Learning and Hearing Flashcards
What is long-term potentiation (LTP)?
A persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity that can vary in length of time. It also increases the likelihood to fire an action potential.
If a mouse is placed in a pool of murky water, it will swim about until it finds a hidden platform to climb out on. With repetition, the mouse soon learns to locate the platform more quickly. This is an example of ________ .
Long-Term Potentiation
What does synaptic plasticity do?
It changes the structure or biochemistry of synapses that alters neuronal activity resulting in changes in the strength of connections/communication between neurons
The process of which experiences changes the nervous system and our behavior is _____ .
Learning
_______ is not stored but learned they change the way we perceive, perform (motor responses), think, and plan.
Experiences
The four basic forms of learning are:
Perceptual
Stimulus (Response)
Motor
Relational
Recognize a stimulus that has been perceived before. This type of learning relies mostly on vision and helps us make sense of what we see, hear, smell, or taste.
Perceptual Learning
Why is perceptual learning important?
It allows us to recognize faces or dangerous situations that occur. It is very important mostly for infants because it helps them receive, interpret and understand sensory input/environment.
Automatically making a response in presence of a specific stimulus. It also establishes a connection between our perceptions and motor movement.
Stimulus-Response Learning
Classical and Operant/Instrumental Condition is what type of learning?
Stimulus-Response Learning because the behavior can be automatic (classical) or a sequence of volunatary movements (operant)
_______ Involves a biological involuntary response, such as sweating or blinking. It also is not dependent on consequences.
Classical Conditioning
_______ Involves voluntary motor movement that is dependent on consequences. The effects of a particular behavior in a situation can increase (reinforce) or decrease (punish) the behavior.
Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning
A stimulus that has no automatic response/effect on behavior, for example, a bell ringing.
Neutral Stimulus
A stimulus that leads to an automatic response that is not learned, for example, food can cause drooling.
Unconditioned Stimulus
A response that is automatic to a stimulus, for example, salivating at food.
Unconditioned Response
A learned stimulus that causes a response and that used to be neutral, for example, the sound of the bell is associated with food.
Conditioned Stimulus
A response that is automatic to a conditioned stimulus, for example, salivating at the sound of a bell.
Conditioned Response.
What is the most efficient way of learning classical conditioning faster?
By having a 1-second delay because the longer the delay the longer it takes to learn/respond.
______ Is the phase during which a conditioned response is formed.
Acquisition
_______ Is the reduction or elimination of the conditioned response after the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus. This can cause a break in association and a decrease in frequency.
Extinction
Why does extinction sometimes not work in operant conditioning?
It can create extinction bursts/excessive responses.
An increase in the frequency or intensity of the unwanted behavior when the extinction is present is an _______ .
Extinction Burst
When one puts money in a vending machine, he then pushes the buttons indicating his selection. If nothing comes out of the machine, it is likely that he will push the buttons again and again.
This is an example of an extinction burst
Reemergence of an extinct conditioned response after a delay is ________ . The response will also not be as strong as previously.
Spontaneous recovery
The tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus, for example, in the Little Albert experiment the child associated a rat with a rabbit because it was a white furry animal.
Stimulus Generalization
The ability to distinguish between one stimulus and a similar one, for example in the Little Albert experiment he could tell apart a cotton ball from a rabbit.
Stimulus Discrimination
What happens during a weak synapse?
A graded potential occurs.
- The synapse is far apart
- Reduced amount of receptors to receive NT
- Sending neurons may have a lower amount of NT to release
What happens during a strong synapse?
An action potential occurs.
- The synapse is smaller
- They have more NT to release
- They have more receptors
Repeated activation of nearby neurons leads to an increase in the strength of the synaptic connections between them.
“Neurons that fire together wire together”
Hebb Rule
Make a behavior become more frequent, but it can change for example rewarding with food can cause an animal to be full and not want it.
Reinforcing Stimulus
Makes a behavior become less frequent.
Punishing Stimulus
Changes in the structure or biochemistry of synapses that alter their effects on postsynaptic (sending) neurons
Synaptic Plasticity
What is an NMDA receptor?
It is an excitatory ionotropic glutamate receptor that controls calcium channels and is blocked by MG2+ ions. This receptor is also ligand (glutamate) and voltage (-50) dependent.
If a molecule of glutamate binds with the NMDA receptor, the calcium channel ______ because the magnesium ion is blocking the channel. [Ligand]
Cannot open
_________ of the membrane gets rid of the magnesium ion and unblocks the channel. Now glutamate can open the ion channel to allow calcium ions to enter the dendritic spine. [Voltage]
Depolarization
If the activity of a strong synapse is able to fire an action potential in the neuron, the dendritic spike will depolarize the membrane of the dendritic spines, priming NMDA receptors so that any weak synapses active will become strengthened.
