Explicit Memory and the Hippocampus Flashcards
What is the Neuropsychological Approach?
Finding people with brain damage
Assess behavior
Infer function of particular brain structures based on deficits
What is Amnesia?
memory loss due to damage or degeneration
What is Retrograde Amnesia?
Loss of memory acquired before injury
Retro(old cannot remember cool old memories)
What is Anterograde Amnesia?
Inability to acquire new memories after injury
What causes Korsakoff’s Syndrome?
Lack of vitamin B1 due to chronic heavy alcohol abuse
What does B1 do in the body?
use it for detoxification of EtOH
Needed for glucose metabolism in the brain
What does Korsakoff’s Syndrome produce?
Wernicke’s Encephalopathy
What is Wernicke’s Encephalopathy?
Retrograde Amnesia, Lack of awareness of illness, confabulation(false memories), Flat affect, No EtOH craving
How far back does the retrograde amnesia go?
5-15 years
What are the major structures that are damaged in Korsakoff’s Syndrome?
Dorsomedial Thalamus, Medial Hypothalamus, Neocortex
What is Wernicke’s Encephalopathy?
Retrograde Amnesia, Lack of awareness of the illness, confabulation(false memories), Flat affect, No EtOH craving
What are the specific areas of the brain that are effected by KS?
Mammillary bodies, the frontal cortex, enlarged ventricles
Who was N.A
A young marine, who had a fencing foil stabbed into his nose
What are N.A symptoms
Mild Retrograde: 1 year
Dense Anterograde: no new explicit memory
Aware of amnesia
What memory does the mirror-tracing task use?
implicit memory: ability to physically remember the task
Can NA remember preforming the mirror-tracing task?
No
What structures were damaged in NA
Dorsomedial thalamus
Mammillary bodies
Who was B.J?
Snooker cue up the nose
What were B.J symptoms?
Anterograde amnesia
What structures were damaged in NA?
Mammillary bodies
What are the colloid cyst patients?
Pts who have benin tumors on their ventricles
How was the results measured in the colloid cyst pts?
Extent of mammillary body damage
loss of explicit memory
What were the results of the colloid cyst studies?
large MB more memory
Small MB less memory
Who was H.M?
uncontrolled epilepsy, surgery was done and removed bilateral, medial temporal lobes
