Memory (chapter 24) Flashcards
Lifelong adaptation to environment via___
Learning and memory
Evidence of several memory systems via ___
Brain lesions
Learning
The acquisition of new information
Memory
Retention of learned information
Declarative memory (and the types)
Aka: Explicit Memory; involves conscious recollection.
- Facts=Semantic memory
- Events=Episodic memory
Declarative memory pathway
Sensory info–> Working memory*
(or)
Sensory info—> short term memory—>Memory consolidation—>Long term memory
Non-declarative memory (three types)
aka implicit memory; Procedural/behavioural, often unconscious.
- Procedural memory (skills and habits)–Striatum
- Skeletal musculature–Cerebellum
- Emotional responses–Amygdala
Procedural memory (two types)
Occurs in Striatum; Skills and habits.
- Associative learning
- Non-Associative learning
Associative learning (2 types)
Involves a learning of predictive relationship; behaviour is altered by formations of associations between events.
- Classical conditioning (pavlov)
- Instrumental conditioning (
Non-associative learning (2 types)
- Habituation: learning to ignore certain stimuli (downward curve)
- Sensitization: Intensifies response (line and break, then downward curve)
Declarative memory occurs in
Diencephalon and medial temporal lobe
Classical conditioning (3 steps)
- (Before)
Unconditioned stimuli—>Unconiditioned Response
Neutral stimuli—>no response - (During)
Neutral stimulus+Unconditioned stimuli—> Unconditioned response - (After)
Conditioned stimuli—.Conditioned response
Instrumental conditioning
(edward thorndike) Certain behaviour is associated with a particular consequence: Motivation is a significant factor.
Working memory
“having this in mind” Sharply limited in capacities and duration.
Short-term memory
vulnerable to disruption; where facts and events are stored. Can be converted to long-term memory via memory consolidation.
Amnesia
- (permanent)=Retrograde and anterograde amnesia
2. (temporary)=Dissociative and transient global amnesia
Permanent amnesias
(usually a mixture of both)
- Retrograde amnesia=no memory recollection of past before trauma
- Anterograde amnesia=Cannot form memories after trauma
Dissociative amnesia
temporary amnesia that occurs when no other cognitive defects are present
Limited amnesia
(aka transient global amnesia) Caused by trauma (temporal ischema) and sudden onset of anterograde amnesia
prefrontal cortex functions
self-awareness, capacity for planning and problem solving
Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test
To demonstrate problems associated with prefrontal cortical damage: participant will react to various changes in patterns of cards (organized by shapes, colours, number, etc)
PET scans for working memory
Six frontal lobe areas show sustained activity correlated with working memory.
Identity task
Location task
Lateral intraparietal cortex (area LIP) and working memory
Cortical areas outside frontal lobe also involved in working memory
Involved in guiding eye movements
Stimulation causes saccades.
Demonstrated in delayed-saccade task in monkeys
Peripheral working memory responses
specific areas of parietal and temporal cortex have analogous working memory responses
Neocortex and declarative memory notable experiment
Lashley’s rat experiments:
Cortical lesions produce memory deficits.
Speculated all cortical areas contribute equally (equipotential)
Equipotential capacity later disproved
But memory engrams can be widely distributed in the brain
Hebb and the Cell Assembly
Basis showing that external events are represented in cortical cells due to interconnection and reverberation
Neuronal cell assembly
Simultaneously active neurons:
Consolidation by “growth process”
“Fire together, wire together”
Hebb on the engram
Widely distributed among linked cells in the assembly
Could involve neurons involved in sensation and perception
Medial Temporal Lobes
Important for consolidation and storage of declarative memories
Demonstrated by:
Electrical stimulation in the temporal lobe
Neural recordings from the temporal lobe
