Emotions, Executive Functions, & Memory Flashcards
List 5 components from stimulus to decision
Alertness
Attention
Memory
Retrieval
Decision making
What is alertness?
What controls it?
Consciousness/being awake- the fundamental state where you are prepared to respond to stimuli
The reticular formation is a loosely arranged network of nuclei distributed throughout the brainstem with ascending and descending fibers that are involved in propriceptive, pain and autonomic systems.
What do the ascending and descending fibers of the reticular formation do?
Ascending fibers (pons, medulla) connect to thalamus, hypothalamus, cortex
Descending fibers (medulla) connect to cerebellum and sensory system
Additional descending fibers control respiratory, cardiac, and other vital systems
What is the reticular activating system?
What stimulates it?
What can damage to this cause?
Formed by the ascending fibers of the reticular activating system- regulates wakefulness, arousal, consciousness
Sensory (visual, auditory, and especially PAIN) & cognitive can stimulate RAS, irritants (smelling salts) can stimulate through trigeminal nerve
Removal of stimul can cause drowsiness
Damage can cause coma
What are risk factors for disruption to the RAS?
What are some disorders that likely implicate RAS?
Preterm birth (deficits in arousal, sleep wake cycle, attention), prenatal nicotine exposure (deficits in arousal & attention)
Any disorder with dysregulation of sleep/wake cycle such as PTSD, Parkinson’s, Narcolepsy, Autism, ADHD, Alzheimer’s…
What are the areas implicated in attention?
Sensory systems (environmental experience, pre processing of data for interpretation: connections to what/where etc.)
Prefrontal cortex (allocation of resources, assessment of context/decision making, selection of attention targets)
If you don’t allocate resources to things in pre-processing it will go away- just becuase you’re there doesn’t mean you’re attending…
What are the 4 types of attention?
Is there a 5th?
Focused- attending to specific stimulus
Sustained- vigilance (sitting in quiet room watching a monitor)
Selective- focusing on 1 task despite distractions (sitting in busy room watching monitor)
Alternating- focusing on 2 tasks alternatingly
ALSO myth of divided attention which is 2 tasks at once
What are 4 aspects of memory?
Learning/encoding- acquiring new info, making initial connections to things you already know to assist retention
Retention/storage- consolidation through association and organization
Retrieval- recognition (multiple choice) or production (fill in), organization required
Forgetting- failure or necessity depending on info
What are the stages of memory?
Sensory memory- 1-2 seconds in case you want to keep it
Short term memory- only lasts a few minutes–> and working memory only around 30 seconds
Long term memory- beyond minutes and comprised of explicit (episodic, semantic) and implicit (procedural, perceptual)
What are the components of working memory?
How many chunks can be remembered?
Phonological loop- auditory info
Visuo-spatial sketchpad- visual info
Central executive- allocating resources
7 +/- 2 chunks!
What are the 4 types of retrieval?
Recall–> free recall “tell me what you know” and cued recall “tell me what you know starting with…”
Recollection- Event or fact recreated based on logical organization of memories/clues “I was at school and then home, must have taken the t”
Recognition- ID memory when experienced again “I don’t remember” “You were wearing that dress…” “OH”
Relearning- Easier time learning than first time [Ruth’s English/German story]
What are the 4 areas implicated in memory?
Where does storage occur?
Does repetition help or harm memory?
Hippocampus- learning and memory
Mammilary bodies (part of hypothalamus)- relay station
Prefrontal (medial/orbital)- organization, strong connection to medial temporal lobe/hippocampus
Thalamus- connects to everywhere- sensory relay for sensory components of memory
Storage is everywhere- no one unified storage place; probably associative which explains false memories
Repetition can strengthen (form stronger “ropes,” or weaken [vulnerable to change]
What happens to memory when hippocampus is damaged?
Prefrontal?
Amnesia
Confabuation- filling in blanks with wrong info
Label, starting from upper right and moving left
Thalamus, fornix, basal forebrain, prefrontal cortex, mamillary body, amygdala, rhinal cortex, hippocampus
What is the circuit of papez?
Subset of limbic system interconnections between hippocampus, mammillary bodies, anterior thalamic nuclei, cingulate cortex, entorhinal cortex, hippocampus
Multiple passes through results in memory consolidation!
TBD
