Midterm 2

Question 1

working memory

Answer 1

AKA short-term memory. Works with or uses information to address a particular situation or question. Lasts from a few seconds to a minute or two.

Question 2

long-term memory

Answer 2

Systems that are capable of encoding, storing, and retrieving information over periods of time. Divided into implicit and explicit memory.

Question 3

implicit memory

Answer 3

AKA non declarative memory. The kinds of memories you can’t demonstrate verbally that you have. Involves skills and learning that can occur without conscious awareness

Question 4

explicit memory

Answer 4

AKA declarative memory. Information that can be consciously recalled and expressed. Divided into semantic and episodic memory

Question 5

procedural memory

Answer 5

A type of implicit memory. Memories for how to perform skills or habits. Major brain region: striatum

Question 6

priming

Answer 6

A type of implicit memory. Past experiences influence or increase the response to a given sensory stimulus (recognizing an incomplete drawing of an elephant as an elephant). Major brain region: cortex

Question 7

classical conditioning

Answer 7

A type of associative learning, implicit memory. Pairs an unconditioned stimulus with an unconditioned response through a conditioned stimulus.

Question 8

operant conditioning

Answer 8

A type of associative learning, implicit memory. Pairs a behavior with a consequence, altering the frequency of the behavior.

Question 9

non-associative learning

Answer 9

A type of implicit memory. Long-term changes in reflex pathways in the nervous system. Includes habituation and sensitization.

Question 10

habituation

Answer 10

Repeated exposure to the same stimulus gradually reduces the response

Question 11

sensitization

Answer 11

The response to a stimulus increases following exposure to an especially strong stimulus

Question 12

motor conditioned/skeletal responses

Answer 12

A type of implicit memory. Example: eye blink in response to tones predicting a puff of air. Major brain region: cerebellum

Question 13

emotional conditioned responses

Answer 13

A type of implicit memory. Example: autonomic responses like increased heart rate. Major brain region: amygdala

Question 14

semantic memory

Answer 14

A type of explicit memory. Memories of facts.

Question 15

episodic memory

Answer 15

A type of explicit memory. Memories for past autobiographical events.

Question 16

familiarity

Answer 16

A vague sense of emotional content, without accompanying context.

Question 17

recollection

Answer 17

A complete recollection involves rich recreation of place, time, surroundings, actions, and events.

Question 18

Henry Molaison

Answer 18

A patient who had his hippocampus removed. Was then unable to form new episodic memories (anterograde amnesia)

Question 19

anterograde amnesia

Answer 19

The inability to form new episodic memories. Can’t remember what you’ve done.

Question 20

retrograde amnesia

Answer 20

The inability to retrieve episodic memories of events that occurred for a certain period of time before a brain injury.

Question 21

place cells

Answer 21

Neurons in the hippocampus that only fire when the organism is located in a particular place in its local environment.

Question 22

medial temporal lobe

Answer 22

Major brain region for explicit memory.

Question 23

spatial memory

Answer 23

The part of memory responsible for recording information about one’s environment and spatial orientation

Question 24

place field

Answer 24

The region of the external environment that elicits the activity of a particular place cell when the animal enters the region

Question 25

spontaneous confabulation

Answer 25

Happens in brain injury patients. They generate confabulations without cues, and are convinced their fantasies are real.

Question 26

confabulation

Answer 26

Creating a shifting version of reality that does not currently exist and acting as if they believe fully in this reality

Question 27

provoked confabulation

Answer 27

Happens when we are pressed for the details of a memory beyond our ability to recall them accurately

Question 28

ventral medial prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex

Answer 28

When aneurysms in these areas rupture and cause damage, patients may have problems suppressing irrelevant memories

Question 29

misattribution

Answer 29

tendency to attribute an idea or memory to the wrong source

Question 30

suggestibility

Answer 30

the idea that false memories can be created by providing a fictitious suggestion about a past experience and then encouraging the person to elaborate upon the false memory by trying to recall it in detail

Question 31

bias

Answer 31

How our current knowledge and beliefs can create distortions in what we recall about the past

Question 32

neural/synaptic plasticity

Answer 32

the ability of our neurons to change the strength of their synaptic connections to other neurons depending on their activity

Question 33

Hebbian learning

Answer 33

A mechanism for learning which states that the connection between two neurons will be strengthened if the presynaptic cell consistency fires at the same time as the postsynaptic cell

Question 34

long-term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 34

long-lasting increases in synaptic strength that are induced when the activity of the presynaptic cell consistently activates along with the postsynaptic cell

Question 35

NMDA receptors

Answer 35

A type of glutamate receptor. Are usually blocked by magnesium ions, until a high-frequency synaptic input (incoming Na+ from AMPA receptors) unblocks them, allowing Ca 2+ to flow in

Question 36

AMPA receptors

Answer 36

A type of glutamate receptor. Allows Na+ to flow into postsynaptic neuron, depolarizing it and opening up NMDA receptors

Question 37

consolidation

Answer 37

Turning short-term memories into long-term memories

Question 38

reconsolidation

Answer 38

When a memory is recalled, it must be re-consolidated into long-term memory again. Interfering with this process can eliminate an established memory

Question 39

electroencephalography (EEG)

Answer 39

A noninvasive technology for recording the electrical fields on the scalp using external electrodes. The primary technology used to study brain activity during sleep.

