Oct11 M3-Memory Flashcards
memory def
ability to recall, consciously or unconsciously, a previous stimulus or task
- involves synaptic changes controlled by conserved fundamental processes
- allows learning (knowledge and skills) and adaptations in behavior
known things about memory
- hippocampus important in memory
- memory is bilateral (unlike language and other cognitive fcts). unilateral lesions (like stroke) don’t cause memory loss
- AD (a form of dementia) and other forms of dementia impair memory for recent events but spare memory for remove events
diff kinds of memory (dnm the names)
- declarative = depends on conscious awareness. memory of what happened + memory of facts
- non-declarative memory = does not depend on conscious awareness. memory of how to do a task + memory of recognizing objects by their form and structure
- working memory = what’s in your head right now = ability to maintain and manipulate active representations of information
HM had a problem with what type of memory (after hippocampi removed)
memory of what happened + of facts (declarative)
where is DECLARATIVE memory stored
new info pathway
- transient storage of WORKING memory in the PREFRONTAL cortex
- this memory is transferred via dopaminergic connections of prefrontal cortex to the HIPPOCAMPUS and becomes SHORT-TERM memory
- hippocampus connects to CORTEX where info is consolidated into LONG-TERM memory (area of cortex = what’s relevant to the memory. visual = in visual cortex)
how does memory go from short term to long term
- short-term memory: the hippocampus has strong connections with the cortex
- recent long-term memory: cortical loops start to form, the hippocampus becomes less imp
- remote long-term memory: cortical loops are formed. hippocampus connections to cortex are not needed anymore
* explain why AD pts lose short term and recent long term but not remote long term memory*
short term memory def vs long term
immediate present. in the last 30-60 sec. long term is everything else
long-term recent memory def
days ago
remote long term memory
years ao
working memory vs short term memory
working memory involves remembering but ALSO manipulating something (multiplying 3 digits instead of just repeating them)
- bc to multiply 3 digits you need to visualize it in your head
- the working memory can store 5-7 infos at a time
what types of memory are important for attention
all types
memory and age
as you get older, it is harder to consolidate and remember stuff
consolidation meanings
- long-term memory (storing memory in the cortex)
- remembering something you saw or heard or etc. a couple minutes ago that was important or not (like a shirt colour) (unconsciously)
- conscious consolidation would be to link the info to learn to objects (ex of learning deck of cards by assoc each card to an object and the deck is a house with 3 objects in each room)
- is important for memory, related to long-term memory*
amygdala role in memory
- is in the medial part of the temporal lobe (in the uncus)
- was ant sup to hippocampus
- adds emotional value to memory so important in NON-DECLARATIVE
- acquire and express fear responses
- add pos or neg value to stimulus
- recognize EMOTION in the facial expression (but damaged amygdala = can still recognize someone’s face)
other structures than amygdala important in non-declarative memory (including emotional memory)
- other limbic structures like hippocampus
- basal ganglia (caudate, putamen, globus pallidus) = procedural skills and motor programs
- cerebellum (motor learning and coordination)
memory assessment at the bedside
focus on declarative memory and assess
- working memory
- short-term
- long-term
hx in pt with memory problem
- ask hx from a family member
- ask what the pt has difficulty remembering
- ask timing
- ask impact on patient
- in older people, it is normal to forget things intermittently*
attention vs working memory
- need attention to do use working memory
- working memory is more advances, stresses the system
how to test attention
- digit span (purely tests attention)
- backward digit span (requires working memory)
- seral minus 7 starting at 100 (requires working memory)
how to test short term memory
- ask them to repeat a list of WORDS immediately (this is called REGISTRATION) (WORKING memory)
- ask them to repeat it 30s later. this is called RECALL = ability to retrieve the words (SHORT TERM memory, except if the pt has been repeating the words in their head in the meantime = working memory still)
how to test recent long term memory
- ask them to repeat a list of WORDS immediately (this is called REGISTRATION) (WORKING memory)
- ask them to repeat it 5 min later (CONSOLIDATION = LONG TERM memory)
when to test non-verbal memory
in people who can’t repeat because of a non-fluent aphasia with comprehension, or dysphonia, or dysarhtria or early dementia
how to test non-verbal memory
-put coins in certain places in the room and show the pt
-ask them 5 min later to point where the coins are
(this would test recent long term memory)
how to test remote long term memory
-ask about remove events and knowledge (and make sure it’s appropriate to their age and culture)
-ask if remember what they did last Sunday (with family member telling you if it’s true)
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