Learning & Memory 1 Flashcards
1
Q
Define the term ‘learning’?
A
- Acquisition of new information or knowledge
(active process of acquiring information)
2
Q
Define the term ‘memory’?
A
- Retention of learned information
(keeping them in store)
3
Q
Why is ‘retrieval’ needed?
A
- Necessary to recall stored information
(need access to recall memory)
4
Q
What three components could affect memory?
A
- Learning
- Memory
- Retrieval
(e.g. sometimes you can learn something but cannot retrieve the memory)
5
Q
What is meant be ‘declarative’ memory?
A
- Memories for facts & events
- These can be accessed for conscious recollection
(e.g. my first bike was a present on my sixth birthday)
(these memories can be recalled & explained to someone else)
6
Q
What are the three different types of declarative memory?
A
- Episodic Memory
- Semantic Memory
- Working Memory
7
Q
What is meant by ‘episodic memory’?
A
- Recollecting specific events in time
8
Q
What is meant by ‘semantic memory’?
A
- Remembering familiar objects or facts
(e. g. the capital of france - learnt it at some point but cannot remember the event where you learned it so not episodic anymore but semantic)
9
Q
What is meant by ‘working memory’?
A
- Has qualities of both episodic & semantic memory (combination)
Memories for a short-period of time - They are not held forever (just for few minutes/hours)
(e.g. parking a car in the supermarket carpark)
10
Q
What is another name for ‘working memory’?
A
- Short-term hold memory
11
Q
What is meant by procedural memory?
A
- Memories that do not require conscious recollection
- These include habits (e.g. riding a bike)
(relatively long-term memory - these habits such as riding a bike need to be ‘learned’)
12
Q
What is short-term memory?
A
- Lasts for a few minutes
- Usually involved mental rehearsal
- Easily disturbed
(e.g. initial stages of learning a telephone number - need constant rehearsal at first)
These can become long-term memory –> where they no longer need to be continued rehearsed –> they are resistant to disturbance
13
Q
What is long-term memory?
A
- More permanent
- Does not require continued rehearsal
- Has a greater capacity
- Resistant to disturbance
(e.g. memory for familiar telephone numbers)
14
Q
What are the two methods that process long-term memory called?
A
- Serial Process
- Parallel Process
15
Q
Describe briefly the serial process of memorisation?
A
- Sensory information comes into system
- Held in the short-term memory
- Via consolidation (usually requires sleep) –> becomes stored in long-term memory
16
Q
Describe briefly the parallel process of memorisation?
A
- Sensory information enters & held in short-term memory
- At the same time –> information is being consolidated over a longer period of time –> to acheive storage in long-term memory storage
Difference –> long-term memory is not a consequence of short-term memory –> but its own independent pathway
17
Q
What is amnesia?
A
- Memory loss due to brain insult
(can range from minor to serious)
18
Q
Name four potential causes of amnesia?
A
- Concussion (usually between 20-30 minutes)
- Chronic Alcoholism
- Tumours
- Strokes
(patients usually wake up confused with no recollection of event & no awareness of location)
19
Q
What occurs with the memory of the event?
A
- Loss of Memory (amnesia) –> is permenant for that specific period of time
20
Q
What is retrograde amnesia?
A
- Loss of memory for events prior (before) to the trauma
21
Q
What is anterograde amensia?
A
- Inability to make or retrieve new memories after the trauma (event)
22
Q
When can you not use the terms anterograde & retrograde?
A
- To describe memory (not such thing as anterograde memory)
- It is anterograde or retrograde amnesia
23
Q
What is a clinical presentation of someone with retrograde memory loss?
A
- Able to recall early childhood memories
- Unable to recall a certain time window before the trauma (event) - no recollection
(this can range from minutes/days/weeks)
24
Q
What are the clinical presentations of someone with anterograde amnesia?
Is isolated anterograde amnesia common?
A
- Usually serious anterograde amnesia is not seen alone
- Inability to form new memories from the date of event (trauma)
(usually patients present with both anterograde & retrograde amnesia)
25
What is the physical storage of memory called?
* Engram
26
How has memory circuitry been studied?
* **Brain lesions**
* Lashley (1920s) --\> studied **maze** **learning** in **rats** with **cerebral** **cortical** **lesions**
27
Where is **memory** **stored** generally?
* **Memories are distributed**
(sizes of lesions correlated to memory impairment)
28
Is the cortical areas **equipotential** for learning?
* **No**
* Cortical areas are **_not_** **equipotential** for **learning** (some areas are more important than others)
* **Lesions** in **certain** **areas** have a **more** **profound effect**
29
What happens if there are **large bilateral lesions** of the **temporal** **lobes**?
