11- Learning, Memory, Amnesia

A collection of vocabulary flashcards based on lecture review questions regarding human memory disorders, animal models, and the neuroanatomical structures involved in learning and memory.

Implicit memories

Long-term memories that involve improved test performance without conscious awareness, such as in the case of H.M.'s mirror-drawing task.

Semantic memory

One of the two main categories of explicit long-term memory, the other being episodic memory.

Hippocampus, specifically CA1 subfield

The specific area where ischemia could result in transient global amnesia.

Medial diencephalon

The brain region where large lesions are typically associated with amnesia due to Korsakoff's syndrome.

Retrograde amnesia

The loss of memories for events that took place before a brain injury occurred.

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter whose depletion, caused by damage to the basal forebrain, may contribute to Alzheimer's amnesia.

Electroconvulsive shock

A method used to study memory consolidation by using large electrodes to induce seizures.

Engram

A memory trace formed each time a memory is recalled or a similar experience occurs, which makes that memory more difficult to forget.

Posttraumatic amnesia

A form of amnesia caused by a nonpenetrative head injury.

Fear conditioning

The type of conditioning, often involving rats, that is used in most research on memory reconsolidation.

Medial temporal lobe

The brain region where large lesions in monkeys result in deficits on the delayed nonmatching-to-sample test.

Hippocampus

A brain structure for which aspiration lesions are more efficient in rats than in monkeys due to its size and location.

Amygdala

A structure in the medial temporal lobe that, along with the hippocampus, is studied for its role in object recognition deficits in rats.

Reference memory

A type of memory that, alongside working memory, is significantly impaired in rats with hippocampal lesions.

Place cells

Neurons in the hippocampus that only respond when the subject is in particular locations.

Jennifer Aniston neurons

Also known as concept cells, these neurons are very selective and invariant, responding exclusively to concepts and ideas.

Cerebellum

The brain structure known for its role in the Pavlovian conditioning of the eye-blink response of rabbits.

Striatum

One of the main brain structures involved in the process of habit formation.

Prefrontal cortex

The area of the cortex where patients with lesions display deficits in working memory.

Inferotemporal cortex

The region of the cortex involved in the storage and retention of visual memories.