Neuropsychology of Memory

Question 1

What Amnesia is

• Intelligence is …
• Attentional span is …
• Personality is …
• Ability to take in new information is … and usually … …

Answer 1

• Intelligence is intact
• Attentional span is intact
• Personality is unaffected
• Ability to take in new information is severely and usually permanently affected

Question 2

What Amnesia is

• Intelligence is intact
• Attentional span is intact
• p… is unaffected
• Ability to take in … … is severely and usually … affected

Answer 2

• Intelligence is intact
• Attentional span is intact
• Personality is unaffected
• Ability to take in new information is severely and usually permanently affected

Question 3

What Amnesia is

• … is intact
• … span is intact
• Personality is unaffected
• Ability to take in new information is … and usually … affected

Answer 3

• Intelligence is intact
• Attentional span is intact
• Personality is unaffected
• Ability to take in new information is severely and usually permanently affected

Question 4

Amnesia - Continued

• Verbal and visual short-term memory is …
  
  • Phonological store and visuospatial sketchpad …
  • Double dissociation with patients and … Short Term Memory
• Digit span
  
  • Repeat the numbers “2…7…4…9…2…8”
• Spatial span
  
  • Tap the same blocks as me, in the same order
• HM’s surgery involved bilateral removal of his… … lobes
• Included the “…”
• Amnesia is usually caused by damage to the … … lobe or anatomically connected regions
• Can occur in head injuries, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, stroke

Answer 4

• Verbal and visual short-term memory is intact
  
  • Phonological store and visuospatial sketchpad unaffected
  • Double dissociation with patients and impaired Short Term Memory
• Digit span
  
  • Repeat the numbers “2…7…4…9…2…8”
• Spatial span
  
  • Tap the same blocks as me, in the same order
• HM’s surgery involved bilateral removal of his medial temporal lobes
• Included the “hippocampus”
• Amnesia is usually caused by damage to the medial temporal lobe or anatomically connected regions
• Can occur in head injuries, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, stroke

Question 5

• Amnesia is usually caused by damage to the … … lobe or anatomically connected regions
• Can occur in head …, Alzheimer’s, e…, s…

Answer 5

• Amnesia is usually caused by damage to the medial temporal lobe or anatomically connected regions
• Can occur in head injuries, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, stroke

Question 6

Anterograde Amnesia

• Anterograde means after … …
• Anterograde … memories are severely affected
  
  • HM was severely impaired no matter what kind of memory test was given (Corkin, 2002)
    
    • Words, faces, tones, public events, etc
    • Regardless of the sensory modality through which info was presented
    • Regardless of text format (free recall, cued recall, recognition)

Answer 6

• Anterograde means after brain injury
• Anterograde episodic memories are severely affected
  
  • HM was severely impaired no matter what kind of memory test was given (Corkin, 2002)
    
    • Words, faces, tones, public events, etc
    • Regardless of the sensory modality through which info was presented
    • Regardless of text format (free recall, cued recall, recognition)

Question 7

Anterograde Amnesia

• Anterograde means after brain injury
• Anterograde episodic memories are severely affected
  
  • HM was … impaired no matter what kind of memory test was given (Corkin, 2002)
    
    • Words, faces, tones, public events, etc
    • Regardless of the sensory modality through which info was …
    • Regardless of … format (free recall, cued recall, recognition)

Answer 7

• Anterograde means after brain injury
• Anterograde episodic memories are severely affected
  
  • HM was severely impaired no matter what kind of memory test was given (Corkin, 2002)
    
    • Words, faces, tones, public events, etc
    • Regardless of the sensory modality through which info was presented
    • Regardless of text format (free recall, cued recall, recognition)

Question 8

Procedural memory

• Procedural memory
• Can Amnesics learn new skills?
• Mirror tracing (Corkin, 1968)
• Mirror reading (Cohen & Squire, 1980)