If the activity of a strong synapse is able to fire an action potential in the neuron, the dendritic spike will depolarize the membrane of the dendritic spines, priming NMDA receptors so that any weak synapses active will become strengthened.
Weak synapses are strengthened by the actions of strong synapses
Associative Long-Term Potentiation
A weak presynapse has a ________ potential. This allows for some glutamate to be released, but not much. The AMPA channel is opened, allowing for Na ions to go through the post-synapse, but the NMDA channel remains closed because there is not enough NA built up to get rid of the MG.
Graded Potential
A strong presynapse has an ________. This allows for a lot of glutamates to be released, in which the AMPA will accumulate a lot of Na ions to build up and get rid of the MG. The NMDA receptor will now be able to open to accept Ca to depolarize the neuron.
Action Potential
What is a dendritic spike?
An action potential occurs in the dendrites.
Depolarization of the dendritic membrane causes ___ & ___ voltage-gated channels to open.
Sodium (Na) and (Potassium) K
[Dendritic Spikes] The influx of Na causes ____ of voltage/increases past the threshold.
an increase
Dendritic spikes flow in which way?
Anterograde.
Dendrities —> Soma —-> Axon —-> Terminal buttons
A dendritic spike is known to do what?
Washback voltage
What are the two receptors in the dendritic spines?
NMDA and AMPA
What would more AMPA receptors do?
Cause more bindings and stronger responses because there is more of an influx of Na.
Calcium is important for learning and by blocking it what happens?
It lead to no LTP/prevent an individual from learning.
What is calmodulin?
It is a protein that calcium binds to that activities the CaM-KII enzyme.
What happens when Ca enters that will strengthen communication and create stronger responses from weak signals?
- (Post) Moves AMPA receptors, this will shorten the distance by moving them to the tip of the dendrite.
- (Post) Dendrites will change shape by getting fatter and mushroomed, this will increase the surface area to place AMPA
- (Post) Dendrite spines/new branches will be created for AMPA. The more branches the better the synapse
- (Pre) Calcium will bind to nitric oxide synthase which releases nitric oxide to release more glutamate. [This only occurs here b/c it can only travel short distances]
Immediate changes in the synaptic strength by insertion of AMPA receptors. This can last several months and revert back if not used and it does not modify things.
LTP1
- Local protein synthesis occurs.
- Dendrites that contain molecules of RNA that can be translated into proteins to create new receptors (AMPA)
- This can last forever and increase protein synthesis
LPT2
- Most durable
- Lasts forever
- RNA in the nucleus is transported to the dendrites where protein synthesis takes place.
- Creates new receptors
- Increases RNA production
LTP3
What enzyme causes AMPA receptors to continue to be moved into the membrane?
CaM-KII
A synapse is activated at the same time that the postsynaptic membrane is hyperpolarized or slightly depolarized.
Long-Term Depression
Objection recognization; “What is this?”
Ventral Stream
Perception of the location of objects; “Where is this?”
Dorsal Stream
Yang and Maunsell (2004)
Trained monkeys to detect small visual differences and the images were projected in a specific retina region. When the image was projected on other regions the monkeys were unable to detect the differences because the neural circuits in the specific area were modified by the training.
- Changes in synaptic connections
Brain damage in visual perception does not only impair the ability to recognize but also what?
The memory of familiar stimuli
Vandenbulcke (2006)
Damage to the right fusiform gyrus causes patients to do poorly on tasks that are drawing or describing visual features in front of them, but they could describe nonvisual features of the object.
Perceptual learning occurs as a result of changes in _________ within the sensory association cortex.
Synaptic Connections
Perceptual Short-Term
Requires filtering out irrelevant information
The ________ states that a weak synapse will be strengthened if its activation occurs at the same time that the postsynaptic neuron fires.
Hebb Rule
In instrumental (operant) conditioning, a response that produces a favorable consequence
Will occur more frequently
An example of relational learning is
Forming a mental map of a room based on your experience in the room.
Receptors for ________ are involved in long-term potentiation.
Glutamate
The flow of information into the hippocampus is from ______.
Entorhinal Cortex
People with anterograde amnesia are deficient in
Declarative Memory
Patients with anterograde amnesia are NOT capable of which type of learning?
Relational
You are listening to a song on the radio while doing your homework-the phone rings, and your mother has called to tell you that your favorite uncle has died after a car accident. Three months later, you again hear the same song and suddenly feel very sad. In this example, the unconditioned response is
The voice of your mother
Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)
Synthesizes dopamine and projects to the amygdala, hippocampus, and the nucleus accumbens. Plays an important role in reinforcement.
