UNC NSCI 222 Unit 3

Priming

Definition: An implicit memory effect where exposure to a stimulus influences the processing or response to a subsequent stimulus without conscious intention. Mother —> 5 minutes later mot fill in the blank

Spatial Learning

Definition: The acquisition and mental representation of information concerning the physical layout, landmarks, and navigation pathways of an environment. Learning your route. HAPPENS IN HIPPOCAMPUS

Perceptual Learning

Definition: A long-lasting enhancement in sensory discrimination and feature detection capabilities as a consequence of practice or sensory experience. “I've seen/heard this enough that I can recognize it faster.”

Sensitization

Definition: A form of non-associative learning where exposure to a strong, novel, or noxious stimulus causes an increased responsiveness to subsequent stimuli. A gunshot goes off, so for a while you are extra alert to subsequent loud noises.

Habituation

Definition: A form of non-associative learning marked by a persistent decline in behavioral response magnitude following repeated exposure to an innocuous stimulus. Occurs quicker with weaker stimulus that happen more often think snoring.

Statistical Learning

Definition: The implicit process of extracting regularities, temporal patterns, and transitional probabilities from sensory input streams. Perceptual learning that happens without explicit training.

Novel Object Recognition

Definition: A memory paradigm that measures recognition memory based on an organism's innate preference to explore an unfamiliar item over a previously encountered one.

Dishabituation

Definition: The sudden recovery of a response that had previously decreased due to repeated exposure, triggered by the introduction of a novel or salient extraneous stimulus. despite being habituated to your roomates trumpet, when he strikes a bell before playing the habituation subsides.

Spontaneous Recovery

Undergo habituation, Take a break, come back and represent the stimulus and the response will come back. Coming back home from school and noticing the way your room smells despite normally never noticing.

large Place field

• The place cell fires across a larger area.

• The neuron's spatial representation is less precise.

• Example: cell fires throughout a large portion of the room

• “You're somewhere around HERE.”

Small Place field

• The cell fires in a smaller, more specific area.

• The neuron's spatial representation is more precise.

• Example: cell fires only when the rat is in a tiny corner.
  “You're standing RIGHT HERE.”

Dual Process theory

Definition: Repeated stimuli cause two processes to happen at the same time: habituation decreases the response, while sensitization increases the response. The behavior you actually show depends on the combination of both. You live next to a busy road. At first, the traffic noise bothers you. Over time, habituation causes you to respond less to the noise, but sensitization can keep you more alert because the loud sounds increase your arousal. Your overall response depends on which process is stronger.

Recording of Electrodermal Activity (EDA)!

EDA: Changes in the skin’s electrical conductivity that are

caused by fluctuations in the activity of the PNS

Neat way to study sensitization experimentally in humans

Familiarity

The perception of similarity that occurs when an event is repeated

The Human Somatosensory Cortex

Somatotopy: Cortical Maps of Sensations

On a cellular level, neurons with adjacent receptive fields are often found clustered close together

BUT: the receptive fields of neurons in sensory cortices can change over time

Cortical plasticity

The capacity for receptive fields & cortical spatial organization to change as a result of experience. After repeatedly practicing piano, the areas of the motor cortex responsible for controlling your fingers become more developed and better organized, making your finger movements more precise.

Retinotopy

The fovea: an area in the center of the retina with a high density of visual receptors Information from the fovea represents a disproportionately large proportion of V1 TL;DR re recive greater amounts of information about things in the center of our eyes

Recptive Field

The specific area of sensory space that causes a particular neuron to respond when stimulated.

A neuron in your somatosensory cortex may have a receptive field corresponding to a small area of your index finger. Touching that specific area increases the neuron's firing, while touching your pinky may have little or no effect.

Corticol plasticity during development

Developmental experiences have a HUGE effect on how neurons within sensory cortices respond to stimuli. People born blind, have the visual cortex of there brain allocated to sound or touch stimulation

Cortical Changes in Adults

Neuroimaging studies suggest that we can also retune neurons within adult sensory cortex A neuron in S1 can experience shrinkage of its receptive field to enable finer discrimination. TL;DR We can practice something to shrink the receptive field to get finer precision. Like the finger gap test.

Place cells

fire in response to specific features in a location

Grid Cells

Grid cells fire at regular intervals and help animals gauge distances

Head direction cells

Act as a compass for relative head position

Neurotransmitters Involved with habituation

Glutamate

Neurotransmitters Involved with Sensitization

Serotonin and Glutatamate