Memory 2 Flashcards
Is playing your favourite piano piece by heart declarative or non-declarative?
non-declarative
What did carl Lashley do? What was he looking for?
got mice to solve mazes. Would create lesions on the brain and put them back in the maze to see if they could still solve it. He found that no matter where he damaged the brain, they could solve it. He was looking for the engram
What is the equipotentiality hypothesis?
if the part of the brain involved with memory is damaged, another part of the brain will take over memory function.
In what respect was Lashley correct?
He was right in that he implied that the whole brain is involved with memory which is true but not in the way he believed. The problem with him is that he created lesions on the neo-cortex (the available part of the brain), he didn’t access the limbic system.
What is the engram?
The bunch of nuerons responsible for memory
What do we now know about the engram?
We know that it has all the instructions for the memory but when you recall the memory it goes to different lobes and structures to find the different aspects of the memory.
What are 4 areas of he brain that the engram recruits for memory?
The prefrontal cortex, the amygdala, the hippocampus, the cerebellum
What is the amygdala involved with in respect to memory?
Emotional regulation, lateral amygdala, pairing emotion with memory, involved in memory consolidation, especially for emotionally arousing events.
What does the amygdala do in respect to memory?
Takes the memory and consolidates it (turns it into longterm memory)
What would happen if you were to damage the lateral amygdala?
You won’t pair emotion with the stimulus.
What is the hippocampus responsible for in regards to memory? (Not asking about declarative vs non-declarative)
Episodic memories, recognition memory, consolidation, calls on all parts of the brain to reconstruct a memory.
What would happen if you were to damage the hippocampus?
Affect on declarative memories. Damage would mainly affect episodic memory but this can also effect somantic memory.
What part of the brain does multiple choice trigger?
The hippocampus
What type of question would trigger somantic memories affected in the hippocampus?
Possibly a short answer question
What is the cerebellum involved in with respect to memory?
non-declarative memories, procedural memories, Motor learning, Classical conditioning.
What does the cerebellum do?
It regulates involuntary movements and refines gross motor movement. The cerebellum is involved with procedural memory. Anything involving motor learning.
What are the similar but distinct roles that the cerebellum and amygdala play?
Classical conditioning with motor reflex is the cerebellum, emotional response is the amygdala.
What was interesting about the case of H.M regarding the cerebellum and hippocampie
He experienced extreme seizures and surgens went in and removed both hippocampus and it affected his episodic memory. Even though he couldn’t remember stuff, his cerebellum could still help him learn to do motor things like surfing.
What is the inferior frontal gyrus responsible for? Where is it found?
The prefrontal cortex. Semantic learning
Where is the primary motor cortex? What does it deal with?
It is in the prefrontal cortex. It deals with thinking, reasoning, planning.
What type of memory is the prefrontal cortex involved with?
semantic
Which hemisphere does a lot of our semantic learning happen in? Why?
Our left hemisphere because that’s where the broca’s area is
What is the right hemisphere involved with in terms of memory?
Retrieving information
What is the summary of the amygdala’s role in memory?
it deals with declarative and non-declarative (emotional) memory. It mainly deals with non-declarative memory and also deals with emotional conditioning.
What is the summary of the hippocampus’ role in memory?
Declarative (episodic memories). Also involved with semantic memories.
What type of memory does the cerebellum deal with?
It deals with non-declarative (procedural) memory.
What is the summary of the pre-frontal cortex’s role in memory?
It deals with declarative (semantic) memory
How does the myelin sheath work into memory?
When you do something over and over, the axon body becomes more myelenated. If you use memory a lot and you use those nuerons, the neurotransmitters also have to be handy. Memory affects the neurotransmitters associated with those nuerons.
How are neurons involved with memory?
- Increased neurotransmitters in synapse
- This allows for more efficient synaptic connection between neurons.
- This allows for more synaptic connections
What are the 5 neurotransmitters associated with memory? What stimulates them?
dopamine, norepinepherine, seratonin, glitamate, acetylcholine. Amygdala emotional response stimulates neurotransmitters.
What is arousal theory?
Strong emotions create strong memories because they activate a lot of neurotransmitters
What neurotransmitter is released in times of stress and around highly visceral stimuli?
Glutamate
What is a flashbulb memory? When do they happen?
Flashbulb memory is a very clear recollection of an important event. A lot of flashbulb memories happen with traumatic events because they get encoded as such. When we have traumatic events they often come up as flashbulb memories but they don’t encode the full event which makes it difficult to figure out what actually happened.
How can damage occur in regard to memory?
physical damage, disease or psychological trauma
What is distortion?
How our previous beliefs can distort memories.
What would happen if we have damage to the hippocampus?
Amnesia
What is amnesia? What can it be caused by? What type of memory does it deal with?
Loss of long term memory. Can be caused by physical/psychological trauma/ disease. It deals with declarative memory (Episodic and Semantic)
What is anterograde amnesia?
When you can remember the past but can’t make future memories.
What is the problem when people have amnesia?
They have problems with consolidation. They can’t consolidate new episodic memories.
What is retrograde amnesia?
Loss of memories prior to trauma. Partial or full loss of memories. You can make new semantic or episodic memories.
What is construction?
Making a new memory
What is reconstruction?
Bringing up old memories
What are the 7 sins of memory?
Transience, absentmindedness, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias, persistence
What are the 5 things that can cause problems with memory?
Damage, encoding, forgetting, distortion, intrusion.
What are the 2 types of declarative memory?
Semantic and Episode
What is the definition of explicit memory? Example?
is conscious, intentional remembering of information. Remembering a social security number involves explicit memory.
What is the definition of implicit memory
unconscious retention of information
What is the definition of declarative memory? What are examples? Why is it considered explicit?
is recall of factual information such as dates, words, faces, events, and concepts. Remembering the capital of France, the rules for playing football, and what happened in the last game of the World Series involves declarative memory. Declarative memory is usually considered to be explicit because it involves conscious, intentional remembering.
Why is procedural memory implicit? What are examples?
is recall of how to do things such as swimming or driving a car. Procedural memory is usually considered implicit because people don’t have to consciously remember how to perform actions or skills.
What is semantic memory? Example?
is recall of general facts. Remembering the capital of France and the rules for playing football uses semantic memory
What is episodic memory? Example?
is recall of personal facts. Remembering what happened in the last game of the World Series uses episodic memory.
What is non-declarative memory?
a collection of various forms of memory that operate automatically and accumulate information that is not accessible to conscious recollection. For instance, one can do something faster if one has done it before, even if one cannot recall the earlier performance. non-declarative
What are the types of implicit memory?
procedural and emotional conditioning
