Learning and Memory Flashcards
What is procedural memory?
Skills and habits that have been used so much they are automatic
What is another name for procedural memory?
Non-declarative memory or implicit memory
What are the anatomical locations for procedural memory?
Cerebellum = motor skills
Nucleus accumbens = non-motor skills (habit)
What is declarative memory?
Conscious recognition/recollection of learned facts and experiences
What is another name for declarative memory?
Explicit memory
What are the 2 forms of declarative memory?
Episode and Semantic
Episode memory?
Type of declarative memory
– deals with memory of events
Semantic memory?
Type of declarative memory
– deals with memory of words, language and rules
What is working memory?
Recalling a fact/memory for use - may be a subset of short term memory
Production of memory and learning requires what?
Induction of neuronal and synaptic plasticity
Alterations in the CNS based on use
- could be altered synaptic function
- could be changes in physical neuron structure
Plasticity
What is post-tetanic potentiation?
Brief, high-frequency discharge of presynaptic neuron that produces an increase in NT release
How long does a post-tetanic potentiation last?
About 60 seconds
Describe how a post-tetanic potentiation occurs?
The action potential traveling down the axon opens sodium channels and due to the high-freq. discharge it opens more calcium channels than it can handle and causes more NT release
What does post-tetanic potentiation do?
Increases probability of action potentials in post-synaptic cell due to its increase in NT release
Where is post-tetanic potentiation occurring?
Pre-synaptic cell
What is long-term potentiation?
Series of changes in pre and post-synaptic neurons that leads to an INCREASED response on the post-synaptic neuron
How long does long-term potentiation last?
At least 30 mins to an hour
Where is long-term potentiation occurring and what is coming in?
Post-synaptic cell has an increase in calcium
Increased calcium in the post-synaptic cell during long-term potentiation causes what?
- calmodulin to phosphorylate the AMPA receptor
- calcineurin to produce nitric oxide
^^ main steps (some were left out)
What does an increase in nitric oxide of a post-synaptic cell do?
NO goes back to the pre-synaptic cell and increases cGMP and NT RELEASE!
What does phosphorylation of the AMPA receptor at a post-synaptic cell do?
Increase the sodium influx in response to an EAA = able to be more depolarized
Long-term potentiation also increases _____ which results in physical changes of a neuron
CREB
How can learning and formation of new memories be blocked?
By blocking protein synthesis
What are the 4 steps to creating a declarative memory?
- Encoding
- Storage of info
- Consolidation
- Retrieval
What is encoding?
Focus and attention on new information
- emotion and linking to previous memories is important
The storage of info step in creating a declarative memory uses what type of memory?
Short-term memory
What are the short-term memory anatomical substrates?
hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, prefrontal cortex
Short-term memory also has interconnections to the neocortex and amygdala via ________
Nucleus basalis of meynert
What is a target of alzheimers?
Nucleus basalis of meynert (short-term memory interconnection path)
What is the short-term memory physiological substrate?
Long-term potentiation
The consolidation step of creating a declarative memory requires taking a short-term memory to a long-term memory. What anatomical areas does this step require?
Hippocampus, temporal lobes and PAPEZ circuit
What are the main components of the papez circuit?
Hippocampus
Hypothalamus and mammillary bodies
Anterior thalamus
Cingulate cortex
Why is the papez circuit important in the consolidation step of taking a short-term memory to a long-term memory?
The memory is repeatedly sent through the papez circuit, which sets up conditions required to induce long-term potentiation and neuronal plasticity
– makes new synapses stronger by continuing the loop
Where are long-term memories stored?
Pieces are stored in the area of cortex that is related to that modality of the individual component
(ex. visual info for a memory is stored in the visual cortex) – MANY AREAS OF NEOCORTEX
What is the retrieval step of creating a declarative memory?
Bringing it into working memory
Where can a memory be modified or lost?
At the retrieval step
Individual components of a memory are first sent to where for retrieval?
Parahippocampal region
Once the individual components of a memory are first sent to the parahippocampal region, then where are they sent?
Hippocampus
What does the hippocampus do for memory retrieval?
Reconstructs the memory
Once the hippocampus reconstructs the memory, where does it send it?
Back to the parahippocampus
Why is it important for the hippocampus to send the constructed memory back to the parahippocampal region?
It prolongs the life of the cortical trace of the memory
From the parahippocampal region, what is the final destination of a reconstructed memory?
Cortex
What are the 3 components to working memory?
Central executive
Phonological loop
Visuospatial loop
Central executive
Fact I need
Phonological loop
Words to describe
Visuospatial loop
Visual memories
For working memory, _____ and _____ are the inputs into the central executive
Phonological loop and visuospatial loop
Where is the central executive?
Prefrontal cortex
Where is the phonological loop?
Broca’s and Wernicke’s
Where is the visuospatial loop?
Occipital cortex associated with vision
For spatial memory, where is it stored?
Hippocampus
Unlike normal memories, what type of information is stored in the hippocampus?
Detailed memory of space
What type of cells are important in storing spatial memories in the hippocampus?
Place cells
What type of cells are place cells
Pyramidal cells in CA1
What serves as an anchor for the reconstruction of a memory?
The spatial map
What are place cells?
Neurons that are active when at a specific place
What are the inputs to the place cells?
Grid cells
Head direction cells
Border neurons
What type of cells create a map of the place you are in, in a triangle or hexagonal shape?
Grid cells
When do border neurons fire?
When near an edge or border (i.e. wall, etc)
