Memory Disorders

Question 1

Does subject complaint predict memory performance?

Answer 1

Not necessarily, but may pre-date formal deficits in some cases of dementia

Question 2

Define memory

Answer 2

Processes used to acquire, store, retain, and retrieve information

Question 3

What often accompanies profound anterograde amnesia?

Answer 3

Retrograde amnesia; eg: post traumatic amnesia

Question 4

What is short-term memory?

Answer 4

Immediate memory

Question 5

What is working memory?

Answer 5

Manipulation of immediate memory

Question 6

How can immediate memory be measured?

Answer 6

Digit span

Question 7

What is long-term memory?

Answer 7

Storing info over mins, hrs, years for later retrieval

Question 8

How can long-term memory be measured?

Answer 8

List learning retrieval

Question 9

What type of memory does anterograde amnesia affect: short-term or long-term?

Answer 9

Long-term

Question 10

What are the types of declarative memory?

Answer 10

Episodic

Semantic

Question 11

What are the types of non-declarative memory?

Answer 11

Skills and habits

Classical conditioning

Question 12

What is procedural memory?

Answer 12

Long-term, implicit memory

Skill acquisition

Question 13

What type of memory often breaks down: declarative or non-declarative?

Answer 13

Declarative

Question 14

What is episodic memory?

Answer 14

Autobiographical - events in personal context

Question 15

What is semantic memory?

Answer 15

General facts not specified to individual

Not contextual

Question 16

What is the structure of declarative memory?

Answer 16

Hippocampus
Entorhinal cortex
Perirhinal cortex

Question 17

What is the entorhinal cortex?

Answer 17

Gateway into hippocampus

Question 18

Where does disease progression affecting declarative memory often start?

Answer 18

Entorhinal cortex

Question 19

What does the perirhinal cortex do?

Answer 19

Linked to object knowledge and recognition

Question 20

What does the parahippocampal region do?

Answer 20

Involved in spatial memory

Question 21

What does damage to the parahippocampal region cause?

Answer 21

Getting lost

Question 22

What does damage to different parts of the hippocampus cause?

Answer 22

Slightly different presentations of memory loss

Question 23

What is the dentate gyrus on the hippocampus responsible for?

Answer 23

Pattern recognition

Question 24

What is CA1 in the hippocampus very susceptible to?

Answer 24

Hypoxic injury

Question 25

What is the left hippocampus more lateralised to do?

Answer 25

Verbal memory

• List learning
• Paired associate learning
• Story recall

Question 26

What is the right hippocampus more lateralised to do?

Answer 26

Non-verbal memory

• Visuo-spatial associations
• Face recall

Question 27

What are some causes of memory impairment?

Answer 27

Degenerative disorders
Cerebrovascular disorders
Paroxysmal/transient disorders
Surgical resection

Question 28

What are the episodic memory structures in the midline?

Answer 28

Anterior thalamus
Basal forebrain
Mesial temporal region
Mammillary bodies
Retrosplenial cortex

Question 29

What is transient global amnesia?

Answer 29

Anterograde amnesia for

Question 30

What precipitates transient global amnesia?

Answer 30

Several, including

• Sexual intercourse
• Immersion in cold water
• Emotional stress

Question 31

Is there a disruption to self-identity in transient global amnesia?

Answer 31

No

Question 32

What is the underlying cause of transient global amnesia?

Answer 32

Unknown

Question 33

What is the most common cause of dementia?

Answer 33

Alzheimer’s disease

Question 34

When does Alzheimer’s disease usually start?

Answer 34

Over 65

Question 35

What is mild cognitive impairment?

Answer 35

Subclinical

Transition phase between normal ageing and dementia

Question 36

What are the clinical signs of mild cognitive impairment?

Answer 36

Self-reported memory complaint
Objective memory impairment
Unaffected general cognitive functioning
Normal capacity to perform activities of daily living

Question 37

What are early memory complaints in mild cognitive impairments?

Answer 37

Name-face association: “What’s his name?”

Object-place association: “Where did I leave my glasses?”