Answer 8

• Procedural memory
• Amnesics can learn new skills
• Mirror tracing (Corkin, 1968)
• Mirror reading (Cohen & Squire, 1980)
• By day 3 - Almost flawless drawing by HM

Question 9

Procedural memory - Butters et al., (1990)

• Task was a pursuit-rotor task
• Healthy controls and patients with Alzheimer’s disease (DAT) showed … learning (… memory)
• Patients with Huntingdon’s disease (HD) were …
• Evidence for … procedural memory system

Answer 9

• Task was a pursuit-rotor task
• Healthy controls and patients with Alzheimer’s disease (DAT) showed normal learning (implicit memory)
• Patients with Huntingdon’s disease (HD) were impaired
• Evidence for independent procedural memory system

Question 10

Procedural memory (non-conscious, implicit memory)

• Learning of motor skills (e.g. riding a bike) is distinct from explicit long-term memory
• Dedicated brain systems for procedural memory
• … ganglia
• Impaired in … disease
• When a skill becomes automatic, it can operate in the absence of …

Answer 10

• Learning of motor skills (e.g. riding a bike) is distinct from explicit long-term memory
• Dedicated brain systems for procedural memory
  
  • Basal ganglia
    
    • Impaired in Huntingdon’s disease
• When a skill becomes automatic, it can operate in the absence of awareness

Question 11

Priming (Non conscious, implicit memory)

• Degraded picture identification - task - see one of these pictures with fragmented info until they are more apparent - if you repeat, people need less of info to identify image
• 5 … patients - showed very clear learning effect - long-term … of the ability to identify these pictures even though they have no … that they have done this before
• (Warrington & Weiskrantz, 1970)

Answer 11

• Degraded picture identification - task - see one of these pictures with fragmented info until they are more apparent - if you repeat, people need less of info to identify image
• 5 amnesic patients - showed very clear learning effect - long-term retention of the ability to identify these pictures even though they have no recollection that they have done this before
• (Warrington & Weiskrantz, 1970)

Question 12

Anterograde amnesia - Declarative memory processes

• Tulving, 1971
• … memory:
  
  • Memory for events and occurrences that are specific in time and place
  • “what” “where” “when”
• … memory:
  
  • Knowledge of facts, concepts, word meanings, etc.
  • Can be retrieved without knowledge about where and when the information was acquired

Answer 12

• Tulving, 1971
• Episodic memory:
  
  • Memory for events and occurrences that are specific in time and place
  • “what” “where” “when”
• Semantic memory:
  
  • Knowledge of facts, concepts, word meanings, etc.
  • Can be retrieved without knowledge about where and when the information was acquired

Question 13

Anterograde amnesia - Declarative memory processes

• Tulving, 1971
• Episodic memory:
  
  • Memory for events and occurrences that are specific in … and …
  • “w..” “w..” “w..”
• Semantic memory:
  
  • Knowledge of facts, concepts, word meanings, etc.
  • Can be … without knowledge about … and … the information was acquired

Answer 13

• Tulving, 1971
• Episodic memory:
  
  • Memory for events and occurrences that are specific in time and place
  • “what” “where” “when”
• Semantic memory:
  
  • Knowledge of facts, concepts, word meanings, etc.
  • Can be retrieved without knowledge about where and when the information was acquired

Question 14

Anterograde amnesia - Declarative memory

• All declarative memories (episodic and semantic) depend on … … lobes for their acquisition and short-term retention
• Declarative memory theory

Answer 14

• All declarative memories (episodic and semantic) depend on medial temporal lobes for their acquisition and short-term retention
• Declarative memory theory

Question 15

Anterograde amnesia - Memories affected in a typical amnesic syndrome

• What about semantic?