Question 40

REM

Answer 40

Rapid Eye Movement. A stage of sleep in which dreams occur and the body is paralyzed (aside from small facial muscles), but the eyes exhibit rapid movement. Brain waves at high frequencies, low amplitude, resembles waking a little bit.

Question 41

slow wave sleep (SWS)

Answer 41

Stage 3 of sleep, the deepest stage of non-REM. Associated with the basal forebrain. Brain waves are low frequency, high amplitude (synchronized)

Question 42

sleep cycles

Answer 42

We move through the stages of sleep several times a night. We don't re-enter stage 3 in the second half of the night, and we spend more time in REM in the second half of the night.

Question 43

ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO)

Answer 43

A region of the hypothalamus that promotes sleep by inhibiting the arousal network of the brain

Question 44

arousal network

Answer 44

A network in the brain that maintains alertness and wakefulness. Includes the locus coerulus (norepinephrine), raphae nucleus (serotonin), tuberomammillary nucleus (histamine) and acetycholinergic neurons (acetylcholine_

Question 45

PGO waves

Answer 45

Brain waves that originate in the pons, go to the lateral gesticulate nucleus, then to the occipital cortex. Their appearance comes right before REM sleep, and their density correlates with eye movement. Triggered by aceytlcholinergic neurons

Question 46

circadian rhythms

Answer 46

A natural internal rhythm (of sleep/wake) that runs on an approximately 24-hour cycle

Question 47

suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

Answer 47

A region in the hypothalamus in which cells maintain their own 24-hour clock, and serve as the master clock for the body's circadian rhythms

Question 48

pineal gland

Answer 48

A gland which produces and releases melatonin. Receives signals from the SCN

Question 49

melatonin

Answer 49

A hormone produced and released by the pineal gland, the "darkness" hormone. Influences sleep and wake

Question 50

four sleep theories

Answer 50

1. Restoration 2. Survival advantage 3. Simulate rare situations 4. Information processing

Question 51

rehearsal

Answer 51

Memories need to form in two stages, the first during the event and again by a consolidation period in which the experience becomes long-term memory. The consolidation stage requires sleep. During REM, it is hypothesized that the information replayed during sleep determines what we remember later.

Question 52

forgetting

Answer 52

It is hypothesized that REM sleep helps us forget stuff so we don't overload or form inappropriate connections and learning

Question 53

insight

Answer 53

It is hypothesized that sleep helps us restructure and further understand our experiences

Question 54

limbic system

Answer 54

Dreaming depends on a neural network of the limbic system

Question 55

activation-synthesis model

Answer 55

Proposes that random activity in the brainstem is sent to the cortex, which tries to turn it into motor output. But since the body is paralyzed, the brain tries to synthesize an explanation, which becomes a dream

Question 56

consequences of sleep deprivation

Answer 56

STRESS, cognitive impairment, memory lapses, amnesia, impaired moral judgement, irritability, hallucination, ADHD symptoms, low reaction time, tremors, aches, type 2 diabetes, growth suppression, obesity, variable heart rate, heart disease, poor immune system

Question 57

microsleeps

Answer 57

Brief sleep periods (seconds or less) that occur after severe sleep deprivation. Can be dangerous

Question 58

insomnia

Answer 58

Inability to get enough sleep to feel rested. A continuous state of hyperarousal

Question 59

over-the-counter sleep aids vs benzodiazepines

Answer 59

In patients with insomnia, over-the-counter sleep aids like lavender and melatonin don't usually help, but benzodiazepines do work

Question 60

benzodiazepines

Answer 60

A medication used to help people with insomnia. Promote GABA activity

Question 61

hypersomnia

Answer 61

Excessive sleepiness such that naps are taken frequently, often at inappropriate times

Question 62

narcolepsy

Answer 62

A sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy

Question 63

cataplexy

Answer 63

Sudden muscle weakness experienced by people with narcolepsy

Question 64

orexin

Answer 64

A hormone that promotes wakefulness by stabilizing the sleep/wake switch in the waking state. Patients with narcolepsy have lower levels of orexin

Question 65

NREM parasomias

Answer 65

Actions performed during (non-REM) sleep that are not under voluntary control. Includes sleep walking and night terrors

Question 66

REM parasomnias

Answer 66

Actions performed during REM sleep that are not under voluntary control. Includes REM sleep behavior disorder and sleep paralysis

Question 67

REM sleep behavior disorder

Answer 67

When sleepers are not paralyzed during REM and therefore act out their dreams