L7

Question 1

what was Lashley’s principle of “mass action”

Answer 1

it stated that memory is distributed throughout the cortex and that there is no specific region for memory

Question 2

what experiment did Lashley do to test for the principle of “mass action”

Answer 2

he made small lesions on different parts of the brain to see if that damage would have an effect on memory

it didn’t

Question 3

what parts of the brain did HM have removed

Answer 3

the hippocampus, temporal lobe and adjacent structures (rhinal cortex)

Question 4

what did HM experience after the operation

Answer 4

anterograde amnesia

retrograde amnesia (post 2 years)

intact short term and remote memory

IQ improved

only lost declarative memory

Question 5

what do HMs deficits show

Answer 5

dissociation of intelligence and memory

hippocampus, medial temporal lobe structures are involved in memory
consolidation

dissociation of declarative memory from working and procedural memory

Question 6

where are the structures for declarative (explicit) memory located

Answer 6

medial temporal lobe and diencephalon

Question 7

what is an ischemic episode

Answer 7

when blood flow to the brain is reduced

Question 8

what did patient RB experience after an ischemic episode

Answer 8

selective, marked anterograde amnesia and very minor retrograde amnesia

Question 9

what happened to RBs hippocampus

Answer 9

all of RBs CA1 cells have gone which seems to have caused his loss of memory

Question 10

why when testing for memory would you ask the individual to copy an image first before asking them to draw it from memory

Answer 10

you have to make sure it is not a visual or muscle control defect

if they can draw it good the first time, then when they are asked to reproduce it you know that if they cant do it, it is because of their memory

Question 11

when asked to reproduce an image what difference would be seen between someone that ONLY had hippocampal damage compeered to someone that had all the areas damaged in HM

Answer 11

the individual that only had hippocampal damage would be able to remember some features of the image (not a lot but something)

whereas someone with hippocampal and rhinal damage wouldn’t be able to do it at all

Question 12

what is diencephalic amnesia

Answer 12

it is amnesia like HM experienced

Question 13

why does diencephalic amnesia get its own special name

Answer 13

because it is a specific part of the brain that is damage to result in this

these regions have to do with the mammillary bodies and thalamus (maybe fornix)

Question 14

what is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

Answer 14

This syndrome, which occurs in heavy drinkers, produces similar
memory deficits to those that result from temporal lobe damage

Question 15

what is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome caused by

Answer 15

lack of thiamine (vitamin
B1) which affects the brain and nervous system, rather than by
alcohol directly.

Lack of thiamine can occur because:
Many heavy drinkers have poor eating habits. Their nutrition is inadequate and
will not contain essential vitamins.

Alcohol can inflame the stomach lining and impede the body’s ability to absorb
the key vitamins it receives.

Question 16

what might Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome also be known as

Answer 16

‘wet brain’ or ‘Beriberi’

Question 17

what regions of the brain are damaged in Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

Answer 17

the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus and the mammillary bodies

Question 18

explain the extended hippocampal diencephalic memory system

Answer 18

the thalamus is the relay station

the hippocampus receives information about what the object is and where it is in space. It then binds this information together and is held in there for a period of time and then set out through the fornex to the mammillary bodies

Recent memories sit in the hippocampus and they start to make associations to neurons in the neocortex and will eventually become independent to the hippocampus

Question 19

explain the extended hippocampal diencephalic memory system in terms of retrograde amnesia

Answer 19

memories are stored in the hippocampus for a period of time. when the hippocampus is damaged it is the memories that are being stored in there that are lost

if the memories have become independent from the hippocampus then it is likely that they are spread all round the brain and they will not be lost

Question 20

where are memories located

Answer 20

old are all around the brain

new are in medial temporal lobe

Question 21

how do we represent our location in space

Answer 21

out reference frame can either be egocentric or allocentric

Question 22

what is egocentric

Answer 22

the frame of reference is the individual

e.g. left/right, in front of me

Question 23

what is allocentric

Answer 23

the frame of reference is the external world

e.g. north, south, to the east of the tree.
between the tree and the house

Question 24

what would you notice when you put rate with hippocampal damage in a morris water maze compared to normal rats

Answer 24

normal rats will find the platform easily from a variable (allocentric) and a constant (egocentric) start

whereas rats with hippocampal damage will not be able to do it allocentricly but will eventually learn to do it egocentrically

Question 25

what did eleanor maguire study

Answer 25

taxi drivers brains (in london as they has to learn all the streets off by heart)

Question 26

what did eleanor maguire study find

Answer 26

increased posterior hippocampal volume in taxi drivers compared to normal individuals

she also found that the anterior hippocampal volume was smaller in taxi drivers

this was not associated with driving alot because she also tested bus drivers and she did not see this