Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

Behavioural And Cogntive Neuroscience > Week 6: Memory systems > Flashcards

Week 6: Memory systems Flashcards

1
Q

What is learning?

A

The process of acquiring new information

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is memory?

A

Learning that is actually stored and retrieved

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What are the 3 stages of learning and memory?

A

Encoding
Storage
Retrieval

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What happens in the encoding stage?

A

We process incoming information
Acquisition: registration and analysis of sensory input
Consolidation: creating a stronger representation over time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What happens in the storage stage?

A

Permanent representation of the information is formed and stored

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What happens in the retrieval stage?

A

Stored information is retrieved back into conscious awareness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is the capacity of short-term and working memory?

A

Limited capacity
7 +/- 2
Can try and increase Capacity by chunking etc

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is visual information called? and how long does it last?

A

Iconic

300-500 milliseconds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is auditory information called? And how long does it last?

A

Echoic

9-10 seconds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What can long term memory be divided into?

A

Declarative (explicit - we can explicitly recall and have conscious access)

Non-declarative (Previous experience may facilitate a response but we don’t necessarily have a conscious recollection)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What can declarative (explicit) memory be divided into?

A

Events/episodes (episodic)

Facts (semantic)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What can non-declarative (implicit) memory be divided into?

A

Procedural (skills)
Perceptual representation system (perceptual priming to respond in a particular way)
Classical conditioning (responses between 2 stimuli)
Non-associative learning (habituation, sensitisation)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What does the medial temporal lobe include?

A

The hippocampus, parahippocampal, entorhinal and perirhinal cortices

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What does damage to the medial temporal lobe result in?

A

Severe amnesia

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What connects the hippocampus to other subcortical structures?

A

The fornix

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What connects the hippocampus to the cortex

A

Entorhinal cortex and fornix

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What other subcortical structures are important for memory?

A
  • Anterior thalamic nuclei
  • Mammillary bodies
  • Amygdala (tagging emotional content to memories)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Where is the hippocampus located?

A

Located in the temporal lobe of each hemisphere

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What structures are a part of the hippocampal formation

A
  • Parahippocampal gyrus (adjacent cortex)
  • Dentate Gyrus (Strip of gray matter between the 2)
  • Entorhinal cortex & Subiculum (both involved in the flow of information through the hippocampus)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is the hippocampal formation divided into?

A

Divided into 4 regions CA1-CA4 (CA = cornu amonis)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

How does the hippocampus receive information from the rest of the cerebral cortex?

A

Via the perforant pathway

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is the perforant pathway?

A

Starts in entorhinal cortex and projects to the dentate gyrus

Fibres then leave the dentate gyrus to the CA3 region

Neurons in CA3 region send axons to neurons in CA1

Then projected to the neurons in subiculum

Travels back to entorhinal cortex and then out

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

How is the prefrontal cortex involved in memory?

A

Involved in retrieval and storage - damage here leads to problems in episodic memory particularly regarding the order of events

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and memory?

