Week 4: Chapter 18 - Learning and Memory Flashcards
How did Frederic Bartlett describe memory?
As an active process of reconstruction, not passive recording.
What is the ‘gist’ in memory according to Schacter and Addis?
A simplified memory trace that supports future planning but is prone to errors.
Why are amnesic individuals less prone to false recognition in memory tests?
They form more accurate item-specific memories but lack semantic gist.
What is an example of perceptual encoding differences in memory?
Drawing a tilted waterline vs. horizontal waterline in a tilted glass sketch.
What is recommended for effective studying and memory recall?
Mimicking test conditions using active recall and top-down processing.
What brain area is critical for memory and affected in H.M.?
The medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus.
What is childhood amnesia and what may cause it?
The inability to recall early life events; possibly due to hippocampal immaturity or neurogenesis.
What are fugue states?
Transient amnesias where personal memory is lost but skills and language are retained.
What are category-specific amnesias?
Selective memory loss for specific categories, like fruits or animals.
What memory impairments are seen in Alzheimer’s disease?
Extensive anterograde and retrograde amnesia beginning in the medial temporal lobe.
What is anterograde amnesia?
Inability to form new memories after brain injury.
What is retrograde amnesia?
Loss of memories formed before a brain injury.
What is time-dependent retrograde amnesia?
Temporary memory loss surrounding a trauma that gradually shrinks over time.
What is the system consolidation theory of memory?
Memories are initially stored in the hippocampus and then transferred to neocortex.
What does multiple-trace theory propose?
Memories are distributed across brain regions and re-encoded over time, especially autobiographical ones.
What is reconsolidation theory?
Memories become labile upon recall and can be modified before being stored again.
How does reconsolidation affect memory accuracy?
Each recall can alter the memory, blending original and reconstructed elements.
Why are older memories more resistant to brain injury?
They have had more chances to be re-encoded in various formats and regions.
What is explicit memory?
A conscious, intentional form of memory including episodic and semantic types.
What characterises episodic memory?
Personal recall of singular autobiographical events with subjective and emotional context.
What is autonoetic awareness?
The ability to mentally travel through time, connecting past, present, and future experiences.
What brain regions are involved in autonoetic awareness?
Right ventral prefrontal cortex and uncinate fasciculus.
What is semantic memory?
General knowledge about the world, language, and facts independent of personal experience.
Which brain regions support semantic memory?
Temporal and frontal areas near, but distinct from, those supporting episodic memory.
What are the main neural substrates of explicit memory?
Hippocampus, rhinal cortices, prefrontal cortex, and thalamic nuclei.
What are the two main hippocampal pathways?
The perforant pathway and the fimbria-fornix.
What is the function of the hippocampus?
Supports episodic memory, integrates sensory input, and guides behavioural regulation.
What symptoms result from extensive hippocampal damage?
Loss of episodic memory and ability to imagine future personal events.
How do children with early hippocampal damage present?
Impaired spatial and autobiographical memory but intact language and semantic knowledge.
What roles do anterior and posterior hippocampus play?
Anterior processes general memories; posterior supports detailed recollections.
What do the perirhinal and entorhinal cortices do?
Support semantic memory and object recognition.
What does damage to the rhinal cortex impair?
Recognition of objects.
What does damage to the hippocampus impair (in monkeys)?
Memory for context and spatial location.
What is the right temporal lobe specialised for?
Nonverbal memory: faces, spatial location, maze learning.
What is the left temporal lobe specialised for?
Verbal memory: word lists, digit sequences.
What memory test is affected by right temporal damage?
Corsi block-tapping test.
What is the Hebb recurring-digits test used for?
Assessing verbal memory, especially affected by left temporal lobe damage.
What deficits occur with parietal and occipital damage?
Colour amnesia, prosopagnosia, object anomia, topographic amnesia.
What is the HERA model?
A model explaining hemispheric differences in memory encoding and retrieval.
