Chapter 18 - Memory Study Guide Flashcards
Who is Clive Wearing
most severe amnesia ever reported
viral infection that led to significant hippocampus damage
resulted in anterograde and retrograde amnesia
only remembered his wife and knowing how to play piano
What was Sir Henry Bartlett’s novel idea about the nature of memory
On remembering
memory is a reconstructive process rather than simple passive recall
when we remember, we don’t retrieve an exact copy but rather construct a gist
therefore we make errors
What are the 5 types of amnesia
- anterograde vs. retrograde
- traumatic brain injury
- transient global amnesia
- childhood amnesia
- amnesia related to different diseases
Define anterograde amnesia
inability to acquire new memories after injury
Define retrograde amnesia
inability to remember events that took place before the onset of amnesia
What is transient global amnesia
sudden temporary episode of memory loss
unable to form new memories and recall old (both RA and AA), long term memories remain intact
caused by blood flow issue in memory related areas
Distinguish between prospective amnesia and destination amnesia
prospective = memory for things one intends to do (ex. attending a class)
destination = memory of our past interactions (ex. forgetting who we told a story to)
Define childhood amnesia
inability to remember events from the first 4 years, and recall of few between ages 7-11
What are 2 possible causes of childhood amnesia
- an orderly maturation of memory systems
implicit, emotional, and explicit (semantic and then episodic), followed by maturation of other cognitive systems
- brain deletes memories to make room for new ones
What are the 5 theories of memory
- Consolidation Theory
- Reconsolidation Theory
- Multiple Trace Theory
- Trace Transformation Theory of Memory
- Scene Selection Theory
Explain the consolidation theory
The hippocampus consolidates new memories and makes them permanent and then they are moved and stored in a different location in the neocortex
Explain the reconsolidation theory
Every time a memory is recalled, it becomes temporarily unstable and susceptible to modification before stabilized again.
results in memories changing over time
Explain the multiple trace theory
idea that there are a number of different kinds of memories, each dependent on different neural structures
1. autobiographical
2. factual semantic
3. general semantic (language)
What are the 3 main points for the memory trace theory
- memories are stored in parallel, but in different regions
- memories change over time (older memories can become facts)
- different kinds of memories are susceptible to different brain injuries
What is trace transformation theory of memory
memories of events are richly represented (in posterior HPC)
preserves only the gist of the memory when transferred to the anterior HPC
moved to PFC that houses similar memories together and begin to blur together
Define scene selection theory
people don’t remember everything about an event, instead selectively attend to certain relevant ideas
HPC creates memories by assembling neocortical elements into spatially coherent scenes
When does consolidation occur
occurs during sleep
when awake: HPC receives and then sends to the cerebral cortex in low frequency and reverse in high frequency
when asleep: cerebral cortex is the receiver and sends low frequency to HPC and HPC sends high frequency to consolidate into long term to cerebral cortex
What did Maguire’s study demonstrate for the vmPFC-HPC pathway
this pathway is involved in episodic memory transforming to semantic
HPC initially encodes episodic memories while vmPFC abstracts and integrates memories into general knowledge
What does Maguire’s study imply about memory stage
it is not a static process, important pathway in both spatial and autobiographical memory
Define explicit memory
conscious memory
intentional, remembering of events, facts, and personal experiences
receiving an item and indicates they know the item
Define implicit memory
nonconscious and nonintentional memory of learned skills, conditioned reactions, and events
Define emotional memory
ability to recall experiences that are associated with strong emotional reactions
Outline the neural model in explicit memory
from brainstem to cortex systems
goes to medial thalamus, temporal lobe structures, and sensory and motor information
another circuit prefrontal cortex - medial thalamus - temporal lobe structures
sensory and motor info to rest of cortex
then to temporal lobe structures both ways