Week 5: Memory

Question 1

Historical context of memory

Answer 1

Dialexeis, Plato, Aristotle, Fechner, Ebbinghaus, Bartlett, James

Question 2

Dialexeis

Answer 2

Improving memory, attention on rehearsing, method of loci to remember speeches (memory palace)

Question 3

Plato

Answer 3

Memory is like wax, bridge between the perceptual world and world of abstractions

Question 4

Aristotle

Answer 4

Memories are primarily composed of associations between various experiences

Question 5

Fechner

Answer 5

Body and mind are same unity, find quantifiable relation between a stimulus and a mental sensation

Question 6

Ebbinghaus

Answer 6

Measurement error, distribution of observations around mean, necessity to compare two conditions in light of that error, his own subject, forgetting curve

Question 7

Bartlett

Answer 7

Remembering is constructing, aided by schemas, memories are not static

Question 8

James

Answer 8

Study memory through its retrieval

Question 9

Modalities of memory

Answer 9

Declarative, implicit

Question 10

Declarative memory

Answer 10

Episodic, semantic, autobiographic

Question 11

Implicit memory

Answer 11

Perceptual, procedural, associative (conditioning), non-associative

Question 12

Episodic memory

Answer 12

Ability to learn, store and retrieve information about unique personal experiences that occur in daily life

Question 13

Semantic memory

Answer 13

Knowledge about facts devoid to the circumstances of their acquisition

Question 14

Autobiographical memory

Answer 14

Both episodic and semantic

Question 15

Declarative theory (examples)

Answer 15

Patient CW, semantic dementia

Question 16

Declarative theory

Answer 16

Older memories become consolidates to neocortical areas outside of the medial temporal lobe

Question 17

Patient CW

Answer 17

Hippocampal damage, loss of ability to consolidate and remember memories, semantic memory is spared

Question 18

Semantic dementia

Answer 18

Knowledge of words and facts is dramatically impaired, recent events are retrieved accurately

Question 19

Episodic research (Tulving)

Answer 19

Episodic memory is hypothetical and cannot be measured by a single test

Question 20

Flashbulb memories

Answer 20

Episodic memory for emotional events, exceptionally vivid, clear and detailed recollection people seem to have for single, emotional events they have experiences (9/11), memories are manipulated by arousal and valence dimensions

Question 21

Common tests for episodic (emotional) memories

Answer 21

Cued retrieval, recognition task, associative memory task, subjective quality task

Question 22

Cued retrieval

Answer 22

Determine the proportion correct of encoded words

Question 23

Recognition task

Answer 23

Old and new words, correct recognition rates are higher for emotional words

Question 24

Associative memory task

Answer 24

Word pairs

Question 25

Subjective quality task

Answer 25

Remember/know, recollection, familiarity

Question 26

Recollection

Answer 26

Detailed vivid feeling of re-experiencing (enhanced by emotion)

Question 27

Familiarity

Answer 27

Butcher on the bus, sense that item has been previously encountered

Question 28

Emotional memories are less reliable

Answer 28

Dissonance theory, reconsolidation theory

Question 29

Dissonance theory

Answer 29

We recall the past in ways that optimize our current sense of self

Question 30

Reconsolidation theory

Answer 30

We update memories with current information to keep them relevant, as a consequence of memory reactivation and retrieval changes of memory can occur over time

Question 31

Hippocampus in memory

Answer 31

Patient HM and CW

Question 32

Patient HM

Answer 32

Lesions in hippocampus, no episodic memory, conditioned response present

Question 33

Patient CW

Answer 33

Lesions in hippocampus, no episodic memory, conditioned response present

Question 34

Amygdala in memory

Answer 34

Patient SM

Question 35

Patient SM

Answer 35

Calcification of the amygdala, urbach-wiethe syndrome, no enhanced memory for emotional items, no conditioned responses, episodic memories present

Question 36

How does the amygdala enhance emotional responses?

Answer 36

Adrenaline during arousal --> locus coeruleus to release norepinephrine --> acts on adrenergic receptors of amygdala --> adrenergic receptor antagonists like beta-blockers (basolateral amygdala) --> block the memory-enhancing effects of adrenaline

Question 37

Amygdala has strong connections to

Answer 37

PFC, MTL, sensory neocortex, striatum, HPA-axis, cerebellum

Question 38

PFC

Answer 38

Influencing working memory, semantic memory, priming, extinction learning

Question 39

MTL

Answer 39

Influencing declarative memory, memory consolidation

Question 40

Sensory neocortex

Answer 40

Memory storing, conceptual priming, perceptual priming

Question 41

Striatum

Answer 41

Habit learning, reward learning

Question 42

HPA-axis

Answer 42

Hormonal memory regulation

Question 43

Cerebellum

Answer 43

Reflexive conditioning, motor learning

Question 44

MTL memory system

Answer 44

Hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, perirhinal cortex

Question 45

Pattern separation (within hippocampus)

Answer 45

A process by which similar experiences or events are transformed into discrete, non-overlapping representations (hippocampal neurogenesis in dentate gyrus)

Question 46

Pattern completion

Answer 46

During retrieval pattern completion can be achieved instead of new encoding

Question 47

Spatial navigation (in the hippocampus)

Answer 47

Volume of the hippocampus is associated with increased navigational skills in taxi drivers

Question 48

Context dependent memory

Answer 48

In PTSD contextualization of memories is disturbed which causes vivid flashbacks and intrusions

Question 49

Areas active for retrieval of memory within or out of context

Answer 49

Amygdala, hippocampus, IFG

Question 50

Enhanced memory contextualization

Answer 50

Stronger coupling between IFG and amugdala and IFG and PPA