What does the HERA model say about the left prefrontal cortex?
It is involved in encoding both semantic and episodic memory.
What does the HERA model say about the right prefrontal cortex?
It is more active during retrieval of episodic memory.
Which other brain region contributes to memory retrieval?
The posterior parietal cortex.
What is implicit memory?
Non-conscious, unintentional memory for skills, habits, and conditioned behaviours.
How does implicit memory differ from explicit memory?
It relies on bottom-up processing and does not require conscious recollection.
What did studies with H.M. reveal about implicit memory?
Despite explicit memory loss, he improved in tasks like mirror drawing, showing intact implicit memory.
What is priming in the context of implicit memory?
Improved response to a stimulus due to previous exposure, without conscious awareness.
How do modality effects influence implicit memory?
Implicit memory declines when learning and recall occur in different sensory modes.
What brain areas support implicit memory?
Motor cortex, basal ganglia (caudate nucleus and putamen), and cerebellum.
What is the cerebellum’s role in memory?
Supports motor learning and classical conditioning (e.g., eyeblink response).
What is emotional memory?
Memory involving affective components, which may be vivid and long-lasting.
How is fear conditioning used to study emotional memory?
A neutral stimulus is paired with an aversive one, later triggering a fear response.
What brain structure is key for emotional memory?
The amygdala.
What does the amygdala connect to for emotional responses?
The hypothalamus and autonomic nervous system.
What happens when the amygdala is damaged?
Impairment in emotional memory but preservation of explicit and implicit memory.
What is LeDoux’s concept of the amygdala’s function?
A ‘survival circuit’ triggering defensive responses.
What helps consolidate emotional memories?
Hormonal responses and brainstem arousal systems.
How can emotional memories influence behaviour without conscious recall?
Through nonconscious recall and physiological reactions.
What did Sainsbury and Coristine (1986) find about emotional memory in dementia?
Patients preferred photos of relatives without recognising them, showing nonconscious emotional recall.
What is short-term memory (STM)?
Temporarily holds sensory, motor, or cognitive info for seconds to minutes.
What brain pathways support STM?
Ventral stream (to ventrolateral PFC) for object info; dorsal stream (to dorsolateral PFC) for spatial info.
How can STM be impaired without affecting long-term memory?
Lesions in the left posterior temporal lobe can selectively impair verbal STM.
What is the role of the frontal lobes in STM?
Frontal lesions cause difficulty maintaining/updating info and suppressing interference.
What are the effects of frontal-lobe damage in recency tasks?
Impaired nonverbal recency (right frontal); verbal recognition (left temporal).
What does Moscovitch’s interference task reveal about STM?
Frontal patients fail to release from proactive interference when context changes.
What do monkey studies reveal about STM systems?
Premotor cortex handles spatial STM; DLPFC supports object STM.
What do human imaging studies show about STM tasks?
Spatial STM activates left area 8; object STM activates right mid-dorsolateral PFC.
What is transient global amnesia?
Sudden, temporary memory loss that typically resolves but may leave subtle deficits.
What are the effects of herpes simplex encephalitis on memory?
Causes severe bilateral temporal damage, leading to profound anterograde and retrograde amnesia.
What brain region may be crucial for accessing old memories?
The insula.
What memory impairments occur in Alzheimer’s disease?
Starts with anterograde amnesia, progresses to retrograde; primarily affects explicit memory early.
What are six key symptoms of Korsakoff’s syndrome?
Anterograde amnesia, retrograde amnesia, confabulation, sparse content, lack of insight, apathy.
What brain areas are damaged in Korsakoff’s syndrome?
Medial thalamus, mammillary bodies, and often the frontal lobes.
What are the three major neurotransmitter systems for memory?
Cholinergic (basal forebrain), serotonergic (midbrain), noradrenergic (brainstem).
What happens with damage to two neurotransmitter systems?
Severe amnesia and sleep-like EEG patterns despite wakefulness.