Nucleus Accumbens (NAC)
Receives dopamine-secreting terminal buttons from neurons of VTA and is thought to be involved in reinforcement and attention.
Medial Forebrain Bundle (MFB)
Fiber bundle that connects the VTA and NAC. Electric stimulation of this with cocaine, amphetamines, and natural reinforcers (food, water, a partner and etc) caused a release of dopamine.
[T/F] Aversive (strong dislike) stimuli and reinforcing stimuli can cause the release of dopamine.
True
[T/F] Dopaminergic neurons can be invovled in stress.
True
One of the three important dopaminergic neuron systems influences short-term memory, planning, problem-solving, and reinforcement.
Mesocortical System
Reinforcement must perform what two functions?
Detect the presence of reinforcing stimulus (Recognizing something good has happened)
Strengthen the connection between the neurons that detect the discriminative stimulus (Sight of a lever) and the neurons that produce the instrumental response (Lever Press)
[T/F] A stimulus that serves as a reinforcer in one stance may fail to do so in another. (e.g.) it may work on a hungry rat, but not for a rat that is not hungry.
True
[T/F] The reinforcing system is activated automatically and does not depend on a person’s state
False
What activates the reinforcement system?
Unexpected rewarding stimuli.
What happens when a reinforcing stimulus does not occur when it is expected?
Dopaminergic neurons decrease.
What happens when dopaminergic neurons are activated in the VTA?
Neurons send a signal to other brain circuits that there is something to be learned.
What happens when a reinforcing stimulus does not occur when it is expected?
Dopaminergic neurons decrease.
Anticipating a reinforcing stimulus _______ activity of VTA.
Increases
Terminal buttons of axons connecting the two areas _________ and ________ secrete glutamate.
Prefrontal Cortex (PC) and VTA
The activity of these synapses (PC and VTA) make dopaminergic neurons in the VTA fire in a bursting pattern, increasing the amount of dopamine they secrete in the ________
Nucleus Accumbens (NAC)
The prefrontal cortex ______ the reinforcement mechanism when it decides that the behavior is correct.
Turns on
The sight of a lever (___________) activates a weak synapse on motor neurons that causes a lever press (__________) that activates a strong synapse that causes neurons to fire. Neurotransmitters are secreted which causes synaptic changes (____________)
Discriminative stimulus; A response; Reinforcing Stimulus
The establishment and retrieval of memories of events, episodes, and places.
Relational Learning
Difficulty learning new information. Events that occur after brain damage are not remembered, and the severe form allows the individual to remember post-brain damage.
Anterograde Amnesia
Inability to remember before brain damage.
Retrograde Amnesia
A memory disorder, severe anterograde amnesia, that usually results from chronic alcohol abuse. These individuals can converse normally, but use confabulations at times.
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
The production or creation of false or erroneous memories without the intent to deceive, sometimes called “honest lying”. A falsification of memory by a person who believes he or she is genuinely communicating truthful memories
Confabulation
Anterograde amnesia is caused by bilateral damage to the _____________.
Medial Temporal Lobes
What were things that patient H.M. was unable to do?
He could not convert any new long-term memories and he would easily become distracted (breaks short-term memory), but he could follow instructions if not given any fillers/interrupted + he would not remember anything about learning them.
Three conclusions of amnesia:
- The hippocampus is not the location of long-term memories and is not necessary for the retrieval of long-term memories.
- The hippocampus is not the location of immediate (short-term) memories
- The hippocampus is involved with converting immediate into long-term
Limited amount of information temporarily that lasts about 25 seconds unless rehearsal is involved which extends it.
Short-Term Memory
Storing an “unlimited” amount of information permanently
Long-Term Memory
The conversion of STM into LTM. This is the function of the hippocampus.
Consolidation
Patient H.M. was capable of learning:
Perceptual, Stimulus-Response, and Motor Learning
[T/F] Anterograde amnesia patients can learn to recognize faces or songs
True
Instances of perceptual, stimulus, and motor learning that we are not necessarily conscious of and appear to operate automatically. (e.g.) Riding a bike or buttoning a shirt
Nondeclarative Memories
Hippocampus formation consists of:
Dentate gyrus, the CA fields, and the subiculum
The major input is the ___________ as it receives its input from the amygdala, the limbic cortex, and all association regions of the cortex.
Entorhinal Cortex
The major outputs are the ________ and the __________.
CA1 and Subiculum
Why is field CA1 of the hippocampus so sensitive to anoxia (lack of oxygen)?
The region is rich in NMDA receptors
What is spatial memory?
Navigating locations such as rooms, buildings, rooms, and etc to the environment
What lesions produce the most profound impairment in spatial memory?
