Short Term Memory and Working Memory Flashcards
Diencephalon: Thalamus
Large, dual lobed mass of grey matter cells located at top of the brainstem.
sensory gateway to the cortex (represents every modality excepto olfaction)
LGN: Vision
MGN: Auditory
Basal Ganglia
Basal= Base
Ganglia; Cell bodies
for example; Parkinsons disease affects the basal ganglia; a major motor component and we can infer that the basal ganglia can play a role in motor function as well as cognitive functions, habits and implicit forms of memory particularly procedural memory.
The general function includes motor control, eye movements, cognitive function, emotion.
Limbic System
Parts of the limbic system interact with each other
Limbic = border (controversial definition)
Older, primitive cortex (lower species that share some of these regions.
Functions; Smell, Emotion, and Memory that all influence each other.
Olfactory bulb which represents smell.
Hippocampus
Amygdala
Mamallary bodies and fornix .
Limbic System (Hippocampal Complex)
Responsible for
Explicit Memory: Encoding, storage, retrieval
Memory consolidation; consolidating information with other parts of the brain.
Amygdala; Involved in the recognition of negative emotions (fear) and positive emotion
Emotional modulation of memory, attention, etc through interactions with other brain structures.
Cerebral Cortex (Brodmann areas)
A system created based on cytoarchitectonics study of differents in cortical layers between areas
Most common delineation of cortical areas.
Gyri
A series of bumps or ridges of cortex containing neurons; maximizes surface of brain.
Sulci
A series of infoldings or crevices in between gyri; deep sulci are called fissures.
Occipital Lobe
Processes visual input from eyes and from memory (visual imagery)
Different regions process different aspects of vision ( motion, color, and shape)
If occipital lobes are damaged, cortical blindness results
objection recognition, perceptual priming.
Temporal Lobes
Processes auditory input
Posterior region of the left temporal lobe (Wernicke’s area) crucial for comprehending language
Anterior and lateral regions involved in semantic memory, conceptual priming and emotion processing
Inferior regions; object recognition, perceptual priming
Medial portion contains hippocampus and amygdala (subcortical)
Parietal Lobes
Most anterior gyrus, somatosensory cortex (area S1)
represents sensations on different parts of your body with Left S1 representing right side of body and vice versa for right s1
Posterior regions in working memory, attention, representing space and ones relationship to it, and in representing tool knowledge (action like role with spatial component.)
Includes recollective qualities of memory (attention to memory)
Attention properties; influences memory, ability to attend to episodic memory.
Frontal Lobes
Managing sequences of behaviors/mental activities
major role in producing speech (Brocas area)
controlling movements - area M1 most posterior gyrus of frontal lobes (also called motor strip) located just in front of S1
Involved in memory encoding, retrieval, planning and reasoning, affect processing.
Patient H.M
Profound amnesia following bilateral resection of medial temporal lobe at age 27 for treatment of epilepsy
Anterior hippocampus (atrophy to posterior part) and dentate gyrus
amygdala
parahippocampal cortex, entorhinal cortex, perirhnal cortex
didnt lose all aspects of memory; multiple memory systems
responsible for enlightening us
Anterograde Amnesia
Time of lesion defines
Unable to form new explicit memories. cant learn new things, some implicit memory does work. H.M would not have a memory trace of meeting a new person.
Able to learn some motor skills
Other aspects of memory preserved; sensory, short term, remote
Retrograde amnesia
Unable to retrieve any memories from 11 years before his surgery.
Sensory Memory
Large-capacity but very temporary holding device that allows people to choose which elements, from all of the stimuli arriving through their senses, should be further processed and stored.
(short duration 200 msec) with a capacity of ~12 items but 16-18 items
A delay confound
Iconic Memory
Sensory memory for visual info- afterimage
Echoic Memory
Sensory memory for auditory/verbal info - echo
Haptic memory
sensory memory for tactile info
Short-Term Memory
Refers to memory processes that retain information only temporarily, until information is either forgotten or becomes incorporated into a more stable, potential permanent store, without attention or rehearsal.
