WEEK 4 - Memory Systems Flashcards
learning
the process of acquiring new information
memory
the ability to store and retrieve information
the specific information stored i nthe brain
what are the 4 functional perspectives on memory
- there are different kinds of memory
- memory has temporal stages
- memory involves separate processes
- Difference brain regions are involved in different memory systems and processes
what are the sub categories of long term memory?
decalartive and non-declarative
what is declarative memory?
available to conscious retrieval, can be declared (propositional)
what are examples of declarative memory?
what did i eat for breakfast?
what is the capital of spain?
what is non-declarative memory?
experience-induced change in beahviour, cannot be declared (procedural)
what are examples of non-declarative memory?
subliminal advertising
how to ride a bike
phobias
what are the sub categories of declarative memory
episodic and semantic memory
what is episodic memory?
memory of personally experienced events that ocurred in particular place at the specific time. it is contextual spatiotemporal and autobiographical. REMEMBERING
what is semantic memory?
memory for facts, general knowledge, word meanings - knowing
what are the common tests of semantic memory?
object naming, semantic judgements (which bottom picture goes best with the top one?), category fluency
wht is category fluency??
naming as many things of the same category as possible in a certain time
what are the sub categories of non-declarative memory?
priming, procedural, conditioning
which memory category is impicit?
non-declarative
what memory category is explicit
declarative
what supports the “fractionation” of the memory system?
case studies of individuals who have suffered brain damage that show distinct patterns of impairment
what is dissociation
occurs when the brain injury impairs performance on a particular task
what is double association?
present strong evidence of separable systems
who is HM?
Henry Molaison - a patient who had epileptic seizures at age 10 and was operated after hgih school, at 27 surgeons removed bilateral medial temporal lobes including hippocampus and amygdala
what were the results of HM’s operation?
his exprience semms to be that of a person who is jsut becoming aware of his surroundings without fully comprehending the situation becuase he does not remember what went before. “like waking from a dream”
what was HM able to do at 75?
amnesia was unachaged but evidence showed procedural learning and implicit memory
anterograde amnesia
loss of information following the onset of amnesia
did HM have antergrade amnesia?
YES as he was unable to store or retain any new memories of events or episodes
retrograde amnesia
loss of information before the onset of amnesia
did HM have retrograde amnesia?
YES - he had child memories, bit thave did not have the quality of re-experiencing events. He has loss of memories for 1-2 years after operation.
what may retrograde amnesia show?
a temporal gradient (older premorbid memories better recalled than more recent)
what causes amnesia?
can arise from neurosurgery, stroke, head injury, certain viruses or as a symptom of long term alcoholism
what cateogory of memory do amnesia patients have problems with?
episodic memory
what motor skills to amnesic patients show?
preserved learning of motor skills
what is the stem completion task
amnesic patients impaired when asked explicitly to complete stems with words that had been learned, but tended to complete stems with words from the leanrning list to the same degree as controls hen told simply to complete the stem with the 1st word that comes to mind
what do amnesic patients show?
normal priming, preserved skill learning
waht is short term memory?
memory that has limited capacity (7+ / -2 items) and decays quickly
why are memory systems impaired in amnesia
amnesic have normal digit span
iconic memory
are the briefest and store sensory impressions
short term memory
AKA working memory, usually lasts only for seconds or throughout rehearsal - memory for information that is currently in mind thus limited capacity
intermediate-term memory
(TM) outlasts a STM but is nit permanent
long term memory
LTM last for days to years. stored information that need not be presently accessed or even consciously accessible ; has virtually unlimited capacity
what theory supports that there are different STM and TM stores?
double dissociation which evidences distinct memory
what is the serial position efect?
are dependent on both long term and short term memory stores andare differently efected by interventions
what are the two types of serial position effects
the primary effect and recency effect
what is the primary effect (serial position effect)?
higher performance for items at the bginning of a list (LTM)
what is the recency effect? (serial position effect)
shows better performance for the last itsm at the end of a lsit (STM)
what memories are impaired in amnesia?
