Physiology - Hemispheric Specialization/Learning and Memory

B. Slurred, slow speech

Lesions in Broca’s area in the categorical hemisphere results in:

A. Inability to recognize face

B. Slurred, slow speech

C. Inability to understand visual information, especially printed word and pictures

D. Failure to recognize the emotional quality of another person's voice

B. The representational hemisphere cannot communicate with the categorical hemisphere

This happened to a split-brain patient, as shown in the video in class:

A. Interhemispheric transfer of information still possible through the intact corpus callosum in a split-brain patient

B. The representational hemisphere cannot communicate with the categorical hemisphere

B. Right frontal cortex

The emotional quality of one's voice (prosody) can be severely affected with lesions mainly in the:

A. Left frontal cortex (Broca’s area)

B. Right frontal cortex

C. Right posterior parietal cortex

D Left posterior parietal cortex

E. Both A and C

What is the effect of right hemispheric posterior parietal lesions on affective components of language comprehension?

A. Inability to comprehend emotional tone of other people’s voice or gestures

B. Patient develops a flat tone or voice, or expressive aprosodia

C. Inability to comprehend jokes

D. Both A and B

E. Both A and C

C. Right posterior parietal cortex

Hemineglect, in majority of cases, arises from lesions, mainly in the:

A. Left prefrontal cortex

B. Right prefrontal cortex

C. Right posterior parietal cortex

D. Left posterior parietal cortex

D. He cannot convert short-term memories into long-term memories

The case of Clive Wearing, a pianist, was a case of viral encephalitis which resulted in severe bilateral hippocampal damage. He had the following deficits:

A. He forgot his piano skills

B. He had global amnesia, forgetting who his wife is

C. His explicit memories were intact, while his implicit memories were lost

D. He cannot convert short-term memories into long-term memories

D. Both A and C

Declarative memory includes the following

A. Semantic memory

B. Skills and habits

C. Episodic memory

D. Both A and C

E. Both B and C

E. All of the given choices are correct

Long-term potentiation include(s):

A. Glutamate as principal excitatory neurotransmitter

B. NMDA receptor activation by glutamate and glycine

C. Glutamate activation of Kainate (and AMPA) receptors

D. Ca++ influx, and Nitric oxide in early phase; also protein synthesis in late phase

E. All of the given choices are correct

Cerebral cortex

What is the outer layer of the brain responsible for higher-order processing?

Neocortex

What type of cortex has 6 layers and makes up 90% of the human cerebral cortex?

Allocortex

Which cortex is evolutionarily older and has 3–4 layers?

Association fibers

What bundles interconnect regions within the same hemisphere?

Commissural fibers

What connects the two hemispheres and is often cut in split-brain patients?

False

T/F: The neocortex is unique to reptiles and amphibians.

True

T/F: Projection fibers carry signals between the cortex and the spinal cord.

False

T/F: Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas are both located in the right hemisphere.

True

T/F: The cortical columns are believed to perform discrete computing tasks.

False

T/F: White matter lesions do not affect communication between brain regions.

Learning

What is the psychological process of acquiring skills through experience?

Associative learning

Which type of learning involves changes due to experience, such as classical conditioning?

Sensitization

What type of learning involves increased response to a repeated stimulus?

Habituation

Which form of learning leads to reduced response to a repeated, harmless stimulus?

Striatum, cerebellum, motor cortex

What brain structures are critical in procedural learning?

False

T/F: Learning always involves conscious effort.

True

T/F: Reflex pathways are involved in both sensitization and habituation.

False

T/F: Habituation is a form of associative learning.

True

T/F: Skill acquisition is an example of non-declarative learning.

True

T/F: Repetitive experience enhances learning efficiency.

Working memory

Which memory system allows short-term retention of sensory data?

Declarative memory

Which memory system involves facts and events?

Hippocampus

What brain structure is essential in converting short-term to long-term memories?

Procedural memory (non-declarative)

Which form of memory includes skills like riding a bike?

Semantic memory

Which memory subtype stores general knowledge and facts?

True

T/F: Episodic memory stores personal experiences.

False

T/F: Memory formation does not involve emotional processing

False

T/F: Long-term memory depends solely on the hippocampus.

True

T/F: Working memory is limited and temporary.

