Task 2 - Long-term memory consolidation Flashcards
Amnesia
memory loss
Medial temporal lobes
the medial (or inner) surface of the temporal lobes that contains the hippocampus, the amygdala, and other structures important for memory
Episodic memory
memory for specific autobiographical events; it includes information about the spatial and temporal contexts in which the event occurred – where and when the event occurred (what we “remember”) – is autobiographical memory that pertains to a person’s particular history; you show episodic memory when you recall a specific episode or relate an event to a particular time and
– Inference effect - repeated exposure weakens the memory (is this called correctly)
Semantic memories
memory for facts or general knowledge about the world, including general personal information (what we “know”) – is generalized memory, such as knowing the meaning of a word without knowing where or when you learned that word
Declarative memory
as a broader term that includes both episodic and semantic memory, reflecting the fact that it is easy to verbalize (“declare”) or otherwise communicate your knowledge – what we usually think of as memory: facts and information acquired through learning. It is memory we are aware of accessing – deals with “what”
Nondeclarative memory
are not always easy to communicate verbally – is shown by performance rather than by conscious recollection. It is sometimes called procedural memory – deals with “how”
– Skill learning is one kind of nondeclarative memory, as are classical and operant conditioning
Explicit memory
term used to reflect the fact that episodic and semantic information is consciously accessible or “explicit” (you know that you know) (same as explicit) → declarative
Implicit memory
memory that you may not be aware you’ve acquired → non declarative
Which Comes First, Episodic or Semantic Memory?
- Episodic memory grows out of semantic memory
- Alternative possibility: semantic memory represents information we have encountered repeatedly—so often that the actual learning episodes are blurred and only the semantic “fact” content remains
- Third possibility: episodic and semantic memory are fundamentally interdependent: each can affect the other
Levels-of-processing-effect
the more deeply you process new information during encoding, the more likely you are to remember the information later – The finding that, in general, deeper processing (such as thinking about the semantic meaning of a word) leads to better recall of the information than shallow processing (such as thinking about the spelling or pronunciation of the word)
Transfer-appropriate processing effect
refers to the finding that retrieval is more likely to be successful is the cues available at recall are similar to those that were available at encoding (also sometimes called the encoding specificity effect)
– Perhaps deep processing during encoding will help only if the test also requires deep processing. if the test instead involves the physical attributes or sounds of a word (for example rhyming a word and not thinking of its semantic meaning), superficial processing may be preferable
Format for testing memeory
- free recall (hardest)
- cued recall (medium)
- recognition (easiest)
Free recall
in which you are simply asked an open-ended question and you supply the answer from memory (f.e., latin word for “arch”)
Cued recall
in which you are given some kind of a prompt or clue to the correct answer (f.e. Latin word for “arch” → F…)
Recognition
in which you pick out the correct answer from the list of possible options (f.e. Latin word for “arch” → A. fenestra, B. fornix, or C. fundus)
- Forgetting
- -> Directed forgetting
occurs when information is forgotten on demand – A procedure in which subjects are first asked to learn information and later asked to remember or forget specific items; typically, memory is worse for items a subject was directed to forget
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
an example of temporary failure
Many failures of memory reflect one of four basic phenomena
- simple forgetting
- interference from other memories
- false memory
- source monitoring errors
- Interference
when two memories overlap in content, the strength of either or both memories may be reduced
Proactive interference
disruption of new learning by previously stored information
– PRoactive interference means PReviously acquired information is at fault
Retroactive interference
disruption of old (previously stored) information by new learning
– REtroactive interference means REcently acquired information is at fault
Source monitoring errors / “source amnesia”
remembering information but being mistaken about the specific episode that is the source of the memory
Crypto amnesia
patient currently thinks that their current thoughts/ideas are new/original
False memory
memory of an event that never actually happened
- Example: researchers and family members telling one about a fake memory and oneself “remembers” additional details that were not present in the original story)
Electroconvulsive shock
can help depressed people by making them forget certain things and so be “happier” - they forget what happened shortly beforehand - so long term but the shock only temporary
ECT - electroconvulsive treatment –> it interrupts consolidation process –> loss of a memory of the events leading to the ECT
Sensory cortex
areas of cerebral cortex involved in processing sensory information such as sight and sounds
