Learning and Memory

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

the ability to store and retrieve information

Question 2

Learning

Answer 2

acquiring new and enduring information leading to a modification of behavior

Question 3

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 3

the loss of memories formed before the onset of amnesia

Question 4

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 4

the inability to form memories after the onset of amnesia

Question 5

Why did patient H.M have memory loss?

Answer 5

He suffered from seizures, the root of his seizures was in the medial temporal lobe, so his doctors removed the hippocampus and amygdala

Question 6

What kind of memory loss did H.M experience?

Answer 6

extreme anterograde amnesia and minor retrograde amnesia

Question 7

Mirror tracing task

Answer 7

H.M. could still learn, but he doesn’t remember ever learning. He got better at the task throughout the sessions but did not remember ever doing it
(non-declarative memory)

Question 8

Declarative

Answer 8

things you know that you can tell others (hippocampus). Facts and information acquired through learning

Question 9

Non-declarative

Answer 9

things you know that you can show by doing. Shown by performance rather than recollection

Question 10

Delayed non-matching-to-sample task

Answer 10

object recognition memory test requiring monkeys to declare what they remember. Works by giving two objects to a monkey and always putting a treat under a new object that the monkey has not seen.

Question 11

Delayed non-matching-to-sample task HYPOTHESIS

Answer 11

certain portions of the temporal lobe are required for the formation of new declarative memories

Question 12

Delayed non-matching-to-sample task RESULTS

Answer 12

The more tissue that you take away, the more memory damage. The amygdala had no clear effects on memory.

Question 13

What can disrupt new declarative memory?

Answer 13

disruption is due to damage to both to hippocampus itself, and to the nearby cortex

Question 14

Patient N.A.

Answer 14

had amnesia due to accidental damage to the dorsomedial thalamus and mammillary bodies. No hippocampal damage, which suggests a larger memory network. He had short-term memory but could not form declarative long-term memories

Question 15

Patient K.C.

Answer 15

could not retrieve personal memory due to damage to the cortex (frontoparietal cortex) and had some hippocampal shrinkage (not as important)

Question 16

Where did Clive Wearing have damage?

Answer 16

damage to the temporal lobe, frontal lobe, and hippocampus

Question 17

What is Clide’s function for episodic and semantic memories?

Answer 17

He has no episodic memory (retrograde and anterograde)
He cannot create new semantic memories, but he can remember old ones (anterograde)

Question 18

What parts of the brain are responsible for episodic memory storage?

Answer 18

frontal and parietal cortexes

Question 19

semantic memory

Answer 19

generalized declarative memory, more facts and knowledge

Question 20

episodic memory

Answer 20

detailed autobiographical memory

Question 21

What is the model of declarative memory formation

Answer 21

sensory processing in cortex → parahippocampal, entorhinal, perirhinal cortex → hippocampus → medical diencephalon including mammillary bodies → declarative memory storage in cortex

Question 22

What will damage to the medial temporal lobe or the medial diencephalon/mammillary bodies prevent?

Answer 22

damage will prevent the formation of any new declarative memories, without the loss of previously formed memories

Question 23

What are 4 types of nondeclarative memory?

Answer 23

Skill learning
Priming
Conditioning
Spatial memory

Question 24

Skill learning

Answer 24

Learning to perform a challenging task through repetition. Skill learning is impaired with damage to the basal ganglia

Question 25

Priming

Answer 25

A change in stimulus processing due to prior exposure to the stimulus. Appears to be a from reduced activity in the cortex.

Question 26

Spatial memory

Answer 26

Found that the hippocampus is the biggest factor in spatial memory
Place cells: become active when someone is in a particular location

Question 27

Associative learning

Answer 27

association between two stimuli, or between a stimulus and a response (classical and operant conditioning)

Question 28

Classical conditioning

Answer 28

a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through associations with a stimulus that already elicit a similar or related response (Pavlov)

Question 29

Operant conditioning

Answer 29

a response becomes more or less likely to occur depending on the consequences (punish/reward)

Question 30

Stages of memory

Answer 30

Sensory buffer
STMs
LTMs

Question 31

Sensory buffer

Answer 31

the briefest recollection of sensory impressions (split-second)

Question 32

STMs

Answer 32

usually last only for seconds, or throughout the rehearsal

Question 33

LTMs

Answer 33

last for days or years

Question 34

Processes in the functional memory system

Answer 34

Encoding
Consolidation
Retrieval

Question 35

Encoding

Answer 35

sensory information is encoded into STM

Question 36

Consolidation

Answer 36

information may be consolidated into long-term storage

Question 37

How does STM work without an intact hippocampus?

Answer 37

STM can be encoded and retrieved without an intact hippocampus
But…
an intact hippocampus is required to consolidate declarative STMs into LTMs

Question 38

How do strong emotions enhance memory formation?

Answer 38

emotional event → adrenal glands → epinephrine/norepinephrine → amygdala

Question 39

What role does synapses play in learning and memory formation?

Answer 39

involves changes in the strength of synapses in response to biochemical signals

Question 40

What role does neurogenesis play in memory formation?

Answer 40

Memories can also require the formation of new synapses or the birth of new neurons

Question 41

What evidence is there that H.M had intact procedural memory but not declarative?

Answer 41

He got better at the mirror tracing task over time

Question 42

What may explain why H.M. still had retrograde episodic memory intact, but Clive Wearing did not?

Answer 42

Clive had damage to his frontal lobe, but H.M. did not.

Question 43

Which brain region is involved in spatial memory? What are place cells?

Answer 43

The hippocampus, place cells are fired when we are in a specific location or place

Question 44

What is the neural mechanism in which strong emotions enhance memory formation?

Answer 44

the adrenals glands, epinephrine/norepinephrine

Question 45

Rats housed in enriched conditions developed…

Answer 45

• heavier, thicker cortex
• enhanced cholinergic (acetylcholine) activity
• more dendritic branches & spines on cortical neurons
• larger cortical synapses
• more neurons in the hippocampus
• enhanced recovery from brain damage