Wk 7: Colour spaces and pathology, memory and HM/clinical studies

Hippocampus

Critical for memory consolidation; important for forming long term memories.

Amnesia

Loss of memory, can be retrograde (forgetting past memories) or anterograde (inability to form new memories).

Retrograde Amnesia

Loss of memories prior to an event, involving temporal lobes and the hippocampus.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories after an event, affecting long term memory consolidation.

Types of Memory

Includes short term memory (STM) and long term memory (LTM).

Declarative Memory

Memory that can be consciously recalled, includes facts and autobiographical information.

Nondeclarative Memory

Memory that is not consciously recalled, includes procedural skills and conditioned responses.

Hebbian Learning

Cells that fire together wire together; principle underlying memory formation.

Consolidation

The process of stabilizing a memory trace after the initial acquisition.

Limbic System

Network of structures crucial for emotion, learning, and memory including the hippocampus and amygdala.

Sensory Encoding

The first stage of memory formation where sensory information is transformed into a form that can be processed.

Patient HM

A patient who suffered from anterograde amnesia after removal of part of his hippocampus.

Memory Stages

Includes encoding, consolidation/strengthening, storage, and retrieval.

Episodic Memory

Type of declarative memory that involves autobiographical events and experiences.

Semantic Memory

Type of declarative memory that includes general knowledge and facts.

Conditioning

A type of learning where an association is formed between two stimuli.

Korsakoff's Syndrome

Anterograde amnesia caused by vitamin B1 deficiency, often associated with confabulation.

Priming

A change in the processing of a stimulus that occurs due to prior exposure.

Cortex

Brain region important for the storage of long-term memories, particularly where information was first processed.

Working Memory

A temporary storage system that holds and manipulates information for cognitive tasks.

Skill Learning

Acquisition of motor skills through repeated practice.

Medial Temporal Lobe

Area of the brain crucial for declarative memory, specifically for memory encoding and consolidation.

Patient NA

A patient with anterograde amnesia from damage to the diencephalon, primarily affecting verbal material.