Episodic Memory

Question 1

Who proposed the concept of episodic memory?

Answer 1

Tulving

Question 2

What is episodic memory

Answer 2

Memory for a unique event of event-sequence

Question 3

Three things that episodic memory involves?

Answer 3

Binding together of serveral stimuli (e.g. face, name, object)
Occurred in place x at time y - specific spatial temporal context
Probably strucutred by context similarities and differences

Question 4

Who did an experiment on 3 patients at main stream schools?

Answer 4

Vargha-khadem et al, 1997 – bilateral hippocampus pathology. 3 patients. severe amnesia for episodes of every day life. Levels of speech and language ompetance, literacy and factual knowledge = low - average range.

Question 5

What does Vargha-khadem et al’s experiment provide evidence for?

Answer 5

Partially dissociahble episodic and semantic components of cognitive memory with only the episodic component being fully dependent ont he hippocampus

Question 6

What is normally the first brain area to go in Alzheimer’s?

Answer 6

the hippocampus formation – not surprising that first notable symptom of dementia = loss of episodic/spatial memory

Question 7

What are the networks involved in episodic memory?

Answer 7

Anterior thalamus, hippocampus, hippocampus formation (entorhinal cortex, parahippocampal cortices)., retrospenial cortex. PFC and parietal cortex

Question 8

What did Levine et al, 2002 show?

Answer 8

Episodic meomory = worse in older people. Some brains = older than others. HIP volume increases then declines with age.

Question 9

What did Head et al, 2008 find?

Answer 9

HIP volume may mediate age related ind diffs in EM
Age = linkied to reduction in brain volumes and cog performance
HIP shrinkage = directly affected EM. Prefrontal volumetric reductions influenced EM via limitations in WM and inhbitory control
Poorer temporal processing directly affects EM

Question 10

What conlusion did Head et al have having taking all those factors into account?

Answer 10

There is no direct effect of age on episodic memory once all of the factors are taken into account

Question 11

What did Rosen AC et al, 2003 show>?

Answer 11

Left entorhinal cortex volume showed strongest correlation with imemdiate recall of word lists
Left HIP volume = strongest correlation with delayed paragraph recall
Suggests that entorhinal and HIP volumes = related to ind diffs in dissociable kinds of memory perforamnce among healthy young adults

Question 12

Which two studies explored the consequencecs of polymorphisms of a single gene on episodic memory?

Answer 12

Haririr et al, 2003 and Egan et al, 2003

The gene codes for a neurtrophic factor implicated in growth processes and synaptic plasticity
HIghest expression of BDNF = in HIP

Question 13

What does the BDNF protein do in mice?

Answer 13

REduced BDNF expression in mice inmpairs spatial memory in Morris water maze and novel object recognition

Question 14

What are the freqquences in human population?

Answer 14

Homozygous val/val = 67%. Heterozygous val/met = 28%. Homo met/met = 5%

Question 15

What did Egan et al say were the consequnces of carrying BDNF?

Answer 15

Activty dependent BDNF secretion = impaired in HIP neurons
NO impairment on various episdic tasks
Not a prerequisitie for schizophrenia

Question 16

What did HAriri et al 2003 say?

Answer 16

25% of ind diffs = explained by combination of val/val or met genotype status and amount of left hippocampal activity

Question 17

Who said something about the size of hippocampus in val/vmet carriers?

Answer 17

Bueller et al, 2006 – the hipocampus in val/met carriers = 11% smaller htan in val/val carriers

Question 18

What are the consequences of carrying 1 or 2 copies of the met polymorphism (5)?

Answer 18

Less secretion of BDNF protein
Less hippocampal activation in memory task topiing EM
More hippocampal acitvaiton in memory task not requiring hippocampus
Worse EM. Find non-EM
Smaller HIP (L and r)

Question 19

Whod id an experiment into strategy questionnaires?

Answer 19

Kirchoff & Buckner, 2006 – asked PPs to answer a strategy questionnarie after remembering images.
Answers loaded on to 4 factors = 4 strategies

Question 20

Which were the most succesful strategies in Kirchoff & Buckner’s experiment?

Answer 20

Visual inspection and verbal elaboration = positive correlation betwen them and performance

Question 21

What wer eth elinks between the two succesful strategies and brain activity in Kirchoff And Buckner’s experietn?

Answer 21

PPS brain activity in left interior PFC correlates with their use of verbal elaboration strategy but not with use of visual inspection strategy
Brain activity in left extrastriate cortex correlates with their use of visual inspection strategy but not verbal elaboration strategy.

Question 22

Who did an experiment into group research and this topic?

Answer 22

Miller et al 2002
Group activations may be misleading.
Pattern of regional activation = remarkably stable up to a year later (e.g. r = 0.63) but different from that of other PPs (E.g. r = 0.12.
Extensive individual differneces associated with brain activations associated with episdoc retreival = reliable over time