Bilateral medial temporal lobe. The right hemisphere is more important than the left.
Spatial strategy is located in the _______ and uses ____, such as signals or landmarks. (e.g.) Trying to explain directions to your home to a friend.
Hippocampus; Cues
Response strategy is located in the _______ and uses no cures and goes off behavior as it is _________. (e.g.) Driving to school without thinking about it.
Caudate; Automatic.
Sounds are produced by objects that _____ and set molecules of air into motion
Vibrate
What approximate range is a sound able to be heard? If it is higher or lower then it can not be perceived.
30 and 20,000
Changes in air pressure from ________ move the eardrum in and out. Air molecules are closer together in regions of high pressure and farther in regions of low pressure.
Sound Waves
Determined by frequency of vibration; Measured in Hertz (Hz) - cycles per second. How often a sound occurs.
Pitch
The degree to which the condensations and rarefactions of air differ—the height (amplitude) of a wave.
Loudness
What is the tympanic membrane (eardrum)?
It vibrates sound waves and transfers them to the tiny bones (ossicles) in the middle ear.
What are Ossicles?
The tiny bones in the middle ear: Malleus,Incus, and Stapes
The first of the three ossicles. It has direct contact with the eardrum.
Malleus
The second of three ossicles.
Incus
The thrid of three ossicles.
Stapes
The third of three ossicles that vibrates cochlea fluid that domes out with the round windows that create vibrations.
Stapes
In the outer ear, the ridges allow sounds to come from everywhere and reflect sound waves.
Pinna
Funnels sound and condense it
Ear Canel
Leads vibrations to the cochlea and activates receptors. They are also thin membranes.
Round and oval windows
What are the three sections of the cochlea?
Scala vestibuli, scala media, and scala tympani.
Scala _____ and ______ move fluid.
Vestibuli and Tympani
Scala _____ deals with receptors + organ of Corti
Media
Organ of Corti
A receptive organ consists of the basilar membrane, hair cells, and the tectorial membrane.
What is responsible for firing an action potential? and how does it occur?
Hair cells (Cillia) ; Bending
[T/F] Cillia varies in length from shortest to tallest. If a tall cilium bends to the right then it will create an action potential, but if a short cilium bends to the left it creates a no action potential.
True
Functions as a supporting cell similar to Gila cells by anchoring hair cells to the basilar membrane.
Deiters Cell
Elastic fibers determine where to bend and the tightness of it creates an action potential
Tip Link
Contains a singular mechanical ion channel that opens and closes depending on the amount of stretch in the tip links. Point of attachment of tip link to a cilium.
Insertional Plaque
As the mechanical ion channel opens then ___________ enters and creates a depolarization
Potassium ( and Calcium)
How do you repolarize?
Potassium leaves and calcium is pumped out. There is a voltage and ligand channel
Inner Hair Cell
Will not touch the membrane and detects the presence of sound and needs a lot of stimulation.
Outer Hair Cell
Will touch the membrane and deals with characteristics of sounds ( location/where it is coming from)
Allows fluid inside the cochlea to move back and forth
Round Window
Branch of the auditory nerve that connects to the cochlear nerve and transmits auditory information from the cochlea to the brain.
Auditory Pathway
Differences of arrival times of sound waves: Direction, reflexive.
Superior Olivary Complex
Handles reflexives like blinking and jumping at a sound.
Inferior Colliculus
A subsection of the thalamus and where audio info goes it.
Medial Geniculate Nucleus
Moderate to high frequencies and close to the stapes. Information about different frequencies is coded by different locations on the basilar membrane. (e.g.) In a cochlear impact, each electrode stimulates different parts of the basilar membrane
Place Coding
Low frequencies and is coded by the rate of action potentials in the auditory system.
Rate Coding
[Spatial Location] The two separate mechanisms to detect the location of sounds sources:
Phase Differences and Intensity Differences
- Low-frequency.
- Neurons respond selectively to different arrival times of sound at the light and right ears.
- If the source of a click is to the right/left of the midline, the sound pressure wave will reach one ear sooner and initiate an action potential there first.
- The time interval between when a sound enters one ear and when it enters the other ear.
Phase Difference
- High-frequency
- That a sound coming from one side of your body is more intense in that ear than the opposite ear
- The ear closest to the source will be more stimulated
Intensity Difference
[T/F] Individuals must learn to recognize subtle changes in the timbre of sounds that originate in locations in front, behind, above, or below them. This is learned from experience and not given to us from birth/genetically programmed.
True
Hearing’s Three Primary Functions:
- Recognize the identity of the sources- and their meaning and relevance
- To detect sounds
- To determine the location of their sources
