Chapter Twelve Flashcards
learning
relatively stable change in behavior that is the result of experience
memory
the process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information
perceptual learning
recognition of stimuli you seen before
stimulus-response learning
performing a behavior in the presence of stimulus
motor learning
changes in the motor system as the result of experience
relational learning
learning relationships between stimuli (spatial orientation)
Classical Conditioning
US, UR, CS, CR
CR arises because of association with us
CS + US –> CR
Hebb Rule (1949)
explains classical conditioning; excitatory connection –> puff of air makes you blink; physically makes the connection stronger
“if a synapse repeatedly becomes active at the same time a post-synaptic neuron fires, that synapse will be strengthened
-now called LTP –> long term potentiation
Long Term Potentiation
if learning produces changes in the NS, it likely happens at level of synapse
Changes where lead to long term synaptic changes?
hippocampal formation (limbic cortex in temporal lobe)
What happens when you stimulate entorhinal cortex –> dendrite gyrus
leads to changes that could last for several months; specific stimulus (100 pulses within a few seconds)
Why is the NMDA receptor important?
NMDA antagonists prevent LTP
How does LTP plasticity occur?
increase in AMPA receptors (# of receptors); other structural changes in the synapse- new synapses might be formed
What else do drugs block that block LTP?
they also block increase in AMPA receptors
Can the strength of synapses be decreased??
yes- could be basis for extinction
Perceptual Learning
learning WHAT a new object it, learning about the object in a different location, and learning about changes in a familiar object
Recognition of Visual Stimuli (pathway)
optic nerve –> thalamus (DLGN) –> PVC –> ventral stream (what) –> and dorsal stream (where)
Object memory retrieval task
altered screen contained a new object; activated the ventral stream
spatial memory retrieval task
altered screen rearranged the objects; activated the dorsal stream
What is activated during delay (in DMS and DNMS)
inferior temporal cortex fire
where are the neurons located that encode memory for visual stimuli?
prefrontal cortex
Conditoned emotional response
used the most because its easy to do;
ex: tone (CS) + punishment (US) –> freezing (CR)
CR can be made weaker through extinction-present CS by itself
What is the amygdala important for?
CER learning
Where is information about the tone (CS) sent from & to
sent from the thalamus (MGN) to the amygdala
Where is information about footshock sent to?
both the MGN and amygdala
what do lesions of the amygdala or MGN do?
disrupt CER learning
Are there increased firing rates during CER learning in the amygdala?
yes
Instrumental/Motor learning
learning that our behaviors are tied to outcomes; need to strengthen connections between regions that detect stimuli and regions that produce responses
what pathway do we use as we learn new motor skills?
cortical pathways
when the task we learn becomes automatic, which pathway do we use?
the one through the basal ganglia; this frees up the cortical pathways for other things that require mental concentration
What part of the brain does PD effect?
the basal ganglia
PD patients don’t have an inability to move but…
an inability to perform the response
Rational Learning
more complex form of memory- for events, stimuli, and episodes you have experienced before
Amnesia
occurs when a person suffers memory loss that is too extensive to be accounted for by everyday forgetting
human anterograde amnesia
difficulty in learning/remembering new information; can be permanent
which type of amnesia do people with head trauma get?
anterograde and retrograde
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
amnesia produced by profound alcoholism ; profound and irreversible anterograde amnesia
Which vitamin deficiency is in Korsakoff’s Syndrome?
vitamin B1; destruction of mamillary bodies (nucleus in the hypothalamus)
H.M.
epileptic who had surgery in 1953; removed both hippocampi; permanent anterograde
what did miller learn through study of H.M.?
memories are not stored in the hippocampus, STM is not hippocampus dependent, and hippocampus responsible for converting STM–> LTM
later found to be too simple
Explicit
aware of them
implicit
not aware
What cold HM do well?
broken drawings, conditioned eyeblink response, mirror drawing, tower of hanoi; he retained implicit memory- these do not require a hippocampus
What could damage to the entorhinal cortex produce?
similar symptoms of HM because of the pathways to the hippocampus
