Learning and Memory

Question 1

sensory memory

Answer 1

iconic/echoic. seconds to milliseconds

Question 2

short term memory

Answer 2

seconds to minutes

Question 3

long term memory

Answer 3

days to years

Question 4

declarative memory

Answer 4

explicit, allows us to consciously recollect events and facts

Question 5

non-declarative

Answer 5

implicit, accessed without consciousness through performance rather than recollection

Question 6

Patient HM

Answer 6

loss of episodic and semantic, still maintained working and procedural, implicit memory

Question 7

episodic memory

Answer 7

can remember specific episodes

Question 8

semantic memory

Answer 8

can remember facts (ie thanksgiving is on thursday)

Question 9

Hippocampus

Answer 9

necessary for encoding and consolidating new memories

Question 10

MTL

Answer 10

medial temporal lobe, necessary for working memory, consolidation of new memories

Question 11

LTP

Answer 11

long term potentiation - structural changes in synapse. larger EPSPS more likely to fire action potential. presynaptic neurons are potentiated

Question 12

reinstatement hypothesis

Answer 12

memory retrieval can be facilitated when the neural activity is similar to that in the time of encoding

Question 13

preattentive

Answer 13

parallel, only one feature sticking out

Question 14

attentive

Answer 14

serial, must pick out more than one feature

Question 15

overt attention

Answer 15

Intentionally focusing attention by directing gaze toward stimulus
Most direct way to shift attention

Question 16

covert attention

Answer 16

Attending to stimuli outside the center of gaze

“Watching out of the corner of your eye”

Question 17

bottom up

Answer 17

Looking at entire visual field to find target.
Reaction time does not vary based on number of distractors
“Preattentive” or “parallel” search
Involves Exogenous Attention.

Question 18

top down

Answer 18

Parsing through individual elements to find target
More distractors = longer reaction time; linear relationship
“Attentive” or “serial” search
Involves Endogenous Attention.

Question 19

optic ataxia

Answer 19

cannot move hand to object

Question 20

ocular apraxia

Answer 20

inability to control gaze

Question 21

simultagnosia

Answer 21

inability to recognize more than one object shown at the same time

Question 22

neural effects of attention

Answer 22

activity in visual cortex is modulated by spatial attention. attention boosts the signal in the neurons, making processing more efficient because irrelevant info is ignored

Question 23

davachi et al

Answer 23

Perirhinal Cortex showed greater activity for recognized items relative to forgotten items.
Hippocampus & Parahippocampal Cortex showed greater activity for
source recollection compared to item recognition.
Perirhinal Cortex is involved in item recognition.
Hippocampus & Parahippocampal Cortex are involved in source recollection.
MTL structures have specialized roles in memory encoding.

Question 24

mirror neurons umilta et al

Answer 24

Results:
F5 mirror neurons showed the most activity in the full-vision, object-present condition.
F5 mirror neurons showed slightly reduced activity in the hidden, object-present condition, but still significantly higher than baseline.
F5 mirror neurons showed greatly reduced activity during the miming (object-absent) conditions compared to both object-present conditions.
Conclusions:
Mirror neuron activation is not limited to directly visible events.
Mirror neurons play an important role in action recognition.

Question 25

LIP article

Answer 25

Results:
Higher contrast sensitivity (better performance) when probe appeared at target location.
When distractor was present, lower contrast sensitivity (worse performance) when delay between distractor and probe was small (<200 ms).
Relationship between LIP activity and performance:
Higher LIP activity in response to saccade planning = better performance.
Higher LIP activity in response to distractor = worse performance.
Conclusions:
LIP activity facilitates both endogenous and exogenous attention.
LIP activity correlates with the locus of attention spatially & temporally.
Confers a relative attn’al benefit to visual stimuli within the receptive field of active LIP neurons.

Question 26

LIP (lateral intraparietal)

Answer 26

Saccade Goals

Helps direct eye movements toward objects.

Question 27

MIP Medial Intraparietal

Answer 27

Arm Reach Goals

Represents reachable objects & helps direct arm movement.

Question 28

AIP (anterior intraparietal)

Answer 28

Shape Information

For grasping; determines amount of force needed to grasp an object.

Question 29

VIP (Ventral Intraparietal)

Answer 29

Ultra-Near Space

For feeding; helps get food into mouth.

Question 30

motor cortex neurons

Answer 30

Fire during execution of action.
Not during planning.
Typically respond after premotor neurons.
Do not utilize much visual info.

Question 31

premotor cortex neurons

Answer 31

Fire during planning of action.
Not during execution.
Typically respond before motor neurons.
Utilize a lot of visual info.

Question 32

brain machine interface

Answer 32

Attaches to neurons & detects neuronal firing.
Allows the agent to control movement of a cursor or robotic arm without using actual muscles.
Spatial tuning properties of neurons change with experience to improve control.

Question 33

FEF

Answer 33

Microstimulation of FEF can facilitate visual search performance.
Better able to focus on target location and tune out distractors
Suggests that FEF controls both overt & covert attention.

Question 34

m1 neurons

Answer 34

Single neuron is recorded during monkey’s movements.
Highest activity when moving joystick toward body (see arrows).
Lower response when movement is further from preferred orientation.

Question 35

hierarchical model

Answer 35

location (goal) -> trajectory (movement) -> muscles

Question 36

premotor cortex

Answer 36

planning, 1st step

Question 37

motor cortex

Answer 37

execution, 2nd step, contralateral

Question 38

spinal chord

Answer 38

ipsilateral