Neuro 74: Memory, emotions, & the brain Flashcards

1
Q

Sensory memory

A
  • encodes sensory stimuli

- 0-2 sec

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2
Q

Short term memory

A
  • most recent info

- 30 sec

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3
Q

Working memory: what is it and what 2 locations is it stored?

A
  • brief storage of verbal, visual, and spatial info
  • linked to reasoning, comprehension, learning, and long term memory
  • cognitive function is assessed clinically by testing working memory
  • stored = left and right parietal and prefrontal cortex
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4
Q

Long term memory

A

-relatively permanent

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5
Q

Semantic memory: what is it and where is it stored?

A
  • memory of facts/general world knowledge
  • form of long term memory
  • stored = temporal lobe
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6
Q

Episodic memory: what is it and where is it stored?

A
  • memory of personal events, linked to place/time
  • form of long term memory
  • stored = distributed throughout the association areas of the cortex
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7
Q

Procedural memory: what is it and where is it stored?

A
  • memory of how to do something (motor)
  • form of long term memory
  • stored = motor association complex
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8
Q

What 2 types of memory are often affected by disease proesses?

A
  1. working memory

2. episodic memory

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9
Q

What is usually impaired to cause the memory deficits seen in dementia?

A

-consolidation

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10
Q

Consolidation

A

-the process of taking short term memories and making them long term memories

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11
Q

How is episodic LTM stored?

A
  • via consolidation which includes anatomical changes at synapses that require protein synthesis
  • hippocampus transfers episodic info to cortex functional areas –> becomes a more stable LTM
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12
Q

Where is the hippocampus?

A
  • lg structure that looks like a banana or jelly-roll

- found deep in the temporal lobe, in the temporal horn of the lateral ventricle

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13
Q

Papez circuit

A
  • involves memory
  • hippocampus –> fornix –> mamillary body (hypothalmus) –>anterior nucleus of the thalmus –> cingulate gyrus –> entorhinal cortex –> hippocampus
  • function of this pthwy is not completely known –> BUT if the circuit is damaged anywhere then consolidation will not be able to happen
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14
Q

What is special about hippocampal neurons? + what is this enhanced and impaired by?

A
  • new neurons are generated in the hippocampus throughout life
  • have stem cells that undergo differentiation and become new neurons
  • effects memory consolidation
  • enhanced by: exercise and mental stimulation
  • impaired by: depression, stress, ages, dementia
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15
Q

Working memory deficits: where, effects, causes?

A
  • caused by lesions in the parietal cortex, the frontal cortex, or their interconnections in white matter
  • impairs the temporary storage of verbal, visual, spatial info & its processing & its manipulation
  • can be caused by stroke, trauma, or degenerative diseases
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16
Q

Episodic long-term memory deficits: where, effects, causes?

A
  • damage to the sensory association areas
  • causes agnosia
  • can be caused by stroke, trauma, cortical degenerative diseases
17
Q

Agnosia

A
  • loss of ability to recognize objects, persons, sounds, shapes, or smells –> loss of knowledge about common objects
  • the sense is NOT defective and there is NO memory loss
18
Q

Effects of hippocampal lesions

A
  • anterograde amnesia
  • What’s intact = short term, working memory, already-stored memories, ability to learn new motor tasks (but have no recollection of learning them)
  • What’s not intact = storing new episodic memories
  • needs to be a bilateral lesion to get problems!
  • can be caused by: stroke, trauma, neurodegen diseases
19
Q

Anterograde amnesia

A
  • inability to store new episodic memory

- caused by bilateral lesion in the hippocampus!

20
Q

Wernicke-Korsakoff’s syndrome

A
  • chronic alcoholics w/ thiamine deficiency get damage to their mammillary bodies
  • causes memory consolidation problems
21
Q

Memory & olfaction

A

-the olfactory cortex is adjacent to underlying hippocampus –> so some smells can form long lasting potent memories

22
Q

Amygdala

A
  • lg nucleus in the temporal lobe at the anterior end of the hippocampus
  • lies beneath the uncus
  • has a majr role in: recognizing & responding to threatening stimuli
  • part of the limbic system
23
Q

Limbic system

A
  • limbus = border
  • on the border btwn the cortex and the hypothalmus
  • integrates emotion, memory, and autonomic responses
24
Q

What are the 4 effects of the amygdala being stimulated?

A
  1. behavioral freezing -via the brainstem
  2. autonomic activation -via hypothalmus –> + symps
  3. consoldates aversive aspects of negative experiences
  4. cortex-emotional awareness
    * *can get cycling btwn the + of the symps and the cortex emotional awareness!
25
Q

What can beta-blockers be used for?

A

-can break the cycle btwn the +symps and emotional awareness

26
Q

Effects of lesions in the amygdala?

A

-causes decrease in emotionality, loss of fear, and indifference to fearful stimuli

27
Q

Kluver-Bucy syndrome

A
  • bilateral loss of the temporal lobe in experimental animals
  • effects:
    1. placid behavior - loss of fear/agression –> due to loss of amygdala
    2. males become hypersexual
    3. psychic blindness - inability to recognize objects, but not blind –> from damage in the “what” stream
    4. oral examination of objects
28
Q

Nucleus accumbens: where is it, what does it do?

A
  • plays a role in reward and reinforcement behavior & also plays a role in regulating mood
  • important in motivation for behavior (why we do things) and addiction (why we continue to do things)
  • under the caudate nucleus
  • relies heavily on dopamine as an NT
  • influences behavior via connections w/ the prefrontal cortex
29
Q

Drugs effects on the nucleus accumbens

A
  • some drugs (cocaine, opiates, and alcohol) will increase the effects of dopamine in the NA
  • this will reinforce and sustain the behavior –> addiction
30
Q

Only 2 locations of dopaminergic neurons?

A
  1. midbrain = susbtantia nigra & ventral tegmental area

2. hypothalmus

31
Q

What are the 4 dopaminergic projections of the brain?

A
  1. mesocortical = frontal lobe fctn
  2. mesolimbic = to nuc accumbens
  3. nigrostriatal = to BG
  4. tubero-infundibular = inhibits prolactin release
32
Q

Ventral tegmental area

A
  • dopaminergic

- axons from here influence the cortex and motivated behavior via the nuc accumbens