Flashcards
Chapter 8: Memory - Varieties and Mechanisms
Cards in this deck (71)
- 1what does memory consist of?- working memory and long-term memory
- 2what is iconic/sensory memory?storage for visual memory that allows people to visualize an image after physical stimulus is no longer present
--> milliseconds to about one second; high capacity - 3what is working memory?- short-term memory
- system that maintains memories for a short period (seconds or minutes)
--> requires attention/concentration; seconds to minutes; limited capacity - 4what is long-term memory?system that maintains memories for a longer period (up to decades)
--> high capacity - 5what is learning?change in behavior as a function of interaction with the environment (training)
- 6what is memory in general?acquisition and maintenance of information from new experiences in the nervous system that can be used to guide behavior
- 7describe the case of H.M- H.M suffered from severe epilepsy --> frequent seizures
- surgery removed his temporal lobes, including amygdala and almost all of the hippocampus
- epilepsy stopped but H.M. now suffered from anterograde amnesia - 8what was H.M. capable of and what no?- no deficit in executive functions
- working memory was still intact
- no deficits in memories expressed through performance, such as motor or cognitive skills
- capable of the mirror drawing task
- working implicit (nondeclarative) memory
- unable to remember verbal and nonverbal memory
- unable to remember post surgery information - 9what are the three key steps in learning and memory?encoding/acquisition, storage/consolidation, retrieval/remembering
- 10what is encoding?consists of the processes whereby experiences can alter the nervous system
--> alterations are called memory traces - 11what is storage?maintenance of memory traces over time
- 12what is retrieval?accessing of stored memory traces, which may lead to change in behavior and sometimes is associated with the conscious experience of remembering
- 13what is the working memory model by Baddeley & Hitch?instead of all information going into one single store, there are different systems/brain regions for different types of information
- visuospatial sketchpad: rehearsing visual/spatial information
- central executive: attentional guidance
- phonological loop: rehearsing auditory/speech information - 14explain a typical change detection paradigm to measure visual working memory- remember all colors in a sample array
- array disappears for a brief period (ca. 1 sec.)
- upon reappearance, either all colors are the same (no change) or one color has changed (change)
- indicate change or no change - 15what are the results of this task?- task is very easy up to four colors in the array
- when more items are presented, performance defines rapidly
--> the capacity of working memory seems to be limited to about four items - 16what does the long-term memory consist of?declarative (explicit) memory and non-declarative (implicit) memory
- 17what does declarative (explicit) memory consist of?episodic (events) and semantic (facts) memory
- 18what does nondeclarative (implicit) memory consist of?priming, skill learning and conditioning
--> expressed through performance and are independent of conscious awareness - 19which brain regions are crucial for declarative (explicit) memory?hippocampus and medial temporal lobe
- 20what is amnesia?memory loss, mostly due to brain damage
- 21retrograde amnesialoss of memories before the brain lesion
- 22anterograde amnesialoss of memory after the brain lesion
--> H.M. case - 23what is a double dissociation?two related mental processes are shown to function independently of each other
--> ex: Damage to neural structure A impairs memory type A but not memory type B;
Damage to neural structure B impairs memory type B but not memory type A ... - 24what is the case of K.F.?- damage to the left temporoparietal cortex
- impaired verbal working memory but declarative memory - 25what is the case of M.S.?- damage to the right occipital lobe
- impaired implicit memory; blind on the left eye
- normal working declarative memory - 26priming- change in the processing of a stimulus due to a previous encounter with the same or a related stimulus
--> in the absence of conscious awareness with the previous encounter - 27what are the three forms of priming?perceptual, conceptual and semantic
- 28what is perceptual priming? --> direct priming- test cue and target are perceptually related
- happens in sensory cortex
- study test format shifts: priming becomes weaker when the priming resembles the test cue less (different to episodic)
- unaffected of tasks that semantic processing (different to episodic) - 29what is repetition suppression?neuron in visual processing regions show a decreased level of firing when a novel visual stimulus is repeated
--> According to the sharpening theory only the neurons that carry the most critical
information about a stimulus become active when the stimulus is repeated - 30what is conceptual priming? --> direct priming- occurs when the test cue is conceptually/semantically related to the prime
- crucial brain area: left inferior frontal gyrus - 31example of conceptual priming- several words are presented
- task 1: classifying words in either abstract (e.g. honesty) or concrete (e.g. table)
- task 2: classifying words in either upper or lowercase
--> RESULTS: conceptual priming occurs in task 1 but not in task 2
-> if task 1is repeated (within-task), repetition suppression in the left IFG (Broca's area)
-> if task 1 follows task 2 (across-task), no repetition suppression - 32what is semantic priming? --> indirect priming- prime and target have different names but are semantically related (e.g. envelope & letter)
- purpose: facilitate tasks in everyday life, such as reading or solving problems
- crucial brain region: left anterior temporal lobe - 33example of semantic primingIn a typical semantic priming paradigm, participants make simple decisions about each word in a sequence, and response times are faster for words (e.g., nurse) that were preceded by semantically related word (e.g., doctor) than for words preceded by semantically unrelated words (e.g., shoe).
- 34skill learning- gradual changes in behavior due to extensive practice
--> ex: play an instrument, ride a bike...
- complex abilities require fast and accurate integration of motor, perceptual and cognitive skills - 35what brain area is crucial for skill learningbasal ganglia
--> independent of the medial temporal lobe and hippocampus - 36what are the different types of skill learning?perceptual, motor and cognitive skill learning
- 37what is motor skill learning?- lifelong learning, such as learning to sit, crawl and walk as a baby; dealing with the weaker older body...
- 38name two types tasks used to measure skill learning- serial reaction time task (SRT)
- motor adaptation task - 39explain the serial reaction time task (SRT)- four screen locations with four buttons of each
- task: press the button as fast as possible upon stimulus presentation
--> unknown: the presentation follows a repeated sequence
- RESULTS: generally, practice leads to faster responses; when the order of the stimulus follows a structured sequence, response time is even faster - 40which brain areas are active during the STR?- early learning phase: performance improves rapidly within a single training session
--> motor skill learning network (SMA, premotor, basal ganglia, cerebellum, parietal cortex)
- later learning phase: performance improves slowly over multiple practice sessions
--> reduced activity in the motor skill learning network -> reflecting reduced demand for error correction - 41explain the motor adaption task- task: move towards a target, while a force field is present during the execution of the movement
--> after some practice, accurate movement toward the target
- TMS interference to parietal cortex: worse performance after having learned the task - 42which brain area is crucial for motor adaption task?parietal cortex
- computes adjustment in movement that is needed to counteract the force field
- computes transformation of visual information to motor movement - 43what is perceptual skill learning?- improvements in processing perceptual stimuli that are identical or similar to stimuli that have been repeatedly encountered
--> ex: language comprehension, reading...
+ mirror reading/writing/drawing - 44what brain areas is crucial for perceptual skill learning?basal ganglia and sensory cortex
--> independent of medial temporal lobe and hippocampus - 45explain the "greebles" task for perceptual skill learning- "greebles" are meaningless 3D objects
- training to recognize exemplars of different families of greebles
--> RESULTS: novices show no fusiform face area (FFA) activation; after training, experts show activation of FFA - 46why is the fusiform face area (FFA) activated during the greebles task?FFA is involved in visual expertise rather than being specialized for faces only
--> car and bird experts have FFA activity to their objects of expertise
--> however: faces still have highest FFA activity - 47what is cognitive skill learning?problem-solving tasks in which subjects are required to use various cognitive skills to solve it
- 48what is an example of a cognitive skill learning task?probabilistic classification learning: participants learn to classify stimuli on the basis of statistical information
--> weather prediction task - 49explain the weather prediction task- using cards, subjects need to predict weather outcome
--> a card predicts one kind of weather but not with 100% accuracy (probabilistic)
- subjects receive feedback on weather forecast accuracy after each trial
--> RESULTS: over many trials their prediction accuracy slowly improves - 50what brain area does the task depend on?basal ganglia
--> parkinsons patients are bad in this task
--> independent of medial temporal lobe and hippocampus -> amnesia patients are capable of this task - 51what is the difference between weather prediction task and paired association task?WP: pairs of cards probabilistically predict weather outcome
--> requires cognitive learning skills; basal ganglia
PA: intentional learning of association pairs of cards and the words "rain" or "sun"
--> requires declarative memory; medial temporal lobe - 52what are the two forms of conditioning?classical condition and operant conditioning
- 53how does classical conditioning work?1. conditioned stimulus (CS) is initially neutral
--> CS: bell -> no response
2. unconditioned stimulus (US) evokes a reflex
--> US: food -> response salivation
3. as the CS is presented repeatedly before the US, an association is formed
4. now the reflex (CR) also occurs to the CS - 54what brain area is involved in classical conditioning?cerebellum and amygdala
- 55what is delay conditioning?the CS is still present when the US starts and the two terminate at the same time
--> cerebellum - 56what is trace conditioning?there is a brief time interval between the end of the CS and the start if the US
--> hippocampus -> no trace conditioning in amnesia patients
--> depends on awareness of CS-US contingencies
--> it's effectively a form of declarative rather than nondeclarative memory - 57explain the eye blink conditioning- a puff of air (US, elicits blink) is paired with a tone (CS)
--> tone alone now elicits blinking
--> In trace but not in delay conditioning, CS must leave a memory trace in nervous system - 58what is operant conditioning?- by rewarding behavior, this behavior becomes more likely to occur
- by punishing its behavior, its likelihood decreases
- extinction: When the relationship between reward/punishment and behavior disappears, the conditioning effect fades away - 59what are the cellular and molecular levels of memory?all the forms of memory seem to depend on changes in neural connectivity and the relative strength of synaptic transmission
- 60what is meant by Hebbian learning?" cells that fire together wire together"
--> when presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons are simultaneously active (fire APs at the same time), the synaptic connection between them are strengthened - 61how do you study complex neuronal circuits and behavior?investigate memory mechanisms in an organism with fewer neurons and more limited behavioral repertoires
--> ex: sea slugs (only have a few thousand neurons; very large neurons) - 62what is habituation?reduced response when the same stimulus is repeated over and over
--> decreased neurotransmitter release with each touch
--> last only a couple of minutes -> therefore, model for short-term memory - 63what is sensitization?increased response to the habituated stimulus when it is paired with an aversive/negative stimulus
--> increased neurotransmitter release
--> last only a few minutes -> therefore, model for short-term memory - 64explain habituation and sensitization on sea slugs- sea slugs retract their gills when their siphon (a kind of water jet) is touched
- when this is done repeatedly, habituation occurs
- when the siphon is touched and an aversive stimulus (shock at the tail) is delivered simultaneously, sensitization occurs - 65what happens with repeated tail shocks over long periods?repeated tail shocks over longer periods trigger gene expression, new protein synthesis, and the formation of new synaptic connections
--> results in enhancement of the gill withdrawal reflex
--> lasts for a couple of weeks -> therefore, model for long-term memory - 66what is long-term potentiation (LTP)?after a high frequency burst to presynaptic pathway 1, the postsynaptic neuron exhibits stronger responses to pathway 1
--> specific to the stimulated pathway (no change in response to pathway 2) -> highly selective
--> increased sensitivity of the stimulated pathway is long-lasting -> LTP - 67what are the properties of LTP?- occurs even after one burst ("one-shot learning" possible)
- LTP can last for weeks
- specificity: learning is very specific ( only synapses that receive stimulation show LTP)
- associativity: learning is associative; If
weak and strong inputs arrive simultaneously at target neuron, the two inputs become associated with each other via the output of the target cell - 68what is long-term depression (LTD)?- works similar to LTP, but with electrical bursts of very low frequency
--> weakening of synapses, can counteract with LTP - 69example of LTP, Morris water maze- Rats in a stimulus-rich “enriched” (toys
etc.) or new (e.g. “Morris water maze”) environment --> lots of LTP occurs
- In knock-out mice, where gene crucial for LTP is eliminated , no (spatial)
learning happens anymore --> no LTP
--> Morris water maze: control mice searched for the platform hidden in the water tank, only near the location where it had been located in previous trials; knock-out mice searched widely for the platform (indicating little spatial memory) - 70LTP in auditory fear conditioning- focus on the pathway connecting the thalamus with the amygdala
--> found that electrical stimulation of this pathway gave rise to LTP in the amygdala
--> synaptic responses in the same nucleus are enhanced by natural auditory stimulation - 71what are structural changes as consequences of learning?1. larger spine neck; increase in number of presynaptic vesicles, postsynaptic receptors and ribosomes
2. develop separate synaptic zones divided by a wall or a cleft
3. a single spine can divide in two
4. New dendritic spines appear 1 hour after a stimulus that induces LTP
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- Psychology (Neuroscience interim exam 4) Flashcards on Chapter 8: Memory - Varieties and Mechanisms , created by Johanna Hellwig on 08/12/2022.
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