8A: Memory disorders

Question 1

Memory

Answer 1

an organisms mental ability to store, retain and recall info
-Encoding or registration: attend to or maintain current sensory or internal info
-Storage: create permanent record of encoded info
-Retrieval or recall: bring back stored information in response to some cue

Question 2

Short-term (working) memory

Answer 2

limited, active, transient traces of experiences that happened in the very recent past (no longer than a few seconds ago). It’s the “RAM” of human memory. Lasts about 2 second without rehearsal, but can be maintained with
rehearsal. Visual working memory is limited to about 3-4 objects.

Question 3

Baddeley and Hitch model

Answer 3

a short-term/working memory model with three main components – the visuospatial sketchpad, which stores visuospatial
information, the phonological loop, which stores auditory information, and the
central executive, which performs operations on things stored in the sketchpad or
loop

Question 4

dual-task paradigms

Answer 4

If two tasks can be completed with as much
efficiency (as quickly and easily) as one, they are likely to be drawing on
independent mental resources, e.g., auditory and visual tasks in working
memory can be done simultaneously, while two auditory or two visual
tasks show interference with each other.

Question 5

Long-term memory

Answer 5

relatively permanent traces of experiences that happened more than 18-30 sec ago. It’s the “hard drive” of human memory.

Question 6

Declarative/explicit memory

Answer 6

long-term memory that can be consciously
declared (facts)

Question 7

Semantic memory

Answer 7

a type of declarative long term memory involving factual knowledge independent of time and place

Question 8

Episodic memory

Answer 8

a type of declarative long term memory involving theoretical knowledge of a specific moment in time and place

Question 9

Procedural/implicit memory

Answer 9

long-term memory involving memory for
procedures, skills, and actions; thought to be encoded by cerebellum and basal
ganglia

Question 10

Amnesia

Answer 10

memory loss with the inability to imagine the future, which can be caused by
brain trauma, infection, surgery, or psychological factors

Question 11

Temporally graded amnesia

Answer 11

In this type of amnesia, information acquired in
the distant past (remote memory) is spared relative to more recent memory. For
example, a 50-year-old patient with recent amnesia from head trauma might
maintain normal memories of his life until he was about 40, but might have
memory issues affecting years 41-50, with worsening memory closer to the time
of the amnesia-causing injury at 50. Thus the extent of the amnesia differs (i.e., is
graded) over time

Question 12

Non-graded/temporally ungraded amnesia

Answer 12

In this type of amnesia,
information about a specific time frame of a patient’s life is abruptly missing with
no gradual change in memory quality at the ends of that time frame. A patient
may feel like a block of time is just missing, or may have an abrupt onset of
memory loss following an injury time point with subsequent anterograde amnesia

Question 13

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 13

memory loss where new events are not stored in long term memory (patient examples are H.M., Clive Wearing, and N.A.). H.M. has a small
amount of temporally graded retrograde amnesia, as well, affecting the time right before
his surgery.

Question 14

Hippocampus

Answer 14

a “curly”, sea-horse-shaped structure in the medial temporal lobe, one on each side, which is very important in episodic memory and spatial navigation; patient H.M. had bilateral hippocampal structures plus some surrounding tissue removed in an attempt to treat his seizures.

Question 15

Medial temporal lobe

Answer 15

the middle, inner section of the temporal lobe where much of the limbic system resides

Question 16

Long term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 16

a ‘coincidence detector’ that changes neuron structure and is thought to underlie the formation of long term memories

Question 17

Amygdala

Answer 17

a structure located in the medial temporal lobe near the hippocampus that plays a key role in the emotions, such as fear and pleasure

Question 18

Dienchephalon

Answer 18

the curved portion of the brain that includes the thalamus and mammillary bodies and is part of the limbic system

Question 19

Mammillary bodies

Answer 19

a pair of small round bodies, located on the undersurface of the brain, that form part of the limbic system; they play a role in memory formation – patient example is N.A.

Question 20

Korsakoff’s syndrome

Answer 20

an irreversible syndrome characterized by abnormal eye movements, loss of coordination, tremors, confusion, confabulation, apathy, and severe anterograde and some retrograde memory impairment. It is usually caused by vitamin deficiency in alcoholism, or lesions to thalamus and mammillary bodies

Question 21

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 21

memory loss with the inability to recall some memory or memories of the past, beyond ordinary forgetfulness (patient example is Benjaman Kyle). Retrograde amnesia is usually temporally graded. The extent of retrograde
amnesia can be relatively short and encompass only one or two years, or it can be more
extensive and cover decades.

Question 22

Transient global amnesia

Answer 22

temporary memory loss, generally for less than 24 hours, loss that can’t be attributed to a more common neurological condition, such as epilepsy or stroke.