Lecture 20: Memory

Question 1

what are the two qualitative categories (types) of memory

Answer 1

explicit/declaritive

implicit/nondeclaritive

Question 2

what is explicit/declaritive memory

Answer 2

easily verbalized because its in consioucness

can often be learned in single exposure

daily episodes, words and their meanings, history

Question 3

what is the immediate memory

Answer 3

fraction of a second - seconds

Question 4

what is working memory

Answer 4

seconds-minutes

Question 5

what is long-term memory

Answer 5

days-years

Question 6

why could HM make new non declarative memories but could not recall events in his daily life

Answer 6

he had a bilateral medial temporal lobe resection, which is responsible for consolidation moves things from immediate memory to working memory to long term memory)

he could make less errors tracing a drawing because his body remembered how to do it, but he didn’t have memory of practicing the drawing

Question 7

what are the TWO important structures for declarative memory consolidation

Answer 7

midline diencephalic structures (thalamus/hypothalamus)

medial temporal lobe structures (hippocampus)

Question 8

what is the lateralization of consolidation

Answer 8

Left diencephalic lesions: verbal memory deficits

Right diencephalic lesions – visual-spatial memory deficits

Question 9

how does the lateralization of consolidation connect with what we already know about lateralization in the brain

Answer 9

the left side of the brain is important for language, so it makes sense that Left diencephalic lesions cause verbal memory deficits

the right side of the brain is important for spatial attention, so it makes sense that right diencephalic lesions cause visual-spatial memory deficits

Question 10

what is the primary role of the hippocampus (Medial temporal lobe structures)

Answer 10

Establishes new declarative memories (inability = anterograde amnesia)

Question 11

what does bigger hippocampal volume mean

Answer 11

better memory

Question 12

what are the 3 ways A TBI affects declarative memory

Answer 12

Retrograde amnesia: loss of events preceding injury

Post traumatic/anterograde amnesia
(can’t make new memories, making them agitated and disorientated)

historial memory is generally preserved

Question 13

how does post-traumatic amnesia affect prognosis

Answer 13

best predictors of functional recovery

short duration = better recovery

impacts ‘carryover’ and ability to compensate for memory deficits

Question 14

what is the GOAT

Answer 14

Clinically useful tool for monitoring post traumatic amnesia

PTA is considered to have ended if a score ≥75 is achieved on three consecutive administrations.

Question 15

declarative memory storage sties area related to what

Answer 15

the modality in question (e.g. visual cortical areas are involved in storing visual memories).

Question 16

Degradation in long-term memory proportional to what

Answer 16

the amount of cortex damaged (mass action principle)

Question 17

what is normal human capacity for meaningless information

Answer 17

7-9 digits (trying to remember things to do grocery lists, etc)

Question 18

Which 2 factors help with forming memories?

Answer 18

association

motivation and interest

Question 19

why is association important for storage

Answer 19

Capacity of working memory depends upon meaning to the person and amount of associated information that has already been stored

like remembering new Pokemon when you already know a lot of them

Question 20

why do motivation and interest influence memory

Answer 20

the adult learning principles

Question 21

How do we retrieve long-term memories?

Answer 21

appears to involve frontal lobes.

Damage to frontal lobes = difficulty with recall, sometimes accompanied by confabulation

Question 22

what is implicit/nonclaritive memory

Answer 22

generally not available to consciousness or to verbalize

usually requires many repetitions (gradual learning)

motor skills, associations, priming cues, problem solving skills

Question 23

which 4 structures does non-declarative memory depend on

Answer 23

premotor cortex

basal ganglia

amygdala

cerebellum

Question 24

what are the 4 types of Nondeclarative Memory

Answer 24

1. Procedural Motor Learning
2. Classical Conditioning
3. Priming
4. Operant Conditioning

Question 25

what is Procedural Motor Learning

Answer 25

most commonly seen in OT

HM star diagram

playing sports

riding a bike

transfers

playing an instrument, etc

Question 26

what is classical conditioning

Answer 26

Learn to associate two sensory stimuli

food>salvation
horror music>anxiety

Question 27

what is priming

Answer 27

Change in the processing of a stimulus due to a previous encounter with the same or related stimulus…with or without conscious awareness of the original encounter

resistant to brain damage, aging and dementia

(more likely to want food after seeing advertisement, watching jaws>more scared of ocean)

Question 28

what is Operant Conditioning

Answer 28

Learn to associate a Stimulus with a Response

Positive reinforcement (reward) leads to increase in that behavior

lack of reinforcement TENDS to decrease in that behaviour

(parenting, store loyalty, etc)

Question 29

is storage of declarative and nondeclartive memories similar or different

Answer 29

similar

Memories are primarily stored within brain regions originally involved in processing each kind of information

Question 30

is retreival of declarative and non declarative memories similar

Answer 30

similar because it also involves frontal lobes

HOWEVER

consolidation/learning (medial temporal structures vs motor planning brain areas) and memory storage (diffuse cortical areas) occur in different places.

Question 31

how long does making a change in synaptic plasticity that will last more than a few hours requires gene transcription and protein synthesis take

Answer 31

several hours

Question 32

How is memory affected by brain damage?

Answer 32

More brain damage = more severe memory impairments (mass action principle)

Question 33

what are the 5 causes of memory loss

Answer 33

Ischemia

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) & Concussion

Degenerative (e.g. Alzheimer’s)

Multifocal lesions

Psychogenic amnesia – NO structural damage to temporal lobes