Chapter 13

Retrograde amnesia

loss of memories formed before onset of amnesia

Anterograde amnesia

is the inability to form memories after onset
of a disorder. Patients with this type of amnesia can learn to read mirror-reversed text, a verbal task

Declarative memory

facts and information acquired through learning that can be stated or described; used to answer “what” questions

Nondeclarative (procedural) memory

shown by performance rather than recollection; used to answer “how” questions

Korsakoff’s syndrome

is a degenerative disease of memory
deficiency caused by damage to mammillary bodies, dorsomedial thalamus, and frontal cortex, due to lack of thiamine—seen in chronic alcoholism.

Priming

a change in stimulus processing due to prior exposure to the stimulus

What types of learning are associated with the basal ganglia

sensorimotor, perceptual, and cognitive

Classical conditioning

a neutral stimulus, repeatedly paired with a stimulus that elicits a response, begins to elicit the response of the stimulus when presented alone.

Operant Conditioning

an association is made between a behavior (the instrumental response); and the consequences of the behavior (the reward)

Short Term Memory

usually last about 30 seconds, or throughout rehearsal.

Long-term memories

last days, weeks, months, or years

Reconsolidation

is the return of a memory trace to stable, long-
term storage after recall.

Place Cells

A neuron in the hippocampus that selectively fires when the animal is in a particular location.

Nonassociative learning

involves only one stimulus

Tetanus

Causes presynaptic neurons to produce a high rate of action potentials. Postsynaptic neurons respond by producing larger EPSPs

long-term potentiation (LTP)

a stable and enduring increase in the effectiveness of synapses