Memory and Learning Flashcards
Learning =
A change in behavior that results from acquiring knowledge about the world
Memory =
Process by which knowledge is encoded, stored, and retrieved
Different types of memory - brain regions
Certain regions of the brain are more important for some types of processing/storage than others
Memory - classified in what dimensions
Time course: STM, LTM
The nature of the information stored
Short term memory is AKA what
working memory
Less than 1 min
Long term memory is divided further into what
Explicit and Declarative
Implicit and Procedural
LTM - Declarative - divided into
Episodic
Semantic
LTM - explicit memory is what
Conscious
LTM - implicit memory is what
Unconscious
LTM - Declarative is what
Facts, events
Things that you know that you can tell others
LTM - Procedural is what
Skills, tasks
Things you know that you can show by doing
LTM - Episodic is what
Events, experiences that are unique to you
Remembering your first day of school
LTM - semantic is what
facts, concepts (more common knowledge)
Knowing the capital of France
STM - working memory - maintains what
Current, transient, goal relevant knowledge
STM - subsystems
One for verbal info
One for visuospatial info
STM - verbal
Keeping speech based info in awareness - rehearsing a phone number, keeping grocery list in mind as walk through store
STM - visuospatial
retains mental images of visual objects and locations of objects in space
Crucial for motor system and guiding reaching behavior
STM is primarily located in what portions
prefrontal cortex
Prefrontal cortex is heavily conencted with parietal lobe/visual input
Monkey study - visuospatial working memory
There is a specific part of the prefrontal cortex that is dedicated to visuospatial working memory and it is heavily conencted with the parietal lobe and visual input
HM had what removed
Hippocampus
Amygdala
Parts of temporal cortex
HM - working memory
Normal! Working memory is more prefrontal so this should not be surprising!
If you told him something (after surgery) he could repeat it back to you
HM - LTM events prior to surgery
He could remember
IQ was unchanged
Voacb and ability to speak were fine
HM - what was not intact
He could not transfer new info from STM to LTM
He could not make new memories
So he could not remember the phone number even though he could initially, or he couldnt recall people that he met after surgery
What does HM tell us about hippocampus
It is not all memory! It seems to be specific for laying down new memory
HM - Mirror tracing
He improved! But could not remember having done it the day before - but he did improve so this shows us that his procedural memory was there!
LTM - explicit process that requires 4 distinct operations
Encoding
Storage
Consolidation
Retrieval
LTM - explicit process that requires 4 distinct operations - Encoding
New information is attended to and linked with existing information in memory
LTM - explicit process that requires 4 distinct operations - Storage
Neural mechanisms by which memory is retained over time
LTM - explicit process that requires 4 distinct operations - Consolidation
Makes temporarily stored information more stable
LTM - explicit process that requires 4 distinct operations - Retrieval
When stored information is recalled
LTM - episodic memory
Storage/retrieval appears to depend on interaction of medial temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex and other higher level association cortices
LTM - semantic memory
Storage/retrieval seems to be much more distributed
Form (living things) vs. Function
LTM - Semantic memory - Brain scan
Different areas activated when they had to silently name a tool versus an animal!
Distribution of semantic memory - not just one place - it depends on the type of thing you are naming
Stages of motor learning
Initial/Cognitive
Intermediate/Associative
Advanced/Automatic
Initial/Cognitive - brain
STRONG DEMANDS ON ATTN
Prefrontal - involved in decision making, selection attn process
DLPFC - particular part in prefrontal that is highly activated in trial/error learning
ACC - heavy connections with prefrontal
CBM - provides feedback/error from motor execution
BG - inc activity in caudate
Initial/Cognitive - Prefrontal and DFPLC are both involved in
working memory!
Initial/Cognitive - Prefrontal + ACC =
cognitive performance monitoring
the oops system - during trial/error learning if the learner makes an error this system becomes highly active and tries to update the upcoming motor plan
Intermediate/Associative - Brain
Generally less PFC/DLPFC
Cbm remains active but is less active than initial
BG shift from caudate to putamen/SMA loop becoming more active
Advanced/Automatic stage - brain
Overall a change from multiple brain areas to high activity of a focused, smaller set of brain areas
Inc BG SMA/Putamen loop
