Lecture 8

Question 1

Why do we study memory

Answer 1

Memories are crucial to existence

Question 2

What is learning

Answer 2

A behavioural experience associated with change. Where the change allows some form of adaptation - not from brain damage

Question 3

What is memory

Answer 3

The encoding of the learning experience. Physical basis of memory is the change in the brain

Question 4

What does biological psychology question about learning and memory

Answer 4

The psychology of these phenomena. The brain regions that are involved. Their cellular basis in terms of neurons and the connections between the,

Question 5

What is associative learning

Answer 5

Based on associations between different phenomena

Question 6

What is non-associated learning

Answer 6

Not based on associations. Habituation

Question 7

What are habituations

Answer 7

Repeated exposure to a stimulus that offers no threat/benefit

Question 8

Discuss Pavlov (1927)’s classical conditioning

Answer 8

It is an early idea that there in a connection that develops between two brain areas. Conditioned stimulus followed by unconditioned stimulus elicits an unconditioned response. After a while, the conditioned stimulus leads to a conditioned response.

Question 9

Discus operant conditioning

Answer 9

Response is followed by a reinforcement or a punishment.

Question 10

What are the functions of both associative and non-associative learning

Answer 10

Offer an adaptive advantage. Allow organisms to respond to the environment. Develop efficient responses to positive stimuli. Develop efficient avoidance of negative stimuli

Question 11

Where did Karl Lashley suggest learning occurs and discuss this

Answer 11

He built on the idea that two areas in the brain develop a connection and thus searched for the engram - a physical representation of what has been learned. Made deep cuts in the rats brain to try and find the connection - learning was impaired by large lesions but not in a single area

Question 12

What were the conclusions of Lashley’s study trying to find where learning occurs

Answer 12

Equipotentially - all parts of cortex contribute equally to complex behaviours. Mass action - cortex works as a whole

Question 13

Discuss Richard Thompsons search for the Engram

Answer 13

Found increased response in lateral interpositus nucleus (LIP) in the cerebellum. He studied classical conditioning responses in rabbits by using a puff of air in the eye after a tone to make the rabbit blink.

Question 14

Discuss a problem with Thompson’s findings of a change in the LIP

Answer 14

Just because an area changes during an activity, it doesn’t mean that learning takes place there - it may be a chain of structures. When LIP was suppressed during conditioning, the rabbits didn’t learn.

Question 15

What have later experiments shown about the red nucleus

Answer 15

It is crucial for performance of a conditioned response, but not learning

Question 16

What are the conclusions about LIP and red nucleus in terms of learning

Answer 16

Lateral interpositus nucleus in the cerebellum = an area of learning. Red nucleus = performance of learned behaviour. BUT complex tasks involve many different brain areas, working as a coordinated whole.

Question 17

What did Hebb (1949) suggest about memory

Answer 17

The processes for immediate recall and past-event recall were different. Short term memory & Long term memory

Question 18

Discuss the differences between short term memory and long term memory

Answer 18

Short term = limited capacity, lost after a few seconds. Long term = unlimited capacity (so far) and hints help you reconstruct these memories. BOTH = meaningful context helps us remember (consolidation)

Question 19

Discuss the concept Baddeley & Hitch (1974) introduced

Answer 19

Working memory - stored information that is still in use, information that is still relevant and information crucial for complex cognitive activities

Question 20

How would you find out which brain areas are used for working memory

Answer 20

Delayed response tasks - testing participants responses to stimuli they saw/heard a short while before, the record activity in the brain during the delay - where is this information being stored?

Question 21

What changes at the cellular level during learning

Answer 21

Habituation - decrease in response to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly, e.g. squirting sea mollusc in the gills. Sensitization - increased responses to unpleasant stimuli after a shock, highly sensitive to sudden noises etc in the days after intense acute pain. Changes in synaptic activity produces behavioural plasticity - allowing organisms to respond appropriately to the environment

Question 22

Discuss Hebb (1949)’s proposition of the hebbian synapse

Answer 22

Simultaneous activity in the pre-synaptic and post-synpatic neurons increase the effectiveness of each action potential, so if an axon stimulates a cell that has recently been stimulated, the response is increased

Question 23

What is Long-term Potentiation

Answer 23

Axons bombard a dendrite with a rapid series of stimuli which leaves the synapses more responsive (Potentiated) for a period of time

Question 24

What is Long-term Depression

Answer 24

When axons are active at low frequency, response reduces

Question 25

How can we find out how the brain stores memories and learns

Answer 25

Damaged brains - some patients with brain damage have amnesia (memory loss)

