Class 11 - Hormones and Cognition

Question 1

(T/F) effects of hormones on learning and memory can be measured by directly assessing learning

Answer 1

FALSE, can only measure/quantify the results of learning

Question 2

What are the 3 general components required to say something is a memory system?

Answer 2

• enter info into storage (acquisition and consolidation)
• retain info
• retrieve info from storage

Question 3

What are the 3 psychological components of learning and memory?

Answer 3

• motivation
• attention
• arousal

Question 4

What is the U-shaped function of memory?

Answer 4

• inverted u-shape as function of arousal
• memory best at medium arousal

Question 5

(T/F) all types of memory require a nervous system

Answer 5

FALSE, think immune system and vaccines

Question 6

Distinguish learning and memory

Answer 6

• learning: adaptive change in behavior in response to experience
• memory: information about past experience; needed for learning

Question 7

What are the 4 stages of learning?

Answer 7

• acquisition, consolidation, retrieval, extinction

Question 8

What are 2 types of nonassociative learning?

Answer 8

• sensitization (stimulus that originally provoked little-no response evokes stronger response after repeated presentation or single intense presentation)
• habituation (decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposures)

Question 9

What are 4 types of associative learning?

Answer 9

• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning
• active avoidance (animal must do something to avoid a noxious situation)
• passive avoidance (animal must suppress some behavior that would otherwise be exhibited)

Question 10

Short-term memory persists for ____. ____ is the best way to move things from short-term into long-term memory.

Answer 10

seconds to minutes; rehearsing

Question 11

Long-term memory lasts for _____. What is the upper capacity of long-term memory?

Answer 11

• days, weeks, or years
• NO upper limit in capacity!

Question 12

Long-term memory can be divided into __ and __ memory

Answer 12

declarative (explicit) and procedural (implicit)

Question 13

What are the 2 types of declarative memory?

Answer 13

• episodic
• semantic

Question 14

What are the 3 types of procedural memory?

Answer 14

• skill learning
• priming
• conditioning

Question 15

Distinguish working memory, reference memory, and spatial memory

Answer 15

• working is like declarative and short-term memory; involves short-term memory for info that changes on a regular basis
• reference is associations/discriminations requiring repetitious learning (like learning the rules)
• spatial memory encodes info ab environment and its orientation

Question 16

What does a graph of the association btw epinephrine and memory look like?

Answer 16

• inverted U-shape
• low or high epinephrine impairs memory

Question 17

The memory-enhancing effects of epinephrine are both ___ and __ dependent

Answer 17

dose and time (ex animals do better in avoidance situations after receiving moderate vs mild foot shock)

Question 18

When is the best time to administer epinephrine for learning? What hypothesis is this consistent with?

Answer 18

• immediately after training
• consistent w hypothesis that epinephrine influences memory by potentiating the effects of noxious events

Question 19

What are the 2 hypotheses for HOW epinephrine enhances memory?

Answer 19

• activates peripheral receptors that directly influence brain function
• affects memory via its effect on blood glucose levels

Question 20

(T/F) epinephrine can cross the blood-brain barrier

Answer 20

FALSE, polar molecule (has to indirectly affect memory)

Question 21

What is the pathway by which epinephrine affects memory via peripheral receptors?

Answer 21

• acts via Beta-noradrenergic receptors which activate ascending neurons in vagus nerve (main nerve of parasympathetic NS)
• neurons travel to nucleus of solitary tract which projects noradrenergic fibers to amygdala
• amydgala modulates memory of emotional experiences by moderating memory consolidation via efferent connections to other brain regions

Question 22

What would happen if any part of the pathway by which epinephrine affects memory via peripheral receptors (b-noradrenergic receptors, vagus nerve, nucleus of solitary tract, amygdala) was BLOCKED?

Answer 22

• prevents memory-enhancing effects of epinephrine

Question 23

Place these in order for the pathway by which epinephrine affects memory via peripheral receptors:

• nucleus of the solitary tract
• vagus nerve
• amygdala
• efferent connections to other brain regions
• beta-noradrenergic receptors

Answer 23

• beta-noradrenergic receptors
• vagus nerve
• nucleus of the solitary tract
• amygdala
• efferent connections to other brain regions

Question 24

What did the study on emotionally charged stories and hormones find?

