Week 6: Memory systems Flashcards
What is learning?
The process of acquiring new information
What is memory?
Learning that is actually stored and retrieved
What are the 3 stages of learning and memory?
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
What happens in the encoding stage?
We process incoming information
Acquisition: registration and analysis of sensory input
Consolidation: creating a stronger representation over time
What happens in the storage stage?
Permanent representation of the information is formed and stored
What happens in the retrieval stage?
Stored information is retrieved back into conscious awareness
What is the capacity of short-term and working memory?
Limited capacity
7 +/- 2
Can try and increase Capacity by chunking etc
What is visual information called? and how long does it last?
Iconic
300-500 milliseconds
What is auditory information called? And how long does it last?
Echoic
9-10 seconds
What can long term memory be divided into?
Declarative (explicit - we can explicitly recall and have conscious access)
Non-declarative (Previous experience may facilitate a response but we don’t necessarily have a conscious recollection)
What can declarative (explicit) memory be divided into?
Events/episodes (episodic)
Facts (semantic)
What can non-declarative (implicit) memory be divided into?
Procedural (skills)
Perceptual representation system (perceptual priming to respond in a particular way)
Classical conditioning (responses between 2 stimuli)
Non-associative learning (habituation, sensitisation)
What does the medial temporal lobe include?
The hippocampus, parahippocampal, entorhinal and perirhinal cortices
What does damage to the medial temporal lobe result in?
Severe amnesia
What connects the hippocampus to other subcortical structures?
The fornix
What connects the hippocampus to the cortex
Entorhinal cortex and fornix
What other subcortical structures are important for memory?
- Anterior thalamic nuclei
- Mammillary bodies
- Amygdala (tagging emotional content to memories)
Where is the hippocampus located?
Located in the temporal lobe of each hemisphere
What structures are a part of the hippocampal formation
- Parahippocampal gyrus (adjacent cortex)
- Dentate Gyrus (Strip of gray matter between the 2)
- Entorhinal cortex & Subiculum (both involved in the flow of information through the hippocampus)
What is the hippocampal formation divided into?
Divided into 4 regions CA1-CA4 (CA = cornu amonis)
How does the hippocampus receive information from the rest of the cerebral cortex?
Via the perforant pathway
What is the perforant pathway?
Starts in entorhinal cortex and projects to the dentate gyrus
Fibres then leave the dentate gyrus to the CA3 region
Neurons in CA3 region send axons to neurons in CA1
Then projected to the neurons in subiculum
Travels back to entorhinal cortex and then out
How is the prefrontal cortex involved in memory?
Involved in retrieval and storage - damage here leads to problems in episodic memory particularly regarding the order of events
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and memory?
Important for working memory processes - manipulating information
What role does the inferotemporal play in memory?
Storage of visual representations
What structures mediate implicit memory?
Sensory motor circuits
- cerebellum and striatum
Cerebellum and implicit memory?
Important for sensory motor skill learning and pavlovian conditioning
Striatum and implicit memory?
Important for habit formation