Question 26

Discuss the case study of Patient H.M. 1953

Answer 26

Had severe epilepsy, and a bilateral ablation (removal) of hippocampus (thought to be related) - this reduced the seizures but resulted in severe memory impairment. Intellect and language was intact, working memory was intact but severe impairment in forming new long-term memories. He had intact procedural memory - could learn to read words backwards in the mirror, but poor declarative memory - couldn’t remember learning new skill. Had intact implicit memory - game playing skills improved over time. Poor explicit memory - no memory of having played before

Question 27

What is Anterograde Amnesia

Answer 27

Loss of memory for events that happened after brain damage

Question 28

What is Retrograde Amnesia

Answer 28

Loss of memory for events that happened a few years before brain damage

Question 29

Discuss what poor declarative memory would involve

Answer 29

Impaired ability to state memory in words, conscious memory. Semantic memory = memory for specific facts. Episodic memory = memory for personal experience

Question 30

What is semantic memory

Answer 30

Memory for specific facts

Question 31

What is episodic memory

Answer 31

Memory for personal experience

Question 32

What can the case study of Patient H.M. 1953 tell s about the hippocampus

Answer 32

It is important for new memories and declarative explicit memories. But not important for procedural implicit memories or old memories

Question 33

What are the controversies surrounding Patient H.M. 1953

Answer 33

Other areas of the brain were removed too - tissue from the medial temporal cortex

Question 34

Discuss the relationship between Amygdala, Cortex and Hippocampus

Answer 34

Amygdala = consolidation, giving emotional labels. Cortex = storage and central executive. Hippocampus = specialised for declarative memory, spatial memory and configural learning

Question 35

Discuss why the hippocampus is specialised for declarative memory

Answer 35

When animals hippocampus has been damaged their performance is impaired. Thus hippocampus is crucial for declarative, episodic memory, remembering specific personal events

Question 36

Discuss why the hippocampus is specialised for spatial memory

Answer 36

Hippocampus is crucial for remembering places and locations - London taxi drivers have larger hippocampus than non-taxi drivers. PET scans showed activation when describing a route, and those driving longer had even larger hippocampus’s. Implies experience leads to growth

Question 37

Discuss why the hippocampus is specialised for configural learning

Answer 37

Remembering stimuli relative to other stimuli - problem = animals with damage can slowly learn configural tasks. Modified theory = hippocampus records configural info quickly, and cortex detects repeated patterns. Hippocampus binds info in order, so the cortex establishes this memory as important and later connects it with memory of the fire

Question 38

What is Korsakoff’s Syndrome

Answer 38

Brain damage leading to amnesia - mainly in alcoholics drinking for long periods. Thiamin deficiency. Thiamin is needed to metabolise glucose. Causes shrinkage of neurons throughout the brain - mamillary bodies of the hypothalamus, parts of the hippocampus and dorsomedial thalamus

Question 39

What are the symptoms of Korsakoff’s syndrome

Answer 39

Similar to prefrontal cortex damage - apathy, confusion, retrograde and antergrade amnesia. Some evidence that working memory is affected, but better implicit than explicit memory. Becase they lose executive control over memories, they try and fill in the gaps - CONFABULATIONS - remembering guesses as true memories - usually related to episodic memories, not semantic

Question 40

What is Alzheimer’s Disease

Answer 40

Accumulation of a protein called amyloid. Causes widespread atrophy of cerebral cortex, hippocampus and many other areas.

Question 41

Discuss the process of Alzheimer’s Disease

Answer 41

Starts with minor forgetfulness, progresses to severe memory loss. Associated with ageing, better procedural than declarative memory (e.g. can acquire new skills but don’t remember learning them). Better on implicit than explicit memory, but implicit is still impaired

Question 42

What cases Alzheimer’s Disease?

Answer 42

Genetic component - person with Down’s syndrome almost always aquire’s it in middle age. Environmental component - half of all cases have no known relatives with disease. Yoruba people of Nigeria have high-risk genes, but lower rate of Alzeihmer (maybe due to low-calorie, low fat and low salt diets)

Question 43

Name 3 similarities between Korsakoff’s and Alzheimer’s

Answer 43

Associated with widespread damage. Cortical & hippocampal damage. Lose previous memories and ability to form new ones.

Question 44

Name one difference between Korsakoffs and Alzheimers

Answer 44

More prefrontal cortex in Korsakoff’s - therefore confabulations