session 12 Flashcards
Classical Conditioning
Pavlov’s dogs, passive, association learning, subconscious
-occurs in the cerebellum
Operant Conditioning
Skinner box, active learning based on rewards and punishments, conscious
Lashley’s “engram”
taught rats a maze and destroys parts of the brain to find out where the memory was stored, didn’t find it
Equipotentiality
all parts of the cortex contribute to learning
Mass action
the more cortex available to devote to learning, the better learning will be
Memories
interrelated things, most humans memories are words, some can be perceptual
- cant be localized to a region in the brain
Basal Ganglia
voluntary motor movements, muscle memories
Procedural memories
are dependent on the basal ganglia
Phrenology
mapping out your brain by feeling the skull
-its bumps
-indents
Short-Term Memory (STM)
remember a series of number, but not going to remember tomorrow
Long-Term Memory (LTM)
things you’ll remember even years down the road
Episodic memory
can go back and reexperience the event
Semantic memories
Facts you can remember
ex; autumn is after summer
Procedural memories
actions you naturally remember
-you can tie your shoes
Consolidation
the assumption was that anything that stayed in short-term memory for long enough would “consolidate” into long-term memory
-but too many exceptions
Working Memory
-an ability to keep something in mind for a specific purpose
-an active process, driven by context
-Prefrontal cortex is active
Explicit
conscious; declarative
-stories/information that can be promoted/told
-relies heavily on the hippocampus
Hippocampus
helps form contextual/spatial memories
Implicit (non-conscious)
-information that can’t be consciously accessed
-motor memories that will be confused/bungled if explained
-binding problem (contains lots of information that does not always rise to the level of our consciousness)
Integration of Memories
Both the temporal and parietal lobes play a role in “finishing” the integration of memories
Semantic dementia
something people with anterior temporal lobe damage may have
-hard time naming 3 fruits that are red
Parietal lobe
damage to this may lead to struggles with the association between one thing with another
-what often goes with peanut butter
The Hebbian Synapse
a synapse that is strengthened by simultaneous activity in both the pre-synaptic and post-synaptic neuron
(friends who talk more, likely have a better relationship)
Donald Hebb
-synapses connect neurons that fire together
Aplysia
a sea slug, a simple organism with large, relatively easy-access neurons
-studied habituation and sensitization responses
Habituation
means to stop responding to stimulus
-stop hearing the ticking of a clock
- differing release of neurotransmitters at the synapse
Sensitization
means to respond more strongly to stimulus
-skin in more sensitive when sunburned
What changed?
a chemical, molecular change led to a change in behavior based on experience (learning)
Potentiation
means firing more easily in response to a similar stimulus (also learning)
Long-term potentiation
making potentiation at the synapse relatively permanent
AMPA receptors
basic glutamate receptors, activating them depolarizes the cell
NMDA
more complicated glutamate receptors
-become active with continued, activation of AMPA receptors
-blocked by magnesium ion
Upregulating
getting more neurotransmitters
LTD
long-term depression, when upregulating in one spot and slow down at another
Retrograde Amnesia
-inability to remember events prior to a brain trauma
-can be as short as minutes or as severe as months, depending on the injury
-rarely wipes out all memory identity
Anterograde Amnesia
-inability to form new memories following injury
-typically resulting from damage to the hippocampus and medical temporal lobe
-usually permanent
H.M Amnesia
-bilateral removal of the hippocampus and medial temporal region to stop seizures
-resulted from incomplete inability to form new explicit memories
-could still for new procedural/implicit memories
Clive Wearing Amnesia
-viral encephalitis destroyed the hippocampus and temporal areas
-resulted in a complete inability to transfer information from working memory to long-term memory
- perpetually feels that he has gained consciousness for the first time
Korsakoff’s Disease
prolonged malnutrition stemming from extended alcohol abuse
-vitamin deficiency leads to atrophy of parts of the PFC, hippocampus, and the mamillary bodies
Confabulate
create stories to fill the gaps in their memory
Alzheimer’s Disease
a genetic condition causing a build-up of amyloid-beta in neurons
-causes shrinkage of dendrites, and lowers the activity level and plasticity of the cells