* **Psychic blindness**
(animals will repeatedly put the same inedible objects into their mouth even having tried it before - usually animals learn from the first time)
Temporal lobe has specific regions involved in recognising specific objects (memory system for recognising visual objects)
30
What happened to patient HM?
* To treat **severe epilepsy**
* Received **bilateral**, **medial** **temporal** **lobe** **resection**
* Improved epilepsy
* **Profound amnesia**
31
What four areas are **near or in** the **medial temporal lobe?**
* Hippocampus
* Entorhinal Cortex
* Pernihal Cortex
* Parahippocampal Gyrus
32
Describe the **medial** **temporal** **lobe area** involved in **memory**.
33
In terms of **amnesia**, what happened to **patient** **HM**?
* **Partial Retrograde Amnesia** (could recalled early childhood but not years before surgery)
* **Profound anterograde amnesia** (no new declarative memory ever again - despite memory test experiments)
* **Retrieval mechanism undamaged** (could recall early childhood still)
* **Short-term memory** was **normal** (six numbers fine)
* **Procedural memory** (mirror writing) was **normal**
34
What areas in the **temporal** **lobe** are important in **memory?**
* Rhinal Cortex
* Perirhinal Cortex
* Amygdala
* Anterior Hippocampus
* Parahippocampal Area
35
Describe the loop involved in memory.
36
What is a good test for temporal lobe?
* **Delayed non-match** to **sample** (DNMS)
* Test of **recognising object** that have been **seen** **recently** (over seconds to minutes)
* Tests for **_declarative_** **memory** **amnesia** (seen in patient HM)
37
Particularly what part of the brain is **implicated** in **declarative** **memory** **amnesia** and therefore **difficulty** with **DNMS** **task** test?
* **Temporal Lobe Lesions**
* specifically **Perirhinal Cortex damage**
(monkey able to remember within a small amount of time --\> but after 1 minute of screen going down the rule is forgotten - only have short-term memory)
38
Name the four critical areas for declarative memory loss (name the 2 most critical).
* Rhinal Cortex
* Perirhinal Cortex
* Hippocampus
* Amygdala
39
How does the **associative** **circuitry** work?
* There are a **lot** of **reciptical** **connections**
* These allow for **additional** **output** **pathways** from **associative circuitry**
40
What is less damaging to memory than parahippocampal & rhinal area damage?
* Lesion in **Hippocampus**
(those others were more improtant as they are in the middle of reciprical connections)
41
Describe the declarative memory circuitry.
42
What is the **diencephalon** involved in?
Which structures specifically?
* Memory
* Thalamus & Mammillary Bodies
43
How is **memory** **located** in the **brain**?
* **Different** **structures** are involved at different times
* Depends on **memory** **type** & **time** the **memory** is at (minutes or weeks from start)
* Memory constantly **moves** & **distributes** (does not remain)
* Stored in **different** **brain** **regions**
* System must **work** **together** to **recall** **memory** **properly**
44
What occurs when there is damage to either?
* **Anterior** Nuclei of the Thalamus
* **Dorso**-**Medial** Nuclei of the Thalamus
* **Mamillary** **Bodies**
* Distruption to Memory
45
Describe pathway 1 invovled in memory.
46
Describe pathway 2 involved in memory.
47
What test is affected with **midline** **thalamic** **lesions** in **monkeys**?
DNMS Test Deficits
48
What occured with patient NA?
* Stabbed with **fencing** **foil**
* Went up through right nostril --\> into **_left dorsomedial thalamus_**
* Severe anterograde **amnesia** & **retrograde** **amnesia** (2 years up to accident) - difficult reading books & TV
(strong similarities in deficits with patient HM --\> related to temporal lobe - diencephalic connections)
49
What causes **Korsakoff's** **syndrome**?
* **Chronic Alcoholism**
* This depletes **thiamine** **(vitamin B1) reserves**
50
What happens in Korsakoff's syndrome?
* **_Anterograde_** **amnesia**
* **Limited _retrograde_ amensia**
51
What is damaged in Korsakoff's syndrome?
Degeneration of:
* **Mammillary Bodies**
* **Dosomedial** **Nucleus** of the Thalamus
* **Cerebellar Anterior Lobe Vermis**
52
What are the neurological signs of Korsakoff's syndrome?
* **Anterograde amnesia**
* **Limited Retrograde amnesia**
* (maybe) **Confusional** **State**
* **Ataxia** (especially **gait ataxia** - cerebellar anterior lobe vermis)
(gait is affected but distal limb control is not)
53
What is the treatment of Korsakoff's Syndrome?
What can we expect?
