exam 3 Flashcards
(36 cards)
What is memory?
The ability to acquire, retain and recall information.
- a process, not a thing
- Inferred not observed
- different types of memory processes exist
short-term memory?
The amount of information that can be held in memory after a single exposure.
- insensitive to age
- digit span tests test this
long-term memory?
The ability to learn and retain information for longer periods after attention is lost.
- sensitive to age
- paragraphs, word lists, pictures, or drawings test this
Remote memory?
The ability to retain information from a long time ago.
- not sensitive to aging
- autobiographical, famous faces, public events test this
Learning vs. Retention?
Learning: the initial acquisition of material that is treated with immediate recall, also called encoding.
Retention: How much information is retained over time- requires delayed testing and is always relative to how much was learned.
Amount vs Rate?
Amount: how much a person has learned
Rate: how fast the person learned it
Retrieval vs Storage problem?
Retrieval Problem: information only appears to be forgotten, but it’s present it just needs help to access it.
- vascular dementia
- Parkinson’s
Storage problem: truly forgotten information
- Alzheimer’s
- korsakoffs
What is amnesic syndrome?
A permanent, stable, and global disorder of memory
- occurs in the absence of any other extensive perceptual or cognitive disturbance.
- never goes away, consistent, all stimuli effected(global)
What is a anterograde amnesia component?
A memory deficit that extends forward in time from the onset of amnesia and prevents the formation of new memories.
- Absolute ( episodic/sematic: our experience - medial temporal lobe and diencephalon)
- selective
- non-declarative memory not affected ( Procedural: skills - basal ganglia)
Memory types & the brain area?
Episodic/sematic: our experience - medial temporal lobe and diencephalon
Procedural: skills - basal ganglia
Priming- neocortex
Simple classical conditioning- the amygdala, cerebellum
habituation sensitization- reflex pathways
What is the retrograde amnesia component?
A memory deficit that extends backward in time from the onset of amnesia and prevents the recall of information acquired prior to the onset of amnesia.
- temporal gradient
- individual differences
- nondeclarative spared
Amnesia and anatomy: Medial temporal lobe amnesia?
Medial temporal lobes: hippocampus (H.M.)
- surgery for epilepsy, anoxic brain damage
Henry Molaison (H.M.):
- bilateral medial temporal lobectomy to treat epilepsy
- anterograde amnesia for decorative memories
- non-declarative memory relatively preserved
Amnesia and anatomy: Diencephalic amnesia?
Diencephalic: thalamus and mammillary bodies
- Wernicke Korsakoff syndrome, tumors of the 3rd ventricle, thalamic stroke, traumatic brain injury
Diencephalic Amnesia: (Wernickes)
- Damage to anterior and nuclei of the thalamus and mammillary bodies
- Thlakine deficiency (Vitamin B1)- alcoholism
- anterograde amnesia for declaritive
- retrograde amnesia to some degree
Normal aging: Neuroanatomical changes?
- Brain mass/size decrease
- ventricular dilation
- cortical surface flattening
- neuron loss
- white matter thinning
Normal aging : cognitive changes?
Three domains
1) new learning
2) new problem solving
3) behavioral speed (walking, talking)
What is dementia?
An acquired, persistent impairment of intellectual function with compromise in multiple areas such as:
-memory
-language
-visuospatial
-emotion
-personality
-executive function
See in: AD, VD, FT, Picks, PPA, Parkinson’s, aids
What is Alzheimers Disease (AD)?
Could be genetic or spontaneous. All three must be present:
1) clear evidence of declining memory and learning in other domains
2) progressive, gradual decline without extended plateaus
3) no mixed etiology (cognitive decline)
- most common dementia
-age increase
-diagnose definitive only postmortem
-terminal
AD: Pathology
- Amyloid plaques
- Neurofibrillary tangles
- Brain atrophy (nerve cell loss)
winding of salci = more empty space = less volume in gyrui
1ST Occur: anterior temporal lobe
2ND: spread posterior and anterior
3RD: majority of the brain
AD: cognitive symptoms
-memory
-language
-visuospatial
- executive function
-personality/behavior
AD CS: Memory
Slow progressive impairment of declarative memory, preclinical phase.
- mild cognitive impariment (MCI)
- subtle deficits of verbal and nonverbal anterograde memory
- deficits of retrograde memory with a temporal gradient
- implicit memory is partly preserved
AD CS: language
- starts with word finding and naming difficulties
- continues to changes in speech and written language are noticeable
AD CS: visuospatial
-orientation
-drawing
-construction
AD CS: Executive functions
Impairments in:
-inhibition
-concept formation reasoning
-planning
-problem solving
AD CS: behavioral/personality
-depression
-anxiety, irritability, apathy, agitation
-social isolation
-aggression
-delusions, hallucinations, dysphoria, euphoria
-sleep disturbances
-unawareness of deficits
