Declarative memory

Question 1

What is declarative memory?

Answer 1

The ability to consciously remember personally experienced events and facts shared with others

Question 2

In which kind of memories can you split declarative memory into?

Answer 2

• Episodic memory: personally experienced events
• Semantic memory: facts shared with others

Question 3

What is recollection?

Answer 3

Memories of a past event that includes specific associatiions and contextual details

Question 4

What is familiarity?

Answer 4

The sense that we experienced an event at some point in the past, even though no specific associations or contextual details come to mind

Question 5

To what kind of memory do recollection and familiarity belong to?

Answer 5

Episodic memory

Question 6

Which brain areas are important for declartive memory?

Answer 6

The trisynaptic circuit of hippocampus: Dental gyrus –> CA3 –> CA1
DG = first entrance of hippocampus
–> = monosynaptic

Question 7

Whats up with Henry Molaison?

Answer 7

The hippocampi, parahippocampal cortices, entorhinal cortices, piriform cortices and amygdalae were removed
–> he became unable to form new memories but his nondeclarative memories were intact

Question 8

How is episodic memory encoded, storaged and retrieved?

Answer 8

• Hippocampus stores summary representation of the whole event
• Memories are transferred into the cortex from the hippocampus
• Retrievel cue comes in via the hippocampus but after there is only contact between the cortical areas and not the hippocampus

Question 9

What is the main role of the hippocampus following the cognitive map theory?

Answer 9

To mediate memroy for spatial relations among objects in the environment

Question 10

What is the role of the hippocampus following the relational memory theory?

Answer 10

It mediates for new associations in general and not just spatial relations –> without hippocampus, generelisation is not possible

Question 11

What is the role of the hippocampus following the episodic memory theory?

Answer 11

The HP is critical for episodic memory but not for semantic memory

Question 12

What has happened in semantic dementia?

Answer 12

Severe left-lateralized atrophy of the anterior temporal cortex –> hard to make associations

Question 13

What can be suggested from the characteristics of semantic dementia?

Answer 13

That semantic memory seems to be stored in the anterior temporal cortex

Question 14

What is the role of prefrontal cortex in declarative memory?

Answer 14

Not directly involved in encoding but it is in memory retrieval

Question 15

In an experiment with jays 2 statements came out:
- Jays remember what they catched where & when
- Jays understand worms degrade over time
What does this mean and why is this important to understand?

Answer 15

The first statement shows that jays have a episodic memory and the second that they have semantic memory

BUT birds do not have a cortex –> Not only humans have declarative memory

Question 16

How is memory consolidation made possible?

Answer 16

Because of the connections between the hippocampus and the cortex

Question 17

Why is the hippocampus no longer needed after it is encoded in the cortices?

Answer 17

Memory consolidation: neurons that fire together, wire together; After consolidation the HP is no longer needed to activate solid memory because the connection between cortices became stronger through recalling

Question 18

What is the role of sleep for memory consolidation?

Answer 18

The same place cells in the HP and V1 that were recorde while awake, were in an experiment reactivated during slow-wave sleep + sleep increases the clearance rate of beta-amyloid –> suggesting it contributing to memory consolidation via reactivation of experiences during sleep periods