Chapter 7 - Mechanism of Memory Formation Flashcards
Define Dendrites
The thin extensions of a neuron that receive information from other neurons and transmit it to the soma.
Define Soma
Integrates the neural information received from dendrites and sends it to the axon.
Define Axon
A single, tube-like extension that carries neural information away from the soma towards other neurons (or cells in muscles or glands).
Define Terminal Button
A small structure like a sac that stores and secretes neurotransmitter manufactured by the neuron.
Define Action Potential
Information that travels along the axon as an electrical impulse.
Define Myelin Sheath
A fatty white substance that coats and insulates the axon, allow the axon to communicate their messages much faster.
Define Synaptic Gap
The tiny space between the terminal buttons of one neuron (which release neurotransmitter) and the dendrites of another (which receive the neurotransmitter).
Define Synapse
The site where communication occurs between adjacent neurons.
Define Neurotransmitter
A chemical substance produced by a neuron that carries a message to other neurons or cells in muscles and organs.
Define Glutamate
The main excitatory neurotransmitter for information transmission throughout the brain.
Define Dopamine
Has a number of roles including attention, initiation of voluntary movement, the experience of pleasure and reward-based learning.
Define Acetycholine
Is also involved in learning, attention, sleeping, dreaming and motor control, is found to be at an abnormally low level in the brains of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia that is characterised by the gradual deterioration of memory, resulting in very serious memory deficits.
Define Norepinephrine
Has a role in encoding and retention of memories for emotionally significant experiences.
Define Long-Term Potentiation
Refers to the long-lasting strengthening of synaptic connections of neurons, resulting in the enhanced or more effective functioning of the neurons whenever they are activated.
Define Hippocampus
A medial temporal lobe structures that is crucial for long-term memory formation (but not all LTM types).
Define Amygdala
A small structure (about 1.5 centimetres long) located next to and interconnected with the hippocampus in the medial temporal lobe. Responsible for encoding and storing memories that have a significant emotional component.
Define Consolidation Theory
Proposes that structural changes occur in brain neurons when something new is being learned, and immediately after learning. Takes place in the Hippocampus.
How long does it take for a memory to be consolidated?
The memory will remain vulnerable for at least 30 minutes after being experienced/
Define Brain Trauma
An ‘umbrella’ term that refers to any brain damage that impairs, or interferes with, the normal functioning of the brain, either temporarily or permanently.
Define Neurodegenerative Disease
A disorder characterised by the progressive decline in the structure, activity and function of brain tissue.
Define Amnesia
Loss of memory, either partial or complete, temporary or permanent.
Define Anterograde Amnesia
Brain trauma causes loss of memory only for information or events experienced after the trauma occurs.
Define Korsakoff’s Syndrome
A neurodegenerative disease involving severe memory disorders associated with brain damage, particularly, deep within the middle of the brain where the thalamus is located.
Define Retrograde Amnesia
Brain trauma affects memory for information or events experienced before the trauma occurs.
