Exam #6: Learning & Memory

Question 1

Who is HM? What is important about HM’s case?

Answer 1

• HM had bilateral temporal lobe seizures
• Removed hippocampus, amygdala, and part of temporal cortex
• Seizure improved but he had no short term memory
• Long term memory was intact

Question 2

What is the difference between associative & non-associative learning? What are the different categories of learning that fall under those two broad labels?

Answer 2

Associative= an association between two stimuli or a behavior and a stimulus is learned.

• Passive
• Operant= positive vs. negative reinforcement

Non-associative= relatively permanent change in the strength of response to a single stimulus due to repeated exposure to that stimulus

• Simple= habituation & sensitization
• Complex= imprinting & observational

Question 3

What is memory?

Answer 3

Encoding, storage, and retrieval of learned information

**Note that memory is stored as an interpreted experience

Question 4

What are the stages of memory formation?

Answer 4

1) Sensory input & attention leads to:
2) Short-term memory & encoding leads to:
3) Long-term memory

Question 5

What is the role of attention in memory?

Answer 5

Attention is required for short-term memory

Question 6

What is required for transition from short-term memory to long-term memory? What is the process called?

Answer 6

This is called encoding and requires rehersal

Question 7

What is the difference between short-term and long-term memory?

Answer 7

Short= seconds, minutes, & hours

Long= minutes- years

Question 8

What is working memory?

Answer 8

This is the process of holding information for basic cognitive activity

Question 9

What brain structure mediates working memory?

Answer 9

Prefrontal cortex

**Note that this matures into the their decade of life

Question 10

What are the two major qualitative categories of memory?

Answer 10

Declarative (explicit)

Non-declarative (implicit)

Question 11

What are the different types of declarative memories?

Answer 11

• Episodic (events)

- Semantic (facts)

Question 12

What brain structures are responsible for declarative memory?

Answer 12

Hippocampus
Temporal lobe
Cortex

Question 13

What are the types of non-declarative memory?

Answer 13

Priming
Procedural
Associative

Question 14

What is priming? What part of the brain is associated with priming?

Answer 14

Associating a stimuli with a memory, and having the stimuli spark the memory

Neocortex

Question 15

What is procedural memory? What part of the brain is associated with procedural memory?

Answer 15

How to perform tasks e.g. how to ride a bike

Striatum

Question 16

What are the types of associative memory?

Answer 16

Emotional

Motor learning

Question 17

What is emotional memory? What part of the brain is associated with emotional memory?

Answer 17

Emotional responses to situations

Amygdala

Question 18

What is motor learning? What part of the brain is associated with motor memory?

Answer 18

“Muscle memory”

Cerebellum

Question 19

What are the different domains of memory?

Answer 19

Cognitive= to recall, calculate, discuss...etc. 
Psychomotor= to dance, swim, ski, drive...etc. 
Affective= to like something or someone

Question 20

What type of circuitry “holds” working information?

Answer 20

Recurrent circuitry

Question 21

What is a memory engram?

Answer 21

A memory trace i.e. a pattern of activity unique to the record i.e. memory

Question 22

What is codification?

Answer 22

Storing a memory in context

Question 23

What is LTP?

Answer 23

Long Term Potentiation

- An enduring increase in synaptic efficacy that results from high frequency stimulation of an afferent pathway

Question 24

What receptor underlies LTP?

Answer 24

NMDA receptor (Glu)

Question 25

Where can LTP occur besides the hippocampus?

Answer 25

Amygdala

Question 26

What are the structural changes that can occur to strengthen LTP?

Answer 26

• Gene expression
• New synapses formed
• Activation of previously silent synapses

Question 27

What are the two examples of use dependent brain organization? What is the difference?

Answer 27

Brail Proofreader= short term plasticity

London Taxi Diver= spatial learning

Question 28

What are the processing stages of memory?

Answer 28

1) Acquisition
2) Rehearsal
3) Consolidation
4) Storage throughout the cortex

Question 29

How are sleep and memory related?

Answer 29

During sleep, information is transferred from the hippocampus to the neocortex during Slow-Wave-Sleep

Question 30

How can you increase your recall of information?

Answer 30

Practice/rehersal

Question 31

What is fear extinction?

Answer 31

Active “forgetting”

• Shock animal with tone
• Provide tone without shock enough times
• No fear response will follow

Question 32

What is the mechanisms underlying fear extinction?

Answer 32

PFC inhibits the fear response

Question 33

What is the difference between anterograde and retrograde amnesia?

Answer 33

Anterograde= inability to form new memories

• HM
• Cannot CONSOLIDATE

Retrograde= inability to recall previously stored memories