* **Treatment** with **Vitamin B1**
* Leads to **remarkable** & **rapid** **recovery** of the **motor** & **confusional** **problems**
* **Amnesia** **usually** **_persists_**
(confusional state can be helped a lot but damage to memory such as to mamillary body is permenant)
54
What does **chronic** **alcoholism** do to the **cerebellum**?
* **Damage** to **anterior** **lobe** **vermis**
* Causes **gait** **ataxia**
55
Name three causes of dementia?
1. Vascular Dementia
2. Senile Dementia
3. Alzheimer's Dementia
56
What causes **Alzheimer's** **Disease**?
* **Neurofibrillary tangles** (phosphorylated tau)
* *Neuritic plaques** (amyloid)
57
What does AD severity correlate with?
* Increase in **neurofibrilary** **tangles** (phosphorylated tau)
(not plaques/amyloid)
58
What are the two structures first affected by AD?
* Hippocampus
* Posterior Parieto-Temporal Cortex
59
Secondly, what does AD affect?
Degeneration of:
* **Basal Nucleus of the Forebrain** (nucleus of Meynert)
* **Cholinergic Neurones**
* **Noradrenergic neurons** (locus coeruleus)
* *Serotonergic raphe neurons**
60
What neurological sign is seen in AD?
* **Retrograde amnesia**
* **Spreads** **back** in time as the **disease** **progresses**
61
Which type of memory is affected the most & least in AD?
* **Episodic memory** (affected most & early on)
* *Working & semantic memory** (affected less so and middle of disease)
* **Procedural memory** (not impaired until final stages)
62
What is the basis of one of the treatments called **cholinesterase inhibitors?**
* Degeneration of **basal nucleus of the forebrain (nucleus of Meynert)** and its **cholinergic neurones**
It does not address the cause but its supportive & helps delay some amnesic symptoms
* **Maximises residual cholinergic function**
* Results are **marginal** but **delays** **progression** of **disease**
63
What are the 2 pathologies associated with AD?
* Neurofibrillary Tangles
* Amyloid Plaques
64
What is working memory exactly?
* **Information** of **several** **types** needs to be held in a **short-term store** at the **same** **time**
(e. g. book title, colour of the cover, location on the shelf)
* Information can be either be **_new sensory information_** or **_information retrieved from long-term storage which is ready to access_**
(ability tto hold onto information for a short period of time & lose memory when needed - does not need to be consoldiated)
65
Describe the connections between the **medial** **temporal** **areas** & **cortical** **association** **areas**.
Involved in working memory
66
Where does **prefrontal** **cortex** get information from to do with **working** **memory**?
* **Temporal Lobe** inputs via **dorsomedial** **thalamus**
67
Which part of the brain is very important in working memory?
* Prefrontal Cortex
68
What occurs if there is a **lesion** in **prefrontal** **cortex?**
Which test is there a deficit in?
* **Deficits** in **working** **memory** for **problem** **solving**
* **Wisconsin card-sorting test**
69
Where are neurons active during a delayed response test?
* Prefrontal Cortex
70
What is the wisconsin card sorting test?
* Asked to **sort** **cards** **out** in terms of a **certain** **rule** (e.g. numbers or suites or pictures)
* **Asked to keep doing it**
* They eventually **forget** what the **rule** **was**
71
When are prefrontal cortex cells active during ?
* Delay period in delayed-response task
(asked to do a task but cannot execute straight away --\> need to wait for a momeny --\> thus neurone activity is high whilst handing on & waiting --\> then prefrontal activity drops as soon as action can be executed)
72
What does **pre-frontal cortex code** for in terms of **memory**?
Pre-frontal cortex --\> codes for **short-term information** that you **temporarily** **hold** **onto** (i.e. working memory)
73
Where is memory found in the brain?
* **No** **single** **place** in the **brain** for **'memory formation & storage'**
* **Different** **forms** of **memory** **mediated** in **different** **brain** **areas**
74
Where is memory distributed within a brain area?
* Distributed everywhere within these brain memory areas (more involved in memory)
75
How can we describe the properties of short & long-term memory?
* **Short**-**term** memory --\> FRAGILE
* **Long**-**term** memory --\> ROBUST
**Long**-**term** **memory** depends on a **form** of **structural** **change** (consolidated in a **stable** **form** --\> takes **time** & **repitition** & **sleep**)
**Short**-**term** **memory** is maintained by **electrical** **activity** and is therefore **very** **fragile**
76
What are declarative memories critically dependent on?
* **Medial Temporal Lobe**
* Nuclei in the Diencephalon **(thalamic nuclei)**
77
What are **procedural** **memories** with a **strong** **motor** **component** **dependent** on**?**
(e.g. riding a bicycle)
* Cerebellum
