LECTURE 5: Animal Models of Amnesia

Question 1

define cognition

Answer 1

our ability to use knowledge in sophisticated ways and a way to demonstrate that humans store and use information in a specific way

Question 2

what did the study of human amnesia lead to?

Answer 2

formal categorization of memory types into declarative and procedural

Question 3

what does damage to the HPC and MTL correlate to?

Answer 3

the idea that declaritive memory was underwritten by this

Question 4

what does damage to the midline diencephalic structures correlate to?

Answer 4

korsakoffs syndrome

Question 5

what does damage to the basal forebrain correlate to?

Answer 5

alzheimers

Question 6

why were animals models first thought to be good?

Answer 6

so we can test very specific aspects of amnesia

Question 7

what are the advantages to study human memory?
(2)

Answer 7

1. testing is facilitated and can get a verbal report to understand instantly whether they have access to any information or not
2. applicability since it is the human brain we can apply this to other people and make the research useable

Question 8

what are the disadvantages to studying human memory?
(3)

Answer 8

1. lack of experimental control
2. lack of replicability as lesions are different between humans especially if you are also dealing with disorders, not just surgical procedures
3. lack of generalizability as there is too much variability between lesions and there could also be 2nd degree issues to treatment/illness

Question 9

what are some parallel strategies we can use to study human memory?
(2)

Answer 9

1. recording and imaging during brain tasks to study the intact versus the disrupted brain function
2. animal models - this was done first in monkeys

Question 10

what are the advantages of using animal models?

Answer 10

experimental control as you can control specific lesions and also their temporally graded experience pre and post surgery

Question 11

what are the 3 requirements to using animal models?

Answer 11

1. must be global - expressed in every sensory domain (impairment for multimodal function)
2. must have a temporal component - short term v long term , new versus old
3. must be dissociative - only limited to specific forms of memory not other perceptual, sensory or motor disabilities.