Association cortex
meaning they are involved in associating information within and across modalities
Hippocampus
a brain structure located in the medial temporal lobe that is important for new memory formation
Anterograde amnesia
a severe loss of the ability to form new episodic and semantic memories
Ribot gradient
A pattern of retrograde memory loss in which recently acquired memories are more prone to disruption than older memories
Retrograde amnesia
loss of memory - access to events that occurred, or information that was learned, before an injury or the onset of a disease
Standard consolidation theory
the theory that the hippocampus and related medial temporal lobe structures are required for storage and retrieval of recent episodic memories but not older ones
- consolidation is enhanced during sleep (& during different times of the day)
– holds that the hippocampus and related medial temporal lobe structures are required for the initial storage and retrieval of an episodic memory but that their contribution diminishes over time until the cortex is capable of retrieving the memory without hippocampal help
–> this theory predicts that hippocampal activity during memory retrieval should be greatest for recently acquired episodic memories (which are still dependent on the hippocampus) and lowest for very old memories (which should be fully consolidated and independent of the hippocampus)
Multiple trace theory
The theory that episodic (and possibly semantic) memories are encoded by an ensemble of hippocampal and cortical neurons and that both hippocampus and cortex are normally involved in storing and retrieving even very old memories
- to account for such extensive retrograde amnesia, Morris Moscovitch and Lynn Nadel developed this theory
– individuals with medial temporal lobe damage lose the capacity for “mental time travel” and with it the capacity for true episodic memory
–> this theory predicts the opposite: the medial temporal lobes should be equally active during recall of autobiographical memory, whether the event occurred recently or long ago, because they are always involved in episodic memory retrieval
Korsakoff’s syndrome
Damage to midline diencephalic structures and to the frontal cortex – Deny that anything is wrong, confabulate (fill memory gap with sth. They accept as true), fail to remember past
Three kinds of nonassociative learning
- Habituation
- Dishabituation
- Sensitization
- Habituation
is a decrease in response to stimulus as the stimulus is repeated (when the decrement cannot be attributed to sensory adaptation or motor fatigue)
- respond to an old stimulus as if it were new again
- Dishabituation
the increase in response amplitude over the baseline level (the habituation has been removed)
- refers to non associative learning –> the organism becomes more sensitive to the stimulus as time progresses
- Sensitization
the effect of dishabituation
Associative learning
Learning that involves relations between events – in one form classical conditioning
Sensory-sensory conditioning
when two stimuli occur in conjunction, one stimulus comes to predict the occurence of the other
Instrumental conditioning (aka operant conditioning)
an association is formed between the animal’s behaviour and its consequence(s)
Instrumental conditioning (aka operant conditioning)
an association is formed between the animal’s behaviour and its consequence(s)
Dementia
is a syndrome characterized by failure of recent memory and other intellectual functions that is usually insidious in onset but steadily progresses
3 causes of Alzheimers disease
- Neurofibrillary tangles (collection of instrumental cytoskeletal filaments)
- Abnormal protein in a matrix called amyloid in so called senile plaques → in hippocampus and amygdala
- Diffuse loss of neurons
These changes are most apparent in neocortex, limbic structures (hippocampus, amygdala, and their associated cortices), and selected brainstem nuclei (especially the basal forebrain nuclei)
Systems Consolidation
- the second form of memory consolidation
- It is a reorganization process in which memories from the hippocampal region, where memories are first encoded, are moved to the neo-cortex in a more permanent form of storage
Encoding
- occurs when information is translated into a form that can be processed mentally.In other words, encoding is “a special way of paying attention to ongoing events” so that this information can be placed into the memory system
- A memory code for information is formed when that information has been encoded in some manner
Storage
of encoded information occurs when it is maintained (held) in memory for some period of time. This period of time is anywhere from a fraction of a second to years (dependent on the kind of memory one is talking about)
– The mental “location” in which the encoded information is held is referred to as a memory store
Retrieval
of stored information occurs when it is activated in such a way that it can influence other mental events and behaviors
Forgetting occurs when information is …
- experienced but not encoded (if it is not encoded, then it cannot be stored);
- encoded but not stored (for instance, when we say that something we were told “went in one ear and out the other,” we mean that, although the information may have been phonemically encoded, it was not stored);
- encoded and stored, but cannot be retrieved (which may happen, for instance, if you haven’t thought about the information in a long time)
