lecture 21 and 22 - anya hurlbert Flashcards
learning is…
the acquisition of new knowledge
memory is…
the retention of learned knowledge
memory is stored as a…
neural trace (memory must involve changes in connections between neurones)
recall is…
reactivation of the trace
forms of memory
declarative and procedural
declarative
- records of facts and events
- accessible to consciousness, easy to forget
- describe what we know and what we remember about things that have happened to us
procedural
- learned skills and behaviours
- involved learning a motor response in association with a sensory input
- inaccessible to consciousness, but never forget
- cant verbalise is e.g riding a bike
time scale of memory can be
short term (STM) - verbal or visuospatial
ling term (LTM)
example of verbal and visuospatial STM
verbal - memory of someones phone number
visuospatial - jigsaw puzzle (remembering what piece you need and where it is)
example of LTM
visual - people faces
auditory - music
non associative learning in procedural memory:
habituation=
learn to ignore
e.g people hear planes going over head who live near to airport and they learn to ignore the sound
sensitisation=
learn to intensify
stimuli that normally wouldnt evoke a response suddenly becomes more powerful and causes you to react e.g home alone and you hear a noise
associative learning in procedural memory:
classical conditioning=
process by which a neural stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus
e.g. bell –> food –> salivation
bell –> salivation
instrumental conditioning=
process by which a response is gradually learned via reinforcement or punishment
e.g we learn that a behavior produces a particular consequence
if positive –> repeat behavior
if negative –> do no repeat behavior
why are invertebrates used in procedural learning experiments
- simple learning circuits
- big cells - easy to identify + isolate
- small systems
- simple genetics
- easy to keep alive
which marine invertebrate is mainly used in procedural memory experiments
sea slug aplysia californica
why are aplysia used
- simple nervous system
- gill withdrawal reflex
habituation in aplysia
decrease over time in response to repeated stimulus that lacks meaning
sensitisation in aplysia
exaggeration in response to normal stimuli after strong stimulus
the gill withdrawal reflex
when the water is squirted onto the siphon and detects touch the siphon and gill contract
neuronal circuitry of the gill withdrawal reflex
siphon skin –> sensory neurone (24) –> synapse –> motor neurone (6) –> gill muscle
how does the gill withdrawal reflex show habituation
repeated stimulation of the siphon skin leads to progressively less contraction of the gill
where is the locus if the habituation
the SN - MN synapse.
EPSPs decline as the SN is repeatedly stimulated
this is a form of…
homosynaptic depression