain injury, where the brain hits the skull.
Contrecoup
The opposite site of the brain injury, where the brain rebounds and hits the skull again.
Savant Syndrome
A rare condition in which individuals with developmental disorders exhibit exceptional memory or skill in a specific area.