Answer 24

• b-adrenergic antagonist impairs memory of emotionally arousing stories
• supports H that highly charged emotional memories require activation of b-adrenergic receptors!!!

Question 25

What is the likely role of epinephrine in PTSD?

Answer 25

- variations among ppl in fear-learning/memory mechanisms AND responsiveness to nor/epinephrine may contribute to indiv variation in susceptibility to PTSD

Question 26

(T/F) the relationship btw memory and glucose levels is also a U-shaped curve

Answer 26

TRUE

Question 27

Glucose (enhances/inhibits) memory for avoidance learning

Answer 27

ENHANCES

Question 28

(T/F) the impact of glucose on memory is time dependent

Answer 28

TRUE (no effect at delay of 1h+)

Question 29

The agents most effective in enhancing human cognitive performance (learning + memory) share a common feature: ______

Answer 29

they all elevate blood glucose levels!

Question 30

Glucose release is a ________ step that occurs ___ to the release of epinephrine. The effects of glucose are ____ from the peripheral epinephrine receptors.

Answer 30

- memory modulation step - subsequent to release of epinephrine - downstream

Question 31

Elevated blood glucose lvls permit more glucose to enter neurons which stimulates an increase in the release of ____

Answer 31

acetylcholine (excitatory neurotransmitter)

Question 32

Increases in ____ levels in brain synapses are characteristic of all known cognitive enhancers

Answer 32

acetylcholine

Question 33

The severe memory deficits in Alzheimer's or AIDS are correlated w a marked reduction in _____. What was the study that supported this?

Answer 33

- neurons that secrete acetylcholine - lemonade w glucose (but not saccharine) improved memory in elderly ppl (not young ppl)

Question 34

Research on glucose and memory suggests that the normal decline in memory during aging might reflect _____

Answer 34

a diminishing ability to regulate blood levels of glucose

Question 35

What are the cognitive effects of diabetes for: - different age groups - type of memory most affected - T1 diabetes - T2 diabetes

Answer 35

- most pronounced in older ppl but still observed in YA - verbal memory most affected - In T1, cog impairments ass w chronic hyperglycemia and recurrence of hypoglycemia - In T2, onset of cog impairments could reflect disruptions in blood glucose metabolism or other related issues

Question 36

While it is unclear what exactly insulin does in the brain, we know that it has ____ effects

Answer 36

neuromodulatory

Question 37

Which type of diabetes negatively affects verbal/numerical reasoning, attention, concentration, verbal/visual memory, and verbal fluency

Answer 37

BOTH T1 and T2

Question 38

Diabetes can increase the risk of ___

Answer 38

dementia

Question 39

Impaired insulin signaling has been proposed as important in the development of ____ (sometimes called T3 diabetes)

Answer 39

Alzheimer's

Question 40

Activation of insulin receptors in the brain are correlated with ____

Answer 40

associative learning

Question 41

Abnormal ___ levels and reduced number of _____ are common among Alzheimer's patients w severe memory impairments

Answer 41

insulin; brain insulin receptors

Question 42

Glucose use (metabolism) is (increased/decreased) in patients w Alzheimer's

Answer 42

reduced

Question 43

Impaired glucose metabolism can result in _____

Answer 43

memory problems ass w Alzheimer's and dementia

Question 44

How does brief vs chronic exposure to glucocorticoids affect memory?

Answer 44

- brief: enhances learning and memory - chronic: functions as amnesiac

Question 45

What were the findings of the morris water maze study with mice?

Answer 45

- shocked 2m, 30m, or 4hr before test - glucocorticoids are released 20-30m after stress so animals in 30m group showed impaired performance (too much stress) - chronically stressed animals make more errors - glucocorticoid receptor agonist injections in hippocampus improves performance!

Question 46

generally, acute stress (impairs/improves) memory

Answer 46

improves

Question 47

The memory-enhancing effects of glucocorticoids appear to involve the ___

Answer 47

amygdala! (which modulates memory consolidation process)

Question 48

Glucocorticoid receptors in the ___ and the ___ have a role in memory and learning

Answer 48

hippocampus and amygdala

Question 49

(high/low) corticosterone concentrations damage the hippocampus

Answer 49

BOTH! (remember U shape curve)