memory systems exam 1

neurons

responsible for information transmission throughout the nervous system

cell body

contains nucleus and other biologic essentials to keep cell alive

dendrites

fibers that receive info from other neurons

axon

transmits signals through the neuron

axon terminals

end of the axon; send messages to a different neuron

hypothalamus

controls appetite, hormonal levels, and sexual behavior

neocortex

responsible for higher cognitive functions and the integration of sensory information

basal ganglia

involved in motor control and planning, as well as the imitation and termination of action

hippocampus

important for memory and learning of facts, sequences, and places

amygdala

responsible for anxiety, emotion, and fear

cerebellum

center for motor control and coordination

brain stem and spinal cord

important in the vomiting reflex and the sensation of pain

place cells

represent a map of the space around us; fire in specific locations as an animal explores an environment

place field

wherever place cells fire

entorhinal cortex contains

grid cells

hippocampus contains

place cells

global remapping

place cell changes its location of firing in a new environment

rate remapping

place cell changes the amount it fires in the same environment

grid cells either show

global realignment or rate realignment

splitter cells

represent spatial episodes; fire depending on an animal’s goal, some will fire when its goal is to go left and others will fire when its goal is to go right

time cells

cells that keep track of time; one cell fires for a few seconds, then the next cell and so on; seconds they spend firing are called their time fields

hippocampus is important for

consolidating recent memories (ie hours to a few days old)

prefrontal cortex (PFC) is important for

processing remote memories (ie weeks, months, years)

systems consolidation

process by which the hippocampus transfers memories to the PFC

memory extinction

process by which an organism learns to suppress (not erase) a memory; it is another form of learning

prelimbic cortex (PL) is highly active

during heightened states of fear, including the return of fear after extinction

infralimbic cortex (IL) is highly active

during the suppression of fear

memory reconsolidation

process of previously consolidated memories being recalled and actively consolidated again; serves to maintain, strengthen, and modify memories that are already stored in long-term memory

STM tested

a few minutes or hours after fear conditioning

LTM tested

24 hours or more later

anisomycin during consolidation blocks

STM

anisomycin during reconsolidation blocks

LTM

reconsolidation window

10 min or 6 hours (depends on person)

CREB does what to cells

activates them even more than normal

emotional conditioning is dependent on the

amygdala

declarative learning is dependent on the

hippocampus

BLA to NAc (ie amygdala to nucleus accumbens)

processes reward

BLA to CeM (ie amygdala to central amygdala)

processes fear

nose poking in animals

measure of reward

avoidance or running away

measure of fear

Rspo2 processes what

fear

Rspo2 is located where

front of the brain (anterior)

PPP1r1b processes what

reward

PPP1r1b is located where

back of the brain (posterior)

dorsal (or superior)

surface

ventral (or inferior)

below

anterior

forward

posterior

backward

who discovered place cells in hippocampus

john o’keefe

who discovered time cells

howard eichenbaum

retrograde amnesia

difficulty remembering past

anterograde amnesia

difficulty forming new memories

james-lange theory

emotion = response to physiological changes in the body

cannon-bard theory

emotions independent of emotional expression

patient S.M.

can perceive faces & recognizes faces but couldn’t characterize the emotion of fear; responses to pain impaired

patient H.M.

partial amygdala damage; responses to pain impaired & did not see stimuli as “painful”; impaired episodic memory, intact procedural memory, intact working memory

Kluver-Bucy syndrome

bilateral amygdala damage; study by lesioning; dampening of emotions

memory allocation process

biases where a memory goes in the brain

agonists

drugs that increase the activity of neurotransmitters

antagonists

drugs that decrease the activity of neurotransmitters

sagittal plane

left to right

transverse plane

top to bottom

declarative memory

explicit; events or facts (think declare facts)

procedural memory

skills; think procure skills

Hebb’s rule

neurons that fire together wire together

“who” neurons talked to study

green for reward, red for fear

“where” they’re located study

green for fear, red for reward