Learning and Memory 2 Flashcards
(9 cards)
What is a good invertebrate model to use for implicit memory ?
drosophlia
describe classical conditioning for the fly
Olfactory learning in twochamber
test: Flies learn to associate
an odour with an elec. shock ®
avoid chamber which contains that odour
Memory-deficient mutants
do not avoid chamber
Learning is quantified by
“avoidance index” in two chamber
test
(<0.3 in mutants vs. 0.9 in w.t. )
is there a difference in the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in classical conditioning in flies and snails ?
flies more complex but other than that no
Implicit memory systems in vertebrates
associative
non-associative
-classical -
(i) sensorimotor adaptations : cerebellum-dependent
(ii) emotional memory : amygdala-dependent
-operant
procedural
habits & skills : striatum-dependent
What memory does the T maze test ?
Response’ memory (procedural)
is striatum-dependent
‘Place’ memory (explicit) is hippocampal dependent
define procedural memory ?
learned out of habit, the rat knows he must go forward and left to get a treat.
define place memory ?
the rat knows where the object is in space
what happens when the the T maze is inverted ?
The rat will either go left or right
if the pellet was on the left before it is now on the right arm.
if the rat goes right (his left) he’s using procedural memory
if he goes to the left arm (his right) he is using place memory
testing procedural memory in humans involves ?
A card game where cards are assigned to different weather.
Card choices predict rain or sunshine only in a probabilistic manner and the predictive value is
not easily memorised.
Over 50 trials,
- Healthy controls improve performance by trial-and-error learning (from 50% (guessing) to 70%)
- Amnesics perform as well as controls – but do not remember doing the task
- PD patients show no improvement – but do remember doing the task
