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SGUL - Physiology 2 > Learning And Memory > Flashcards

Learning And Memory Flashcards

1
Q

Define the term “Learning”

A

Acquisition of new information

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2
Q

Define the term “memory”

A

Retention of learned information

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3
Q

What are the 2 types of memory?

A
  • Declarative memory (explicit): Facts and events - Hippocampus
  • Non-declarative memory (implicit): Procedural memory, motor skills, skills - Stratium
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4
Q

List some types of declarative memories

A
  • Working memory: Temporary storage, lasting seconds
  • Short term memories: Facts and events in STM, Subset are converted to LTM
  • Long term memories: Recalled months or years later
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5
Q

List some non declarative memories

A
  • Procedural memory: Skills & habits
  • Skeletal musculature (Classical conditioning)
  • Emotional response (Classical conditioning)
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6
Q

Describe the process of memory being converted from the STM to the LTM

A

Sensory information -> either working memory or STM -> LTM via consolidation and with time

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7
Q

Where is the prefrontal cortex found?
What is special about this area of the brain in regards to humans?

A
  • Found in the frontal lobe
  • Primates have a large frontal lobe
  • Meaning they’ve got a large/well developed prefrontal cortex
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8
Q

What is the function of the prefrontal cortex?

A
  • Self awareness
  • Capacity for planning and problem solving
  • Higher order thinking
  • Rational thinking
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9
Q

How does the working memory activity in the monkey prefrontal cortex work?

A
  • Produces a delayed response
  • First there is a cue period
  • This is then followed by a 10 second delayed response
  • Finally the monkey undergoes a choice period
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10
Q

What other brain regions are involved in the delayed response saccade task?

A
  • Anterior intraparietal area
  • Lateral intraparietal area
  • Parietal region reach
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11
Q

How does these areas affect and cause the delayed response?

A
  • First the target is flashed whilst the monkey is staring at the fixation point
  • The target then moves whilst the monkey is still staring at the fixation point (delay stage)
  • The monkey then finally started to look at the target (Saccade stage)
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12
Q

Where are memories stored?

A
  • In general, they can be stored throughout the brain
  • In neurons, they can be stored in the engram
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13
Q

Describe Hebb’s cell assembly and memory storage model (PART 1)

A
  • Came up with the idea neurons don’t exist in isolation but instead in a network
  • As a consequence, he presented an external stimulus (circle)
  • This resulted in the activation of the cell assembly by a stimulus
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14
Q

Describe Hebb’s cell assembly and memory storage model (PART 2)

A
  • revertibrating activity continues activation after the stimulus is removed
  • The hebbian modification then strengthens the reciprocal connections between neurons that are active at the same time
  • The strengthened connections of the cell assembly contain the engram for the stimulus
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15
Q

Describe Hebb’s cell assembly and memory storage model (PART 3)

A
  • After learning, partial information activation of the assembly leads to activation of the entire representation of the stimulus
  • Producing a circle in the end
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16
Q

What occurs in the consolidation stage of memory?

A

Memory is moved to different parts of the brain so they can be retrieved for long term memory

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17
Q

What does the consolidation stage involve?

A

Involvement of the temporal medial lobe

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18
Q

How does information flow from the cortex to the hippocampus?

A

There is a flow of information into the hippocampus via
- Parahippocampal cortex
- Perirhinal cortex
- Entorhinal cortex
These structures flow into the hippocampus

19
Q

How does information flow through the medial temporal lobe?

A

Sensory information -> Cortical association areas -> Parahippocampal and rhinal cortical areas -> Hippocampus -> Thalamus, hippocampus via fornix

20
Q

Describe amnesia

A

A serious loss of memory or ability to learn
- Causes: Concussion, chronic alcoholism, encephalitis, brain tumours, stroke

21
Q

What are the 2 types of amnesia?

A
  • Retrograde amnesia: No memory before the time of trauma
  • Anterograde amnesia: No new memories after the time of trauma
22
Q

Who was Henry Molaison (HM)?

A
  • Had a bicycle accident at age
  • Developed epilepsy
  • In 1953 was referred to William Scoville at Hartford hospital
  • Scoville localised the epilepsy to the right and left medial temporal lobes of HM’s brain and removed both LTMs
23
Q

What was the result of the surgery?

A
  • The surgery was effective in reducing occurrence of seizures
  • However it had a devastating side effect
  • HM lost the ability to form new long term memories but remembered events before the surgery
  • However he was able to learn new motor skills but didn’t remember learning them
24
Q

What was the impact of HM on memory research?

