Exam 3 - Learning and memory Flashcards
Learning
how experiences changes the brain
Memory
how changes are stored and subsequently reactivated
H.M’s greatest post-surgical problem was his:
A. Anterograde amnesia
B. Retrograde amnesia
C. Deficit in short-term memory
D. Deficit on the digit-span test
A
In a nutshell, H.M’s main problem seems to be that he
A. Has no long-term memories
B. Can form no new long-term memories
C. Can form no new explicit long-term memories
D. Can form no new implicit long-term memories
C
Who is Henry Mollison? What happened after his surgery?
- an epileptic who had his temporal lobes removed
- suffered from mild retrograde amnesia and severe anterograde amnesia
Retrograde amnesia, people with this cannot remember events _____ to the brain damage.
- unable to remember the past
- prior
Anterograde amnesia, people with this cannot remember events ____ brain damage.
- unable to form new memories
- after
First theories of Korsakoff’s amnesia attributed it to mammillary body damage, but later evidence suggested that damage to the __________ is a major contributing factor
A. Frontal cortex
B. Hippocampus
C. Mediodorsal nuclei
D. Temporal infarction
C
Monkey and rat experiments on the effects of medial-temporal-lobe lesions of nonrecurring-items delayed nonmatching-to-sample suggest that_______ damage contributes substantially to the amnesic effects of bilateral medial-temporal lobectomy.
A. Rhinal cortex
B. Hippocampus
C. Amygdala
D. Both A and C
A
Hippocampal lesions in rats reliably disrupt the performance of tasks that involve memory for
A. Pavlovian conditioning
B. Time
C. Spatial location
D. instrumental conditioning
C
What is bilateral medial temporal lobectomy?
removal of the medial temporal lobe
Digit span test, how did H.M. do in this, what does this mean?
- the patient is asked to repeat a list of digits forward and backward
- improved with practice
- able to repeat digits that were learned within the limits of short-term storage
Incomplete pictures test
- interpreting various pictures with varying degrees of completion
- H.M. had good results
Mirror-Drawing test, how did H.M. do in this?
- patients are asked to trace a drawing that is shown in a mirror
- showed that he is able to learn some things, although he is not aware of it
What was the scientific contribution of H.M.’s case, what is H.M. unable to do?
- that the medial temporal lobes are involved in memory
- he is unable to move memories from STM to LTM
H.M. forms new _______ memories, but not new ______ memories.
implicit, explicit
Explicit memories
conscious memories, declarative memory, general memories
Implicit memories
unconscious memories, nondeclarative memory
What test is used to assess implicit memory? What is done during this test?
- repetition priming test
- identifying fragments of words becomes easier when the words have been seen before
Declarative memory
memory that can be verbally expressed, such as memory for events in a person’s past
Nondeclarative memory
memory whose formation does not depend on the hippocampal formation; a collective term for perceptual, stimulus-response, and motor memory
Semantic memory
general information, meanings of words, general facts
Episodic memory
events that one has experienced
What caused damage to R.B.’s hippocampus, specifically the CA1 region?
cerebral ischemia
What does R.B.’s case suggest?
that hippocampal damage alone can produce amnesia
What is Korsakoff’s syndrome characterized by?
amnesia, confusion, personality changes, and physical problems
Who is Korsakoff’s syndrome most commonly seen in?
alcoholics and people with a thiamine deficient diet
What does alcohol cause a disruption in (korsakoffs)?
the body’s ability to use thiamine
What is Korsakoff’s syndrome typically due to (what is damaged)?
damage in the medial diencephalon, which is the medial thalamus and the medial hypothalamus
What type of amnesia is seen in the early stages of Korsakoff’s syndrome? Later stages?
- anterograde amnesia
- retrograde amnesia
Medial diencephalic amnesia
medial diencephalon is involved in amnesia
Alzheimer’s disease
progressive disorder that results in dimentia
Major _______ and _______ amnesia is involved in AD.
anterograde and retrograde
What are the causes the amnesia in AD?
decreased acetylcholine and damage to the medial temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex
What is the decreased acetylcholine seen in AD caused by?
basal forebrain degeneration
Posttraumatic Amnesia (PTA)
retrograde and anterograde amnesia that occurs after a blow to the head (concussion), causes a loss of consciousness
What does the period of anterograde amnesia in PTA suggest?
transfer of STM to LTM was interrupted by the blow to the head
What role does the hippocampus play in consolidation?
moves STM to LTM
Engram
a change in how the brain stores a memory
Object Recognition Memory, what part of the brain is involved in this test?
- subject has to move a sample obj. to get food from under it, then a screen is lowered and a new object is placed, the monkey has to remember the first obj. and select the unfamiliar obj. to obtain the food beneath it
- entorhinal and perirhinal cortex invovled
Delayed nonmatching-to-sample task
participant is shown a sample stimulus and then, after a variable time, a pair of test stimuli and is asked to select the test stimulus that matches the earlier sample stimulus.
Many hippocampal cells are place cells, what does this mean?
they respond when a subject is in a particular place
What two tests are used to test spatial memory?
morris water maze and radial arm maze
Cognitive map theory
constructs and stores allocentric maps of the world (structures and objects)
Configural association theory
involved in retaining the behavioral significance of combinations of stimuli (meanings for certain signs)
Hippocampus
spatial location and transferring information from STM to LTM
Rhinal cortex
object recognition
Damage to the mediodorsal nucleus causes?
Korsakoff’s
Damage to the basal forebrain causes?
Alzheimer’s
Inferotemporal cortex
visual perception of objects
Amygdala
emotional learning
Prefrontal cortex
temporal order of events and working memory
Cerebellum and striatum
sensorimotor tasks
Cerebellum
stores memories of sensorimotor skills (conditioned eyeblink for ex.)
Striatum
habit formation - association btwn stimuli and responses
Long term potentiation (LTP)
synapses are effectively made stronger by repeated stimulation, enhancing the response of that neuron
Long term potentiation (LTP)
synapses are effectively made stronger by repeated stimulation, enhances response of that neuron
LTP only occurs when?
if presynaptic firing is followed by postsynaptic firing
What are the three processes of LTP?
- induction (learning)
- maintenance (memory)
- expression (recall)
What receptors are involved in induction?
NMDA glutamate receptors
When do NMDA receptors respond maximally?
when glutamate binds to it, and the neuron is already depolarized
What is LTD?
long term depression