Answer 15

• So semantic also poor - Supports Squire’s Declarative Memory Theory

Question 16

Against the Declarative memory theory

• States - Can new semantic memories be formed in amnesia? NO
• BUT
  
  • Beth, Jon and Kate are typical amnesics (Vargha-Khadem et al., 1997)
  • They sustained damage to the hippocampus just after birth
  • Have grossly impaired … memory
  • BUT, they completed normal schooling, have good vocabularies and knowledge about the world
  • Don’t require to have a functioning … … lobe system to acquire good semantic knowledge
• BUT could criticise study because it’s maybe representing special case - early life damage - adapt to memory problems

Answer 16

• States - Can new semantic memories be formed in amnesia? NO
• BUT
  
  • Beth, Jon and Kate are typical amnesics (Vargha-Khadem et al., 1997)
  • They sustained damage to the hippocampus just after birth
  • Have grossly impaired episodic memory
  • BUT, they completed normal schooling, have good vocabularies and knowledge about the world
  • Don’t require to have a functioning medial temporal lobe system to acquire good semantic knowledge
• BUT could criticise study because it’s maybe representing special case - early life damage - adapt to memory problems

Question 17

Retrograde Amnesia

• Retrograde means … … …
• Some degree of retrograde amnesia is almost … present
• The extent of retrograde amnesia for episodic memories is highly contested

Answer 17

• Retrograde means before brain injury
• Some degree of retrograde amnesia is almost always present
• The extent of retrograde amnesia for episodic memories is highly contested

Question 18

Retrograde Amnesia

• All declarative memories (episodic and semantic) depend on … … lobes for their acquisition and short-term retention
  
  • … memory theory
• Over time, declarative memories become … to other brain regions
  
  • Standard Model of …

Answer 18

• All declarative memories (episodic and semantic) depend on medial temporal lobes for their acquisition and short-term retention
  
  • Declarative memory theory
• Over time, declarative memories become consolidated to other brain regions
  
  • Standard Model of Consolidation

Question 19

Standard model of consolidation

Answer 19

Question 20

Retrograde amnesia - Memories affected in a typical amnesic syndrome

Answer 20

• Supports Squire’s Standard Model of Consolidation

Question 21

Retrograde amnesia

• Semantic knowledge learnt long ago is intact
• Evidence for preserved remote episodic memory is mixed
  
  • Some patients seemingly show very good …
  • But are these memories highly … and recalled “by rote”?
  • Possible differences between patients in … location, etc.

Answer 21

• Semantic knowledge learnt long ago is intact
• Evidence for preserved remote episodic memory is mixed
  
  • Some patients seemingly show very good recall
  • But are these memories highly practiced and recalled “by rote”?
  • Possible differences between patients in lesion location, etc.

Question 22

Other types of memory impairment

• … dementia
• C…

Answer 22

• Semantic dementia
• Confabulation

Question 23

Impairment of semantic memory

• Semantic dementia
• Poor knowledge of meaning of … or …
• … difficulties
  
  • Including semantically related errors (e.g. “dog” for rabbit).
• Not confined to one m…
  
  • Deficits may include a difficulty in recognizing …

Answer 23

• Semantic dementia
• Poor knowledge of meaning of words or concepts
• Naming difficulties
  
  • Including semantically related errors (e.g. “dog” for rabbit).
• Not confined to one modality
  
  • Deficits may include a difficulty in recognizing sounds (e.g. doorbell or telephone)

Question 24

Typical scan of an individual with semantic dementia:

• Semantic knowledge associated with lateral … cortex (on the left side of the brain)

Answer 24

• Typical scan of an individual with semantic dementia
• Semantic knowledge associated with lateral temporal cortex (on the left side of the brain)

Question 25

Frontal lobes and memory

• Janowsky et al., 1989
• 7 patients with frontal lobe lesions
• Learned 20 trivia facts (e.g. the actor who played watson in the sherlock holmes series was bruce)
• 6-8 day interval
• Tested 40 Q’s (20 studied, 20 general knowledge)
• If correct - where did you learn this
• What were the results?