False

T/F: Alzheimer’s disease first affects semantic memory.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

Which cellular model involves strengthened synaptic communication?

Long -Term Depression (LTD)

Which process causes weaker synaptic connections to allow memory deletion?

Eric Kandel

Who won the Nobel Prize for work on habituation and sensitization in sea snails?

Basal ganglia-cerebellar loop

Which neural circuit is linked to procedural learning?

Glutamate

What is the primary neurotransmitter in LTP?

False

T/F: LTP occurs exclusively in the hippocampus.

True

T/F: Serotonin plays a role in short-term sensitization.

False

T/F: LTD enhances memory retention.

True

T/F: Protein synthesis is essential for late-phase LTP.

True

T/F: Synaptic plasticity underlies memory formation.

Glutamate and glycine

Which neurotransmitters activate NMDA receptors in LTP?

Nitric oxide (NO)

Which gaseous neurotransmitter acts as a retrograde signal in early LTP?

Hippocampus

Which brain region is central to LTP related to declarative memory?

NMDA receptor

Which receptor allows Ca²⁺ influx necessary for LTP?

One stimulus train

What type of stimulation induces early LTP?

False

T/F: Early LTP requires new protein synthesis.

True

T/F: LTP enhances synaptic transmission.

False

T/F: High-frequency stimulation induces LTD.

True

T/F: LTP contributes to both implicit and explicit memory systems.

True

T/F: Kainate receptors are involved in LTP.

Medial temporal lobe

Which lobe of the brain is essential for declarative memory formation?

Episodic memory

What memory subtype includes personal events?

Entorhinal cortex

Which brain structure links sensory input with memory storage?

Hippocampus

What structure is critically involved in spatial memory?

Neocortex

Which region stores consolidated declarative memories long-term?

True

T/F: Declarative memory is also called explicit memory.

False

T/F: The cerebellum is essential for forming declarative memories.

True

T/F: The medial temporal lobe includes the hippocampus and amygdala.

False

T/F: Semantic memory stores emotional experiences.

True

T/F: Consolidation of declarative memory involves the neocortex.

Patient HM

Which patient had severe anterograde amnesia after hippocampal removal?

Clive Wearing

Who lost the ability to form new memories due to herpes encephalitis?

Severe declarative memory loss

What condition results from bilateral removal of the medial temporal lobes?

Alzheimer’s Disease

Which disease initially affects the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex?

Procedural memory

Which function is preserved in H.M. and Clive Wearing?

True

T/F: H.M. could learn new motor skills.

False

T/F: Clive Wearing could remember recent events.

False

T/F: Alzheimer’s disease initially affects procedural memory.

True

T/F: H.M.’s short-term memory remained intact.

False

T/F: Temporal lobectomy impairs long-term procedural learning.

Corpus callosum

What structure is severed in split-brain patients?

Left hemisphere

Which hemisphere is typically dominant for language?

Right hemisphere

Which hemisphere processes spatial and facial information better?

Split-brain syndrome

What condition results from isolated hemispheric processing?

Right visual field

What visual field is processed by the left hemisphere?

False

T/F: Split-brain patients can verbally describe stimuli seen in the left visual field.

True

T/F: Each hemisphere can operate independently in split-brain patients.

False

T/F: The right hemisphere controls right-hand motor output.

True

T/F: Split-brain patients struggle with matching objects between hands.

False

T/F: Language comprehension is lateralized to the right hemisphere.

Left hemisphere

Which hemisphere is dominant for language in most people?

Right hemisphere

Which hemisphere specializes in emotional and spatial processing?

Facial recognition

What task is the right hemisphere superior at?

Left hemisphere

Which hemisphere handles analytical and logical functions?

Right hemisphere

What hemisphere is specialized in music perception?

True

T/F: Language production is lateralized to the left hemisphere in right-handed people.

False

T/F: The right hemisphere is better at arithmetic and calculations.

False

T/F: Both hemispheres process language equally.

True

T/F: Right hemisphere damage may cause spatial neglect.

True

T/F: Left hemisphere is dominant in most left-handed individuals.

Broca’s aphasia

Which aphasia involves impaired speech production but preserved comprehension?

Wernicke’s aphasia

Which aphasia involves fluent but meaningless speech?