Mind, Brain, and Memory – Lecture on the Medial Temporal Lobe Memory System

These vocabulary flashcards cover the key brain structures, memory systems, and technical terms discussed in the lecture on how the hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal lobe areas contribute to explicit and implicit memory processes.

Hippocampus

Seahorse-shaped brain structure in the medial temporal lobe that serves as a super-convergent zone, indexing and initially consolidating explicit (declarative) memories.

Implicit Memory

Type of long-term memory expressed through performance (skills, habits, conditioning, priming) without conscious awareness; intact in patients with hippocampal damage.

Explicit (Declarative) Memory

Conscious, verbalizable long-term memory that relies on the hippocampus and rhinal cortex; includes semantic and episodic memory.

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new explicit long-term memories after brain damage (e.g., Henry Molaison); implicit learning remains possible.

Procedural Memory

Subtype of implicit memory involving learned motor or cognitive skills (e.g., playing piano, riding a bike).

Working Memory

Short-term, limited-capacity system for temporarily holding and manipulating information (e.g., repeating a phone number); independent of hippocampus.

Medial Temporal Lobe Memory System

Network including the hippocampus and rhinal cortex that supports the formation and retrieval of explicit memories.

Rhinal Cortex

Collection of cortical areas (entorhinal, perirhinal, parahippocampal) acting as convergent zones linking cortical input to the hippocampus.

Parahippocampal Cortex

Rhinal sub-area specialized for encoding and recognizing environmental scenes and contexts.

Perirhinal Cortex

Rhinal sub-area important for visual recognition memory of individual objects and faces (non-spatial).

Entorhinal Cortex

Rhinal sub-area serving as the main hub between neocortex and hippocampus; supports spatial maps, consolidation, and contains place cells.

Convergent Zone

Brain region where information from multiple cortical areas comes together for integration (e.g., perirhinal cortex).

Super-Convergent Zone

Higher-order hub receiving input from several convergent zones; the hippocampus functions as one for explicit memory.

Neurogenesis

Formation of new neurons, prominent prenatally but continuing at low levels in adulthood, especially in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus.

Synaptogenesis

Creation of new synaptic connections, peaking around age two and supporting early brain plasticity.

Episodic Memory

Subtype of explicit memory for personally experienced events tied to specific times and places.

Semantic Memory

Subtype of explicit memory for facts and general knowledge (e.g., vocabulary, historical dates).

Prosopagnosia

Impairment in recognizing familiar faces due to fusiform face area (FFA) damage; object recognition remains intact.

Fusiform Face Area (FFA)

Specialized region in the fusiform gyrus critical for facial recognition.

Place Cells

Neurons in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex that fire when an animal is in, or thinking about, a specific location.

Consolidation

Process by which fragile new memories become stable, long-term traces, often during sleep; decreases hippocampal dependence over time.

Nomadic Memory

Concept that memory traces ‘migrate’ over time: recent memories rely on hippocampus, whereas older memories are stored in widespread cortical networks.

Indexer Function

Role of the hippocampus in pointing to (indexing) distributed cortical sites that collectively represent a memory.

Working-Memory Rehearsal

Active repetition to keep information in the phonological loop; unaffected by hippocampal damage.

Priming

Implicit memory effect where exposure to a stimulus influences response to a later stimulus without conscious guidance.

Anterograde vs. Retrograde Amnesia

Anterograde: inability to form new memories; Retrograde: loss of pre-existing memories—older remote memories are often spared due to reduced hippocampal dependence.