Answer 25

• Janowsky et al., 1989
• 7 patients with frontal lobe lesions
• Learned 20 trivia facts (e.g. the actor who played watson in the sherlock holmes series was bruce)
• 6-8 day interval
• Tested 40 Q’s (20 studied, 20 general knowledge)
• If correct - where did you learn this

Question 26

Confabulation

In psychology, confabulation is a … … defined as the production of fabricated, distorted, or m.. … about oneself or the world.

Answer 26

• In psychology, confabulation is a memory error defined as the production of fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world.

Question 27

“Erreneous memories, either false in themselves or resulting from “true” memories misplaced in context an inappropriately retrieved or interpreted” Kopelman, 1995 - known as c…

Answer 27

Confabulation

Question 28

Frontal lobes and memory - confabulation

• “Erreneous memories, either … in themselves or resulting from “…” memories misplaced in context an inappropriately retrieved or interpreted” - Kopelman, 1995
  
  • … - a normal response to a demand for information which is not available (e.g. saying that items in a test have been shown before when they were not)
  • … - the person acts on their erroneous memories (e.g. tries to leave a hospital because they believe they have to go to work or cook a meal)

Answer 28

• “Erreneous memories, either false in themselves or resulting from “true” memories misplaced in context an inappropriately retrieved or interpreted” - Kopelman, 1995
  
  • Provoked - a normal response to a demand for information which is not available (e.g. saying that items in a test have been shown before when they were not)
  • Spontaneous - the person acts on their erroneous memories (e.g. tries to leave a hospital because they believe they have to go to work or cook a meal)

Question 29

Frontal lobes and memory - confabulation

• “Erreneous memories, either false in themselves or resulting from “true” memories misplaced in context an inappropriately retrieved or interpreted” - Kopelman, 1995
  
  • Provoked - a … response to a demand for … which is not available (e.g. saying that items in a test have been shown before when they were not)
  • Spontaneous - the person …. on their erroneous memories (e.g. tries to leave a hospital because they believe they have to go to work or cook a meal)

Answer 29

• “Erreneous memories, either false in themselves or resulting from “true” memories misplaced in context an inappropriately retrieved or interpreted” - Kopelman, 1995
  
  • Provoked - a normal response to a demand for information which is not available (e.g. saying that items in a test have been shown before when they were not)
  • Spontaneous - the person acts on their erroneous memories (e.g. tries to leave a hospital because they believe they have to go to work or cook a meal)

Question 30

Spontaneous confabulation

• Usually a result of … … damage - not due to damage to … storage
• Caused by a breakdown in memory “control processes” such as monitoring whether retrieved memories are relevant to now (Often caused by a rupture to an … … artery - Affect memory in a specific away - breakdown of memory control processes)

Answer 30

• Usually a result of frontal lobe damage - not due to damage to memory storage
• Caused by a breakdown in memory “control processes” such as monitoring whether retrieved memories are relevant to now (Often caused by a rupture to an anterior communicating artery -Affect memory in a specific away - breakdown of memory control processes)

Question 31

Summary - Neuropsychology of Memory

• Damage to the … … lobes and closely-connected regions (e.g. Thalamus, fornix) causes amnesia
• Amnesia is a loss in the ability to form new … memories
• Other brain regions specialised for, e.g. procedural and … memory
• The brain regions necessary for new … learning and remote … memories are unknown and vigorously debated
• … lobes associated with specific aspects of … memory (e.g. source memory, and “control” processes

Answer 31

• Damage to the medial temporal lobes and closely-connected regions (e.g. Thalamus, fornix) causes amnesia
• Amnesia is a loss in the ability to form new episodic memories
• Other brain regions specialised for, e.g. procedural and semantic memory
• The brain regions necessary for new semantic learning and remote episodic memories are unknown and vigorously debated
• Frontal lobes associated with specific aspects of episodic memory (e.g. source memory, and “control” processes