Areas of the brain involved in memory and learning

Question 1

What is the cerebral cortex?

Answer 1

thin outer layer of neural tissue that covers the outside of the brain

Question 2

What is the role of the cerebral cortex?

Answer 2

stores long term explicit and implicit memories throughout the cortex
- only stores episodic, semantic and procedural memories

Question 3

What is the hippocampus?

Answer 3

located in the temporal lobe and is connected with the amygdala

Question 4

What is the role of the hippocampus?

Answer 4

consolidates long term explicit memories

• helps transfer memories from STM to LTM
• (semantic and episodic memories)
• also involves spatial memory

Question 5

What is the amygdala?

Answer 5

located just above the hippocampus in the temporal lobe

Question 6

What is the role of the amygdala?

Answer 6

involved in the formation of emotional memories + fear based responses

• includes implicit memories = classically conditioned responses
• processes our emotional responses
• consolidation of explicit memories with emotional content

Question 7

What is the cerebellum?

Answer 7

located at the base and rear end of the brain

Question 8

What does the cerebellum do?

Answer 8

• involved in learning and performing motor skills

- encoding and storage of implicit memories (procedural and classically conditioned memories)

Question 9

What does the amgydala not do?

Answer 9

store emotional memories

Question 10

What does not the hippocampus not do?

Answer 10

doesn’t store any long term memories

Question 11

What happens if the amygdala is damaged?

Answer 11

unable to develop fear responses

Question 12

What happens if the hippocampus is damaged?

Answer 12

can still learn procedural memories but won’t remember the declarative part (personal experience) of how they learnt it