Chapter 17 - Learning and Memory

Question 1

Define learning and memory.

Answer 1

learning –> process that expresses as adaptive changes in behavior in response to experience
memory –> process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information about past experiences

Memory is necessary for learning to take place

Question 2

What happened to HM?

Answer 2

• Suffered from severe epilepsy
• Dr Scolville removed brain areas that they thought were causing the issues

Question 3

What did HM’s case teach us?

Answer 3

1. Could remember things for a short period of time –> long and short-term memory = different
2. No hippocampus –> no declarative memories –> hippocampus –> critical role in declarative memory formation
3. Retained memories from childhood –> hippocampus isn’t where long term memories are stored
4. Was able to form new procedural memories –> supported by other structures –> basal ganglia and cerebellum

Question 4

What type of memory answers “what” questions?

Answer 4

Declarative

Question 5

What type of memory answers “how” questions?

Answer 5

Nondeclarative (procedural)

Question 6

What did the mirror test show about HM’s memory?

Answer 6

He improved so his procedural memory was okay, but he couldn’t remember doing task, so his declarative memory was damaged

Question 7

What brain areas make up the hippocampal formation?

Answer 7

• Hippocampus
• Parahippocampal gyrus
• Subiculum
• Entorhial cortex

Question 8

Distinguish between anterograde and retrograde amnesia?

Answer 8

Retrograde - can’t remember things that happened before the accident
Anterograde - can’t form new memories after the accident

Question 9

Distinguish between procedural and declarative memory?

Answer 9

Declarative –> info that can be stated or described

Nondeclarative (procedural) –> things that can be shown by performance

Question 10

Declarative memories in monkeys

Answer 10

• Delayed non-matching-to-sample-task
• The subject is shown objects, and it has to choose the one it hasn’t seen before
• The treat is always under a new object and they change the place of the objects

Question 11

What happened to KC?

Answer 11

• Damage to the frontal and parietal cortex
• Severe shrinkage of the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex
• couldn’t retrieve personal (episodic) memories
• Still had generalized declarative memories
• E.g., couldn’t remember how he learned to play chess but he could play chess
• Cortex –> essential for long-term memory storage once they are formed

Question 12

2 subtypes of declarative memory

Answer 12

• Semantic - generalized memory
• Episodic - detailed autobiographical memory

Question 13

3 subtypes of nondeclarative memory

Answer 13

• Skill learning –> task requiring motor coordination
• Priming –> repetition priming –> change in stimulus processing due to prior exposure to the stimulus
• Associative learning –> association of two stimuli and a response

Question 14

What happens in classical conditioning vs operant conditioning?

Answer 14

Classical –> unconditioned response + conditioned stimulus (learning through repeated pairing of conditioned stimulus to unconditioned stimulus)
- Pavlov’s dogs

Operant conditioning –> association is made between a behavior and a consequence (reward or punishment)

Question 15

Why is forgetting (pruning) important for memory?

Answer 15

• LTM is meant to have us remember the important things, not everything
• We forget so that we can reserve cognitive resources for important information

Question 16

Describe LTM: encoding, consolidation and retrieval

Answer 16

• Encoding –> sensory information brought to STM/working memory
• Encoding –> Transfer from STM to LTM
• Retrieval –> taking info out of LTM

Question 17

How can you measure memory storage physiologically?

Answer 17

• Changes can be measured –> presynaptic, postsynaptic, or both
• Increased NT release
• Changes in NT-receptor interactions (upregulation)
  There changes increase the size of the PSP and strengthens the neural connection

Question 18

How can you measure memory storage structurally?

Answer 18

• Changes at synapse
• Synapses formed or eliminated
• Training might also lead to synaptic reorganization

Question 19

What did Donald Hebb propose?

Answer 19

• Cells that fire together wire together
• If a presynaptic neuron repeatedly activates a postsynaptic neuron, the synapse becomes stronger
• These cell essemblies can then act togetehr to store memories

Question 20

What is long-term potentiation (LTP)?

Answer 20

A stable and enduring increase in the effectiveness of synapses, which causes the addition of AMPA receptors on the postsynaptic membrane

Question 21

What is long-term depression?

Answer 21

Weakening of synaptic efficiency –> can also encode information by preventing synapses for being oversaturated

Question 22

Describe the experiment with rats that shows that living in simpler environments can have biochemical and anatomical brain changes.

Answer 22

Rats were placed in one of three conditions after weaning:
- Standard condition (SC)
- Impoverished condition (IP)
- Enriched condition (EC)

Rats in EC compared to those in IP showed:
- Heavier, thicker cortex
- Enhanced cholinergic activity (more muscle control and movement)
- Increased dendritic branches, with more dendritic spines, suggesting more synapses ( they measured levels of branching where 2 degree branch comes off the 1 degree branch)