Evolution required what types of memory to be strong?
- Visual
- Spatial
aka How things look and Where they are
How do you take advantage of a strong visual system for non-visual imformation?
Create a visual image representing one key idea.
For instance for F=ma
a Flying Mule (ass)
How do visual images help memory?
Connects humdrum and hard to remember concepts to the power visual areas with enhanced memory abilities.
What does evoking more senses than just visual do?
Creates more neural hooks for memory.
To move an idea from working to long to term memory, the two key principles are:
- Idea should be memorable
2. Spaced repetition
What can help with repetition?
- Index cards
- Handwritten
- Repeated out loud
- Practicing over days, with increasing spacing
Explain the case of patient HM. (3 items)
- Had hippocampus removed from both sides of brain
- Profoundly amnesiac
- Could have a normal conversation but would forget you and the conversation if you left the remove for a few minutes.
How well did HM remember things that happened at different time periods?
- Could remember childhood
- Difficulty remembering years leading up to surgery
- No ability to store new events or facts in long-term memory
Name two surprising things about long-term memory storage illustrated by HM.
- It takes years to solidify memories of events. (Had trouble remembering recent years before surgery)
- There are different memory systems for different types of learning (he could learn new motor skills)
Where does the word “hippocampus” come from?
- Shape of a seahorse
- Greek: hippos = horse
- Greek: kamps = sea monster
How is the hippocampus involved in memory?
Stores new memories in the cortex - memory consolidation.
What happens when you recall a memory?
- It changes in a process called reconsolidation
- The new context a memory is recalled in can change the old memory itself during reconsolidation
How does consolidation store a long term memory?
Takes the brain state in active memory and stores it by
modifying synapses on the dendrites of neurons
What are two times when reconsolidation occurs?
- After memory recall, when the dormant memory is brought in to working memory
- During sleep
What are astrocytes?
Most abundant glial cells in the brain.
What are the functions of astrocytes?
- Provide nutrients to neurons
- Maintain extracellular ion balance
- Involved with repair following injury
Describe an astrocyte physically.
- Has intricate arms that wrap around the neurons
- Embraces thousands of synapses
What are two facts that indicate that astrocytes may have a role in learning?
- Human astrocytes put into mouse brains helped mice learn faster.
- The only way Einstein’s brain was different from average was it had many more astrocytes.
Aside from creating a visual image, name three other memory techniques/tricks.
- Grouping (4 plants to kill vampires, Garlic, Rose, Hawthorn, Mustard - imagine a Graham cracker)
- Memorable sentences
- Memory palaces
Number can be remembered by associating them with:
- Memorable events
- The year someone close to you was born
- A numberical system you’re familiar with (e.g. 11.0 is a good time for the 100 m dash)
- The feeling you were or will be at an age
