week 10 - memory and the brain, disorders and ageing

Question 1

What areas of the brain are involved in memory

Answer 1

Hippocampus (episodic/semantic)

The prefrontal cortex (WM)

Striatum (procedural)

Cerebral cortex (semantic, perceptual, priming)

Amygdala (emotional memory)

Cerebellum (conditioned timing)

Question 2

Discuss the hippocampus related to memory

Answer 2

• Involved in LTM, particularly important and is involved in spatial navigation, and memory consolidation.
• Found that if the hippocampus is destroyed - dense anterograde, retrograde amnesia, semantic and episodic memory loss.

Question 3

Outline maguire taxi study - hippocampus

Answer 3

Taxi drivers in London had a larger hippocampus due to having to remember every street name and route in London.

Question 4

Outline what is meant by the feeling of knowing

Answer 4

• A prediction of the likelihood of being able to remember something soon, that currently cannot be recalled.
• It is a metacognitive process, and neuroimaging pinpoints the frontal lobes as being responsible for this.

Question 5

What functions remain stable with memory in ageing

Answer 5

• Remote memory
• Crystallized abilities (knowledge & experiences)
• Remembering the gist

Question 6

What functions become impaired with ageing

Answer 6

• New learning
• Rapid learning
• Material requiring manipulation
• Remembering details

Question 7

What is perspective memory

Answer 7

Memory for doing something in the future, such as buying milk on the way home.

Question 8

Discuss working memory in ageing

Answer 8

• Capacity and function are age-sensitive, this is potentially due to a decline in cognitive resources such as speed processing.
• This decline impacts episodic memory, spatial memory and updating.

Question 9

Outline what dementia is

Answer 9

A set of disorders in which aspects of thought and behaviour are impaired to the extent that daily activities are disrupted.

Question 10

Outline vascular dementia

Answer 10

• Loss of adequate blood supply to the brain due to vessel narrowing and stroke. Memory loss is not the first sign, usually confusion is the first major indicator.

Question 11

Outline frontotemporal dementia

Answer 11

Affects the frontal lobes which control behaviour and emotion. Symptoms include loss of inhibition and changes in personality.

Question 12

Outline semantic dementia

Answer 12

Damage to the temporal lobes, and is associated with loss of word meaning and world knowledge.

Question 13

Outline Lewy bodies dementia

Answer 13

Where clumps of protein build-up. Symptoms vary depending on location in the brain of the Lewy body. If they are at the brain stem the major indicator is motor issues.

Question 14

What is Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 14

• Irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking.
• This occurs as the early damage is usually in the hippocampus

Question 15

Discuss some cognitive impairments with Alzheimer’s

Answer 15

• Over time the damage becomes more widespread due to the shrinking of the brain.
• Symptoms include disorientation, problems with language, decreased judgement and episodic memory.

Question 16

What is retrograde amnesia

Answer 16

• Hippocampus, temporal lobes
• Memory loss for events that happened before the brain injury

Question 17

What is Anterograde amnesia

Answer 17

Problems forming new long term memory

Question 18

What is organic amnesia

Answer 18

Memory loss with a biological cause such as TBI or infection

Question 19

Psychogenic amnesia

Answer 19

• Memory loss with no biological cause, could be triggered by trauma
• Autobiographical impairments

Question 20

What functions are preserved in amnesics

Answer 20

• The learning of new skills
• Procedural learning
• Artificial grammar learning

Question 21

What is deja vu

Answer 21

• The malfunction of cognitive feelings
• Having seen something before, the inappropriate feeling of familiarity
• This can be a sign of a temporal lobe seizure/epilepsy