Learning and Memory Flashcards
What two types of memory is human memory divided into?
Declarative and procedural.
What is declarative memory?
It is what one knows. The memory of daily episodes, words and meanings, history etc.
What is procedural memory?
It is what one can do. The memory of motor skills, associations, priming cues, puzzle solving.
Where is declarative memory housed?
The temporal lobes in association with the frontal lobes.
Electrical stimulation, including overexcitation, can have what effect in a patient?
A person can have hallucinations and recall past experiences.
What is ablation in neuroscience terms? What is its effect?
The destruction of brain tissue. It can cause a person to experience retrograde or anterograde amnesia and impairment of long-term memory.
In neuroscience, what is Hebb’s Law?
Hebb’s Law states that when two neurones are active so that one repeatedly releases neurotransmitter at the same time as its partner fires an AP, the synapse becomes stronger. “Cells that fire together wire together”.
Describe the arrangement of pyramidal cells in the hippocampus. How do they fire?
The pyramidal cells in the hippocampus are lined up and arranged in an ordered fashion. The cells fire in a certain pattern and recruit other cells to fire associatively.
Define learning.
The acquisition of new information or knowledge.
Define memory.
The retention of learned information.
Define long-term potentiation.
An increase in the strength of a synapse after a strong stimulation.
How long can LTP last for?
Months to years.
What does EPSP stand for?
Excitatory post-synaptic potential.
Activation of what receptor induces LTP?
NMDA receptors.
Activation of what receptor leads to the expression of LTP?
AMPA receptors.
What maintains LTP?
Changes in the number of postsynaptic AMPA receptors and structural changes.
What can increase the size of an EPSP?
Increased postsynaptic excitability, increased number of AMPA receptors, increased glutamate release, the formation of new synapses.
LTP is input specific, what does this mean?
The only neurones to respond to LTP are those attached to the specific input.
Describe LTP induction.
LTP induction has a threshold and EPSPs produced at a rapid rate summate and reach the threshold. Slow low-level stimulation signals don’t reach the threshold and can reduce the strength of the synapse.
How can LTP be prevented?
By NMDA receptor antagonists and by removing calcium ions.
What is an unsilenced synapse?
Synapses may start by only expressing NMDA receptors however if there is sufficient depolarization from a neighbouring synapse then AMPA receptors can be inserted into the postsynaptic membrane, unsilencing the synapse.
What is the Morris water maze used to test?
Spatial navigation and how it improves with increased exposure to the same stimuli.
