Lecture 18 Brain Flashcards
What are the two types of memory?
Declarative
Procedural
What are the two types of declarative memory?
- episodic
- semantic
What is declarative memory?
memory for things that can be described in words
What is procedural memory?
memory for how to do things
What is episodic (declarative memory)?
this is things that we can remember when we learnt them like snapshots of life events and experiences
What is semantic (declarative) memory?
words and their meanings, people, faces, things, concepts - things that we know but we can’t remember when we learnt them
Where is declarative memory “stored” in the brain in the short term?
the hippocampus and the other temporal lobe structures
Where is declarative memory “stored” in the brain in the long term?
many areas of the association cortex
Where is procedural memory “stored” in the short term?
it is widely distributed
Where is procedural memory “stored” in the long term?
basal nuclei
cerebellum
premotor cortex
Describe short term memory
When we make a memory, we make connections between neurons in the brain. The short term is just the firing of these neurons. If activity is interrupted, memory is lost
Describe long term memory
When we make a memory, we make connections between neurons in the brain. The long term is when there are more permanent changes in the stretch of specific synapses (long-term potentiation)
Where are memories stored in the brain?
There is no single memory storage area - memories are distributed among the brain areas involved in the processing of information
What can cause something to transfer from working to long-term memory?
- high emotional impact
- importance for survival
- repetition
- processing, forming new combinations, linkage to existing knowledge
What is anterograde amnesia?
unable to form new declarative memories but the memory of prior events is still intact