Duration: Seconds to minutes but smaller capacity then sensory memory
Can expand capacity through methods like chunking, meaning and visuali
Magic number is 7 + - 2
STM Tests include
verbal memory tests (stories, word pairs, word lists)
Visual memory tests (immediate recall of complex figure that is difficult to verbalize)
Serial Position Effect
Better recall for items presented first (primacy) and last (recency) in a list
Dont benefit much from the middle items in the word list test.
Primacy Effect
Believed to represent LTM
Memory system has enough resources to transfer items into LTM
Recency Effect
Believed to represent STM
More available for recall
Theories of Memory: Levels of Processing
LOP relates to the effectiveness of different encoding strategies.
Deeper encoding more effective; elaborative - relate info to previous knowledge
Shallow encoding not as effective 9 uppercase vs. lowercase)
processing only surface features
BUt inconsistent with modal model
short term memory isnt necessarily the gateway to long term memory
Working Memory
Working memory is a limited capacity system, which temporarily maintains and stores information, supports human thought processes by providing an interface between perception, long-term memory, and action.
Working Memory
Working memory is a limited capacity system, which temporarily maintains and stores information, supports human thought processes by providing an interface between perception, long-term memory, and action.
Baddeley 2003
The ability to hold an item of information transiently in mind in the service of comprehension, thinking, and planning. Working memory encompasses both storage and processing functions
In its most elevated form, working memory serves as a workspace for holding items of information in mind as they are recalled, manipulated.
Short term retention of information that is no longer accessible in the environment, and the manipulation of this information for subsequent use in guiding behavior.
Baddeley’s Working Memory Model
Seen as the most prominent model
Challenge to STS as a unitary system
Patients with STS impairment show little difficulty with long-term learning and everyday cognitive activities ( e.g; reasoning)
dual-task technique (divided attention): partially depletes availability of STM resources as subjects perform reasoning or learning tasks
Reduced performance, but not total impairment, suggesting compensatory component within WM.
Verbal and Visuospatial working memories
Phonological Loop
Enters into the phonological store (verbal working memory)
Holds memory trace for a few seconds before it fades
Evidence; phonological similarity effect
Articulatory Rehearsal Process
Refreshes memory traces through rehearsal (subvocal speech); takes place in real time
Evidence
a) word length effect ( increase syllables, decrease span)
Articulatory suppression (repetition of an irrelevant word prevents subvocal rehearsal) if thinking about the phone number over and over again,
Irrelevant speech effect (background speech interferes with visually presented info)
Neuropsychological Evidence of Phonological Loop
Patients with selective phonological STM deficits (left temporoparietal lesion)
Anarthic Patients (impaired overt articulation - but subvocal rehearsal fine)
Dysparic patients
Visuospatial Sketchpad
Limited in capacity (3-4 objects)
Only features within a given dimension (color, shape, location) complete for storage capacity
Retention of objects depends on binding of features, which requires attention (Triesman feature integration theory)
Visual refers to visual appearance of object or scene (pattern span)
Spatial refers to object location/movement sequence memory (Corsi Span)
Visuospatial Sketchpad Study
Corsi span disrupted by spatial interference (spatial tapping task) and pattern span by visual interference (looking at a series of abstract pictures)
Visuospatial Imagery
Paired associate learning enhanced when items imageable (elephant/umbrella)
performance disrupted by simultaneously presenting pictures of objects, patches of colour, flickering patterns of visual noise
Visuospatial rehearsal process not well specified
Sequential allocation of attention?
Central Executive
Attentional control system with no intrinsic storage capacity to focus, divide and switch attention
Adopted normal and Shallices attentional control model; schemas vs. SAS (supervisory activating system)
Evidence; slips of action, frontal patients