A
  • Findings from HM shaped subsequent memory research
  • Established the memories separateness from other cognitive functions
  • No overall intellectual loss or perceptual disorders in HM
25
Q

How has the role of the hippocampus in spatial memory been established?

A

Through the Morris water maze

26
Q

What is the Morris water maze?

A
  • A large pool of water which is opaque
  • Has a hidden platform in the water
  • When you place a rodent in the water, it’s natural reaction is to get out
  • In the morris water maze, it will swim around once it finds the platform then will climb onto it and get out
  • After repeated exposure, the rat remembers the platform and gets out asap
27
Q

What does learning the morris water maze require?

A

A hippocampus

28
Q

What happens if you block neuronal activity in the hippocampus?

A
  • By using a molecule such as glutamate, you can block the learning process in the hippocampus
  • Therefore the rat will continue to swim around before finding the platform
29
Q

What are place cells?

A
  • Fire when an animal is in a specific place
  • Place fields dynamic
30
Q

What happens when a place cell is activated?

A
  • Once the rat is placed in a specific environment, there is activity in the place cells
  • That is specific for the subject being in a specific place
31
Q

What happens if the subject moves to a different part of the environment?

A
  • There will be increased activity in the other place cells
  • There is just a differential firing pattern between the cells in different locations of the cell
32
Q

What are the two models of memory consolidation?

A
  • Standard model of memory consolidation
  • Multiple trace model of consolidation
  • Both dependent upon synaptic plasticity: the biological process by which specific patterns of synaptic activity result in changes in synaptic strength
33
Q

Describe the standard model of memory consolidation

A
  • Information from neocortex areas associated with sensory systems sent to medial temporal lobe for processing
  • Synaptic consolidation, system consolidation
  • Post consolidation, hippocampus not necessary
34
Q

Describe the multiple trace model of consolidation

A
  • Hippocampal involvement is continued
  • Multiple memory traces
35
Q

Describe the model of distributed memory

A
  • Instead of one specific neuron in the brain holding specific information for one memory
  • It distributed memories across neuronal populations
36
Q

How does the model of distributed memory work

A
  • Depending on when the individual is exposed to the memory
  • Before learning, each cell has the same base line firing
  • After learning, each cell has a corresponding change in activity between neurons
37
Q

How does the change in activity occur across multiple neurons?

A
  • Changes in the neuronal response can be explained by synaptic plasticity
  • The trisynaptic circuit of the hippocampus is often used in studies of this phenomenon
38
Q

Describe what happens in the trisynaptic circuit

A
  • Information flows from entorhinal cortex via performant path to the dentate gyrus
  • Mossy fibres originate from dentate gyrus and synapse upon pyramidal neurons in CA3 Hippocampal regions
  • Axons from CA3 synapse upon pyramidal neurons in CA1 Hippocampal region
39
Q

Describe the long term potentiation

A
  • They essentially stimulated the shape of collaterals and recorded the CA1 neurons via a record EPSP electrode
  • They found depending on the frequency of stimulation, you got a change in the excitatory post synaptic potential
40
Q

Describe the long term potentiation (PART 2)

A
  • If you recorded post synaptically, there wasn’t really a change in respect to what’s happening in this point of view
    -If you changed the frequency of stimulation, you find the magnitude of the excitatory synaptic potential, frequency of stimulation greatly increased
  • This is a potentiation of the excitatory post synaptic potentially recording since it can be maintained over a period of time
41
Q

In short, What is synaptic plasticity?

A

If you continue to stimulate neurons at a very high frequency, you will get increased responsivity

42
Q

What underlies the long term potentiation response?

A
  • Glutamate receptors mediate excitatory synaptic transmission via NMDA and AMPA receptors
  • Normally when Glutamate binds to AMPA receptors, you get activation of NMDA receptors
  • This then causes calcium to flood in through NMDA receptors
43
Q

What happens if excess calcium enters into the cell?

A
  • Causes activation of Calcium calmodulin kinases which has a few affects
  • Increases phosphorylation of AMPA receptors in the membrane increasing their responsivity which magnifies the size of the post synaptic response
  • This also causes a second effect of increased expression of receptors in the post synaptic membrane
44
Q

What are the structural changes following Long term potentiation?

A

Spine growth

SGUL - Physiology 2 (37 decks)

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