Theme 5: Memory and the changing brain

Question 1

hebbian learning

Answer 1

learning through strengthening connections

Question 2

neurons that fire together, wire together –> explain

Answer 2

if neurons often fire together –> increased probability than when neuron A is activated, neuron B will become active too

Question 3

long term potentiation

Answer 3

more effective synapse transmission = stronger response to same stimulus –> lasts a long time

Question 4

long term depression

Answer 4

synaptic transmission becomes less effective as a result of recent activity = weaker response to similar stimulus

Question 5

role hippocampus in memory

Answer 5

• critical for episodic memory (rats weren’t able to form episodic memory about a maze)

Question 6

prediction of recall using fMRI

Answer 6

incidental learning task –> found more activity in medial temporal lobe for words that would be recalled

Question 7

levels of processing effect in brain areas:

Answer 7

same brain areas are active in different levels of processing, however stronger activation during deep processing

Question 8

distinguishing true from false episodic memories

Answer 8

parahippocampal cortex responds more strongly to ‘true’ episodic memories

Question 9

robots gradient

Answer 9

in retrograde amnesia: more memory loss for events that occurred shortly before the damage than a longer time before

Question 10

standard consolidation theory

Answer 10

first hippocampus & medial temporal lobe structures are involved in consolidation –> over time cortex become independent in retrieval

Question 11

subcortical structures involved in episodic and semantic memory

Answer 11

-basal forebrain produces acetylcholine –> help hippocampus word effectively
-basal forebrain connects to diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus, mammillary bodies) through the fornix
-basal forebrain receieves oxygen from ACoA (anterior communicatory artery) –> aneurysm in ACoA causes anterograde amnesia (because hippocampus doesn’t receive neuromodulators anymore)

Question 12

confabulations + possible cause

Answer 12

highly detailed false memories (basal forebrain damage) –> seems to be a source monitoring error

Question 13

korsakoffs

Answer 13

-deficiency in thiamine (b vitamin) commonly seen in alcoholics
-causes confabulations and disorientations

Question 14

dementia

Answer 14

impairments in thinking, commonly memory but no impairment to consciousness

Question 15

alzheimer’s
-causes
-symptoms
-brain damage?

Answer 15

-neuronal loss, neurofibrillary tangles (inside) & amyloid plaques (outside)
-symptoms: problems with central executive, ribots gradient in memory loss, usually most damage to episodic but also semantic in the end

Question 16

parkinson’s

Answer 16

-damage to neurons in basal ganglia + substantia nigra + disruption in dopamine processing
-motor problems + WM problems, ribots gradient for EM + issues with locating events in time /correct sequence of information

Question 17

huntington’s

Answer 17

• basal ganglia & caudate nucleus damage
• motor movement impairment, problems with central executive more uniform memory loss over time

Question 18

multiple sclerosis

Answer 18

• demyelination of neurons, damage to hippocampus
• muscle control problems and possibly memory loss

Question 19

amnesia

Answer 19

memory loss

Question 20

organic amnesia

Answer 20

amnesia as a result of organic brain damage

Question 21

retrograde amnesia

Answer 21

loss of memories prior to incident

Question 22

anterograde amnesia

Answer 22

loss of ability to store new memories / memory loss after incident

Question 23

transient global amnesia

Answer 23

complete memory loss for a short period of time

Question 24

semantic amnesia

Answer 24

inability to retrieve semantic knowledge

Question 25

anomia

Answer 25

difficulty recalling word meaning (can be specific category of words)

Question 26

apraxia

Answer 26

difficulty with how objects are used

Question 27

aphasia

Answer 27

loss of ability to use language (comprehend/produce)

Question 28

prosopagnosia

Answer 28

failure to recognise faces

Question 29

psychogenic amnesia

Answer 29

amnesia with a psychological cause

Question 30

dissociative amnesia

Answer 30

inability to remember segment of life

Question 31

dissociative fugue

Answer 31

forgetting fundamental aspects of identity

Question 32

Maguire et al: London taxi drivers & bus driver mri study

Answer 32

-goal: investigating effects of self motion, driving experience, stress on grey matter volume in taxi/bus drivers
- hypothesis: difference in grey matter volume is indicative of plasticity due to spatial demands placed on hippocampus
- method: MRI scan, loads of tests, using VBM to analyse grey matter volume
-RESULTS: more grey matter volume in posterior hippocampi, less volume in anterior hippocampi
-