ATM - spread
non declarative - spread
episodic memory - definately impaired
semantic memory - typically impaired
what three aspects does a functional memory system incorporate
encoding, consolidation and retrieval
encoding
sensory information may be encoded into long-term storage. encoding of raw information from sensory buffers/iconic memroy store
consolidation
information may be consolidated into long term storage. the process by whcih moment-to-moment changes in brain activity are translated into permanent structural change. consolidation of volatile STM trace into a more durable long-term store
retriaval
stored information that is retrieved. retrieval of stored information for use in future behaviour
what an consolidation exmplain?
anterograde loss, but to explain retrograde loss one needs to assume that old memories are not fully consolidated at the time of injury
what part of the brain does consolidation occur?
hippocampus
what happens when we experience a particular event in relation to consolidation?
the event involves constellation of sensory inputs from a variety of different modalities (e.g auditory or visual) and these difference aspects of an event from the differeny modalities need to be bound together to produce a representation to be able to bind the separate events
what is initially required for the memory to be retrieved?
activation of hippocampal trace needed to consolidate the modalities
what happenns when memory is becoming more nad more consolidated?
loses the requirement for hippocampal trace being activated and thereby reactivating htese different parts of the cortex and overtime these cortex arts are able to reactivate eachother
plasticity
the brains ability to change as a result of exerience; persists throughout life (although greatest i nchildhood) and changes in neuroal connectivity
what does one mean by whole brain property?
that the entire brain is capable of plasticity and therefore leanring and memory is a brain property rather than specialized faculty
priming involves
many cortical regions
procedural involves
basal ganglia, cerebellum, motor cortex
conditioning involves
cerebellum/ amygdala / medial temporal lobe? (MTL)
episodic memory involves
medial temporal, diencephalon, mammillary bodis and frontal lobe
semantic memeory involves
lateral temporal / frontal loves
what improtant role does the medial temporal lobe placy?
in declarative (particularly episodic) memory systems in humans
what is the mian connection of the MTL memory system?
the hippocapus
why is the hippocampus the mian connection of the MTL?
sits at the top of an inverted pyrampid of nested connectivity (feedback) loops and is connected by a small number of synapses to all oof the major unimodal and multimodal assciation areas
what does the hippocampus have strong connextivity with?
amygdala and olfactory corted
what is the Morris water maze?
a technique of studying memory function in animals
how does the morris water maze work?
there is an unseen platform obsure by clouded water where rats are to find the platfrm
what were the findings of morris’ water maze?
a normal rat is able to seedistal cues outside of the tank. thus in order to solve the maze, the animal has to know where the platform is.
what happened to rats with damaged hippocampal lesions in the morris water maze?
unable to make way to platform because the lesions impair the rats ability to learn the lcoation of the platform
what is the dalayed non-match to sample paradigm?
a tecnique of studying the mTL memory function in animals
how was the delayed non match to sample paradigm done?
the money must pick the stimulus that it didnt see during the sample phase in order to recieve a reward thus the monkey must know hwich is the old and which is the new
what is the interference of the delayed non match to sample paradigm?
the monkey has been impaired in its baility to remember the episode of the sampling phace, and that multiple mTL structures are implicated
what do semantic dementia patients show?
a declarative memory in the neocortex - redced regional grey matter in temporall loves and edcreased accuracy / imcreased reaction times in recognising low frequency words and pseudowords
whta do semantic dementai patients demonstrate,
grade deterioration of kowledge. less problems with recently learned and more with formerly learned
what is agnosia?
loss of knowledge or absense of knowing
what are exampes of agnosia
prospagnosia, phonagnosia, apraxia, aphasia
prosopagnosa
face blindness
phonagnosia
inability to recognise familiar voices
apraxia
loss of ability to carroy out learned actions
aphasia
problems with remembering words
agnosia invoves?
cortical damage in dicrete areas
