Learning and Memory Pt. II

Question 1

TOTE mechanism

Answer 1

1. Test to obtain some representation of the problem state
2. Operate - intervene in some way
3. Test again to see if the desired result has been achieved. If it has not, loop back to operate. If it has:
4. Exit - problem solved

Question 2

medial forebrain bundle (MFB)

Answer 2

A fiber bundle that runs in a rostral-caudal direction though the basal forebrain and lateral hypothalamus; electrical stimulation of these axons is reinforcing.

Question 3

ventral tegmental area (VTA)

Answer 3

A group of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral midbrain whose axons form the mesolimbic and mesocortical systems; plays a role in reinforcement.

Question 4

nucleus accumbens

Answer 4

A nucleus of the basal forebrain near the septum; receives dopamine-secreting terminal buttons from neurons of the ventral tegmental area and is thought to be involved in reinforcement and attention.

Question 5

Ventral tegmental area in monkeys

Answer 5

Neurons respond to reinforcer during training
Once training is established, neurons respond to the operant cue that signals availability of reinforcement
Response rate drops rapidly if reinforcement fails to occur

Question 6

short-term memory

Answer 6

Memory for a stimulus or an event that lasts for a short while.

Question 7

delayed matching-to-sample task

Answer 7

A task that requires the subject to indicate which of several stimuli has just been perceived.

Question 8

Discrimination learning

Answer 8

1. An attentional phase, where the learner searches for the aspect of the stimulus that is linked to reinforcement (meaning)
2. An operational phase where the learner tests response strategies to maximize reinforcement

Question 9

The inferotemporal

Answer 9

Is involved in the attentional phase of discrimination learning
Neurons in the inferotemporal cortex modify their responses during learning to reflect differences on the relevant stimulus dimension, (e.g. shape), and become less responsive to stimulus differences on the irrelevant dimension (e.g. colour)
This involves inhibition of neurons that respond to the irrelevant stimulus dimension

Question 10

The dorsolateral frontal cortex

Answer 10

Is active in resetting intentional strategies

For example in shifting from shape to colour in a discrimination learning task

Inhibition is required to suppress responses to the formerly relevant stimulus.

Question 11

declarative memory

Answer 11

Memory that can be verbally expressed, such as memory in a person’s life.
These are explicit memories that are consciously recalled.

Question 12

nondeclarative memory

Answer 12

Memory whose formation does not depend on the hippocampal formation; a collective term for perceptual and procedural learning. These are implicit and unconcious processes

Question 13

episodic memory

Answer 13

mory for events organized in time and identified by a particular context.


Question 14

semantic memory

Answer 14

emory of facts and general information.


Question 15

anterograde amnesia

Answer 15

Amnesia for events that occur after some disturbance to the brain, such as head injury or certain degenerative brain diseases.

Question 16

retrograde amnesia

Answer 16

Amnesia for events that preceded some disturbance to the brain, such as a head injury or electroconvulsive shock.

Question 17

Korsakoff’s syndrome

Answer 17

Permanent anterograde amnesia caused by brain damage resulting from chronic alcoholism or malnutrition (B1 deficiency).

Question 18

confabulation

Answer 18

The reporting of memories of events that did not take place without the intention to deceive; seen in people with Korsakoff’s syndrome.

Question 19

Declarative memory system

Answer 19

Includes hippocampus and associated cortical structures, dorsomedial nucleus of diencephalon
Damage produces anterograde amnesia with preserved semantic, procedural and implicit memory

Question 20

Procedural memory system

Answer 20

A basal ganglia/frontal system
Responsible for memory of rules, habits
An automatic, unconscious, implicit memory system
Affected in Huntington’s disease
Spared by hippocampal/diencephalic damage

Question 21

Diencephalic Amnesia

Answer 21

Alcoholic Korsakoff’s syndrome
B1 (Thiamine) Deficiency
Damage to mammillary bodies, dorsomedial thalamus
Symptoms:
anterograde amnesia, temporally graded retrograde amnesia, confabulation, meagre content in conversation, poor insight, apathy

Question 22

perirhinal cortex

Answer 22

A region of limbic cortex adjacent to the hippocampal formation that, along with the parahippocampal cortex, relays information between the enthorhinal cortex and other regions of the brain.


Question 23

parahippocampal cortex

Answer 23

A region of limbic cortex adjacent to the hippocampal formation that, along with the perirhinal cortex, relays information between the entorhinal cortex and other regions of the brain.

Question 24

taxi drivers

Answer 24

Taxi drivers had increased volume in the right middle/posterior hippocampus.
Bus drivers had increased volume in the left hippocampus and in the right anterior hippocampus.

These groups were dissociated on both the left/right and anterior/posterior axes.

Question 25

Processing complementarity

Answer 25

• Right hemisphere damage impairs perception of configural or gestalt organization (R.hem damage, see face not fruit)
• Left hemisphere damage impairs perception of detail (L.hem damage see fruit not face)

Question 26

Place Cell

Answer 26

A neuron that becomes active when the animal is in a particular location in the environment; most typically found in the hippocampal formation.