A

Important for working memory processes - manipulating information

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
What role does the inferotemporal play in memory?
Storage of visual representations
26
What structures mediate implicit memory?
Sensory motor circuits | - cerebellum and striatum
27
Cerebellum and implicit memory?
Important for sensory motor skill learning and pavlovian conditioning
28
Striatum and implicit memory?
Important for habit formation
29
Explain Atkinson & Shriffrin's Modal model of memory
Have sensory information that comes into the information processing system and is first stored in a sensory register Items are then selected via attention and moved into short term storage (STM) and then if we rehearse this information, we can move this information into LTM Information can be lost through decay (STM) and/or by interference
30
What are some limitations to the Modal model?
Cases such as HM suggest that information might not need to move through STM to get to LTM
31
What is the current consensus for the STM and LTM stores?
Both supported by the same neural networks but these may work in different ways of are involved to a different extent
32
What does Baddeley and Hitch's model of working memory suggest?
We bring information into our short term or working memory and perform mental manipulations on it - suggest visual and auditory memories are stored separately 3 main components: 1. central executive 2. Phonological loop 3. visuospatial sketchpad
33
What is the central executive (WM model)?
Role in decision making, planning of responses, and coordinating the two other systems
34
What is the phonological loop (WM model)?
Deals with auditory, verbal info stored in an acoustic code Has: Articulatory loop (inner voice) - subvocal rehearsal Phonological store (inner ear) - processes speech perception and stores spoken words
35
What is the visuospatial sketchpad (WM model)?
Stores visuospatial code, visual imagery etc
36
What supports Baddeley and Hitch's model of working memory?
We can perform visual and audio tasks simultaneously As well as neuroimaging
37
What is anterograde amnesia?
An inability to acquire new long term memories
38
What is retrograde amnesia?
A loss of memories acquired prior to amnesia
39
What kind of amnesia did HM have?
Medial temporal lobe amnesic syndrome Severe anterograde amnesia - Particularly for episodic - Some new semantic info but no memory of learning this info Retrograde amnesia for approx. 2 years prior to surgery and some selctive loss of certain events up to 10 years prior
40
What memory type was retained in HM?
Spared STM | Spared non-declarative memory
41
Digit span +1 test?
Researchers would read a list of digits and each time recited, would add another digit. Each time the patient would repeat these digits back - Control participants do well on this can keep remembering - patients with medial temporal lobe amnesia (HM), after the limits of STM (7+/-2 items) this task becomes difficult - this is the point where controls would rely on their long term memory This is similar to the block-tapping memory span task in which HM performed very similarly once STM capacity ran out
42
How did researchers determine that HM still had some degree of semantic memory capabilities after the surgery despite anterograde amnesia?
Knew names and faces of celebrities who became famous after the surgery Able to draw a floor plan of a home he lives in after surgery HOWEVER Couldn't determine the source of this information (source amnesia)
43
Explain the case KC
Severe anterograde amnesia and retrograde amnesia Some factual knowledge of life and intact for general world knowledge (semantic memory) ALSO SHOWED INTACT CONCEPTUAL PRIMING (ability to learn new semantic memories)
44
What do cases like HM and KC tell us about episodic and semantic memory?
That they are supported by dissociable systems in the brain and semantic memory relies less on the hippocampus than episodic
45
EP case study?
73 year old man, developed severe amnesia following herpes - damage to medial temporal lobe Could not acquire new episodic memories but could learn to make category judgements based on whether or not they belong to a previously viewed category Preserved abilities to recognise previous events on the basis of signal strength or familiarity rather than recollection
46
HM showed normal implicit learning and non-declarative knowledge - how can this be tested?
Can be tested using procedural learning tasks such as: - mirror tracing tasks - serial reaction time task
47
What is a mirror tracing task? How did HM go on it?
Look in mirror and trace around an object eg. star This task is difficult because you're looking in a mirror and hand seems to go left but really goes right and vice versa HM able to perform this task and be able to improve even though he had no recollection of learning it
48
Classical conditioning for HM?
Was able to learn a conditioned response in an eye blink task - puff of air and tone = eye blink response When the gap between the two stimuli widens, becomes harder
49
What concepts of amnesia provide evidence for LTM consolidation?
Because we typically see a gradient of retrograde amnesia - older memories are more likely to be spared with newer ones more likely to be lost Suggesting older memories are stored in a more permanent form
50
What is memory consolidation? and what processes are involved, what do they suggest?
How LTM develops overtime after initial acquisition 1. Initial rapid consolidation involving the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe 2. Slower permanent consolidation which is an interaction between the medial temporal lobe and neocortex Suggests different structures are involved in acquisition and in storage
51
What does the dual trace theory suggest?
That the hippocampus holds memory until is is stored else where
52
What is the current view of the hippocampus' role in memory consolidation?
That the hippocampus stores memory every time it is recalled - every time memory is recalled it becomes more resistant to disruption
53
What is the delayed non-match to sample task
Monkey moves sample object to obtain food and a screen is lowered, after a variable periods of time, monkey is shown the same sample object and another unfamiliar object - they need to remember to pick the new object and not the initial one Lowered with medial temporal lobe problems - issues with object recognition
54
What is global cerebral ischemia?
Interruption of blood supply to the entire brain
55
RB case study?
Global cerebral ischemia - lost bloody supply during surgery Had dense anterograde and retrograde amnesia (1-2 years) Hippocampus appeared to be intact except for lesions in the CA1 cell layer
56
Are there any short term amnesic syndromes?
Yes - transient global amnesia typically lasts 4-6 hours occurs due to disrupted blood flow to MTL and diencephalon sudden anterograde amnesia and variable retrograde amnesia 24-48hrs
57
What is korsakoff's syndrome?
Caused by chronic consumption of alcohol Results from thiamine deficiency (vit b) Severe anterograde and retrograde amnesia - greater declarative loss
58
Which areas degenerate in Alzheimer's?
The basal forebrain | - also diffuse to MTL and hippocampus
59
What is post traumatic amnesia?
Following a closed head injury - blow to head has resulted in concussion or coma - Generally both anterograde and retrograde amnesia
60
What evidence (cell-based) has shown that hippocampus is involved in spatial memory?
Hippocampal place cells Neurons that respond only when a subject is in a specific location When a rat is first placed in an unfamiliar environment none of its hippocampal neurons have a place in that environment. As the rat familiarises itself with the environment, hippocampal neurons acquire a place field in it obtain spatial info from GRID CELLS
61
What are entorhinal grid cells?
Entorhinal neurons that each have an extensive array of evenly spread place cells which map the corresponding environment - head direction cells (when head turns in particular direction) - border cells (fire when animal is at the border of a particular environment)
62
Time cells in MTL?
code time based aspects of an experience
63
Social spaces in MTL?
Learning about social organisation
64
Concept cells (Jennifer aniston neurons)?
Respond to ideas or concept of person or thing rather than visual stimuli etc.
65
Engram cells?
Encode for specific memories | - can use optogenetics to retrieve or forget these memories by exciting or depressing the neurons
66
In retrieval studies, what has been found regarding retrieval activation?
Left and right hippocampus were active only for the activation of correctly remembered words - not if they correctly thought they were familiar, not for misses etc Not recognition based on familiarity alone
67
What brain area has increased activation during recognition confidence?
The perirhinal cortex | relates to familiarity based item retrieval
68
What is the BIC model of episodic memory?
Binding of items and context What and who information as well as where and when information Hippocampus is thought to bind this together to provide relational or episodic memory
69
What is LTP (long term potentiation)?
a process by which synaptic connections between neurons become stronger with frequent activation. Develops only if the firing of the pre-synaptic neuron is followed by the firing of a post synaptic neuron the cooccurrence of firing in pre-and post synaptic cells is the critical factor in LTP
70
What is associative LTP?
Requires NMDA stimulation and Ca entry into the post synaptic neuron
71
Non-associative LTP?
Nothing occurring post-synaptically, facilitation is presynaptic and doesn’t require NMDA receptor stimulation
72
Explain NMDA and associative long term potentiation
NMDA receptors are blocked by mg ions, however, when glutamate binds to the AMPA receptors it depolarises the cell. This causes voltage dependent mg blockage to be removed allowing calcium ions to enter the cell via the NMDA receptor. This initiated cellular mechanisms that cause more AMPA receptors to be inserted into the cell membrane - the post synaptic cell is more sensitive to glutamate because it has more receptors to respond. STRONGER SYNAPSES

Behavioural And Cogntive Neuroscience (9 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions