Ch 9: Memory

Question 1

memory

Answer 1

outcome of learning

Question 2

**

Answer 2

**Learning and memory involve cellular and circuitry changes in the nervous systems

Question 3

diff types of memory organized by

Answer 3

types of info, time courses, storage capacities, (un)consiciousness, brain circuits

Question 4

three stages of processing

Answer 4

1. Encoding (acquisition and consolidation)
2. Storage (retention of memory traces)
3. Retrieval (access to stored memory traces)

Question 5

amnesia

Answer 5

memory loss, mostly due to brain damage

Question 6

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 6

loss of memory before brain lesion

Question 7

Ribot’s law

Answer 7

retrograde amnesia is greatest for most recent memories
- early childhood memories are last to leave them
i.e. long-term memories are stored somewhere else (more robust)
see later: long-term memory traces distributed over whole cortex

Question 8

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 8

loss of memory after the brain lesion (problems encoding or consolidation)

Question 9

H.M.

Answer 9

most famous amnesia patient with severe anterograde amnesia after bilateral hippocampus lesion

preserved short-term memory (e.g. digit span)
impaired declarative long-term memory (anterograde amnesia)
→ double dissociation

Question 10

Double dissociation:

Answer 10

Damage to an area A impairs memory type A but not type B, while damage to area B impairs memory type B but not type A → strongest evidence for distinct systems (see later)

Question 11

types of memory

Answer 11

declarative: episodic, semantic
nondeclarative: procedural (skills), perceptual (priming), classical conditioning, nonassociative learning (habituation/sensitization)

Question 12

**sensory memory has high capacity, while short-term (verbal) memory has limited capacity

Question 13

describe the process of encoding, storign and retrieving a memory

Answer 13

sensory info → sensory buffers (memory) → encoded into short-term memory (unconscious and limited compared to sensory) → working memory (like a type of short term memory) → consolidation into long-term storage → retrieval back into working memory → performance

Question 14

decay

Answer 14

loss of infrotmation in short-term memory

Question 15

at all stages, loss of info, name the types:

Answer 15

• decay
• comeptition betw items (limit capacity)
• interference (diff memories w each other)

Question 16

Two different forms of sensory memory:

Answer 16

echoic (auditory)
iconic (visual)

Question 17

echoic memory traits

Answer 17

persistence
- unattended auditory info persists like an echo (see textbook for e.x.)

high capacity and accessed when attended

memory trace lasts up to 10s

Question 18

iconic memory traits

Answer 18

persistence:
- unattended visual info persists like an “informational” afterimage

high capacity partially accessed when attended (partial report)

memory trace lasts 300-500ms

limit is 4 items

Question 19

SPERLING PARADIGM

Answer 19

• grid of letters flashed for 5-500ms (3x4)
• interstimulus interval of 0-1000ms
• “whole report”: report as much as you can (4 items)
• “partial report”: plays high, medium, or low row corresponding to the row they need to report on
  report on avg 3-4 items from cued row

partial report advantage
- much more was stored in visual system and only when attended can report

Question 20

whole report measures…

Answer 20

short term memory

Question 21

partial report measures…

Answer 21

sensory memory

Question 22

the modal memory model

Answer 22

hierarchical, serial model of memory

• attention moves items from sensory to short-term
• rehearsal moves short-term to long-term
  info lost by decay or interference

Question 23

**debate over modal model

Answer 23

does info have to be encoded into short-term memory before being stroed in long-term? i.e. is it really serial??
evidence against modal model from neuropsychological patients

Question 24

patient K.F.

Answer 24

w left parietooccipital damage

• impaired verbal short-term memory (e.g. measures of digit, letter, and word span)
• normal declarative long-term memory (e.g. learning ten words, 7 still remembered after 2 months)

→ single dissociation
Brain area X and task A are associated, whereas brain area X and task B are dissociated
interpretation problematic

Question 25

Baddelay and Hitch working memory model

Answer 25

central executive, visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop - different brain circuits for the two stores depending on type of info - can store visual while storing verbal info (very well supported)

Question 26

visuospatial sketchpad (a.k.a. visual short-term memory)

Answer 26

rehearsal via visual code (rather than visual or semantic) → visuospatial working memory

Question 27

phonological loop (a.k.a. working verbal memory):

Answer 27

rehearsal via acoustic code→ visuospatial working memory - e.g. confusing words that sound the same in short-term memory

Question 28

verbal memory brain area

Answer 28

left inferior frontal (BA44) i.e. around Broca's

Question 29

Spatial memory brain area

Answer 29

right (fronto)parietooccipital

Question 30

long-term memory ((non)declarative) brain area

Answer 30

e.g. cerebellum, basal ganglia, amygdala, cortex

Question 31

serial reaction time early learning phase:

Answer 31

motor skill learning network (premotor, SMA, basal ganglia, cerebellum, parietal cortex)

Question 31

**Serial reaction time task (SRT)

Answer 31

press corresponding button as fast as possible upon a stimulus presentation (light) structured/repeated (S) or random (R) sequence ppl not aware of the structure of the repeated sequence but get faster for the structured sequences intact in anterograde amnesia!!

Question 32

serial reaction time later learning phases:

Answer 32

reduced activity in this network (reduced demands for error correction) - less demand to improve consciously the motor action

Question 33

priming

Answer 33

- change in the processing of a stimulus given prior experience with that or a related stimulus - in absence of intentional memory strategies

Question 34

types of priming

Answer 34

1. perceptual priming (passive see: dalmation photo) 2. a) conceptual priming b) semantic priming

Question 35

perceptual priming

Answer 35

- word fragment completion task - hours to month - intact in anterograde amnesia (H.M.) i.e. intact in declarative long-term memory lesions - unconscious, relies on diff brain structures, diff storage capacities etc. double dissociation: patient M.S. (right occipital lobe damage) with intact episodic memory but no visual priming blindsight (respond to stimuli they claim not to see)

Question 36

Conceptual priming

Answer 36

test cue is conceptually/semantically related to prime example: category-association test present new word and have to generate semantically related words related to e.g. stationery if prime was envelope → envelope likely to be mentioed

Question 37

Semantic priming

Answer 37

**very similar don’t worry too much about diff w conceptual priming prime and target are diff stimuli (words) from same category example: simple speeded decisions on words are faster for semantically related prime-target pairs e.g. faster in responding to “nurse” than “house” if prime was “doctor” assumes that semantic memory is organized in assoc networks

Question 38

semantic effects rely on ....

Answer 38

**need to know for exam primarily anterior temporal pole (area)

Question 39

Declarative Long-term Memory

Answer 39

relies on medial temporal lobe!!

Question 40

**MTL damage impairs encoding of long-term memories more than storage

Question 41

Patient R.B.: Anterograde amnesia, only mild retrograde amnesia

Answer 41

- Postmortem analysis: seemingly intact hippocampi (in contrast to H.M. large lesions) - But selective lesions to CA1 region of hippocampus with CA1 pyramidal cells important for memory encoding

Question 42

fMRI repetition suppression/fMRI adaptation:

Answer 42

same neurons activating one word and its related word → weaker activity (bc already activated from prev word, i.e. adapted) but if two unrelated words activate two diff sets of neurons → greater activation hence the anterior lateral temporal area must encode semantic relatedness

Question 43

Distinct temporal lobe regions for episodic and semantic memory

Answer 43

- encoding ep memories: hippocampus CA1 region in MTL - semantic memory: lateral cortex of anterior temporal lobe not involving hippocampus

Question 44

Semantic dementia:

Answer 44

isolated retrograde amnesia anterior temporal lobe damage: loss of semantic knowledge - episodic memory is intact, can learn new episodic info - anterior temporal lobe may not be involved either in storage or retrieval of semantic knowledge **remember: anterior lateral temporal cortex in semantic priming

Question 45

Subsequent memory paradigm (encoding)

Answer 45

- measure brain activity during encoding of items test memory for those items later outside of the scanner - analyze imaging data collected as a function of remembered vs. forgotten items greater MTL activity for remembered vs. forgotten items during encoding **WILL BE ON EXAM

Question 46

episodic recollection:

Answer 46

correctly identifying an item as encountered before (incl. context i.e. what where when and with whom it happened)

Question 47

familiarity-based (non-episodic) recognition:

Answer 47

merely identifying an item as being familiar

Question 48

Hippocampus activity during retrieval

Answer 48

hippocampus only for correct episodic recollection but not for familiarity-based recognition

Question 49

***familiarity-based recognition in ____

Answer 49

perirhinal cortex

Question 50

MTL involvement in stage so fmmeory processing

Answer 50

Encoding (acq and consol.): involv MTL Storage (ret. memory traces): not nec MTL, primarily neocortex Retriveal (access to stored memory traces): involv MTL

Question 51

Retrieval reactivates sensory association cortex

Answer 51

suggests info stored in long-term memory is retrieved by reactivation of neocortical areas **can look at encoding and retrieval but not storage in MRI scans

Question 52

**false memories lakc sensory details

Question 53

Retrieval of true vs. false memories

Answer 53

only true memories: hippocampus + sensory cortex false memories: frontoparietal areas (top-down mechanism)

Question 54

Standard theory of consolidation

Answer 54

- Neocortex is key - hippocampus --> neocortex --< intracortical connections, hippocampus no longer necessary - Ribot’s law: more recent events have not completed the consolidation process yet **See p46 for diagram

Question 55

Multiple trace theory:

Answer 55

Hippocampus remains key - episodic memory also relies on the hippocampus for retrieval - repeated memory retrieval creates new memory traces involving the hippocampus - Ribot’s law: remote events have more traces as they have been retrieved more often *See p46 for diagram

Question 56

Hebb’s law:

Answer 56

“Cells that fire together, wire together”

Question 57

Hebbian learning

Answer 57

strengthening of synaptic connections when a weak and a strong input act on a neuron at the same time

Question 58

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

Answer 58

artificially induce repeated stimulation, and deliver single burst after response will be stronger than before stimulation - specific to stimulated pthway - sensitivity is long-lasting - long-term depression happens w very low-freq bursts→ weakening of synapses

Question 59

properties of LTP

Answer 59

- can happen after one burst (“one-shot learning” possible) and can last for weeks - associative: weak inputs are potentiated when co-occuring at the same target neuron w strong inputs (and inputs become assoc) form circuits → form base of memory trace **best studied in lateral nucleus of amygdala in rats that are fear conditioned → plastic (also in hippocampus) LTD: long-term depression **remember this and LTP!!