Neuroscience Quiz 3 Flashcards

Consistent Environmental Mappings

Internal processing of one's space with respect to

- absolute reference

- ease of predictability

- lower errors in judgment with increased exposure

- Allignment of object data without contradictions

Inconsistent Environmental Mappings

Internal mapping with cognitive disparities, caused by

- focusing on one's location due to unfamiliarity

- high cognitive loads

- directional unawareness

- confusing environmental visual cues (shitty architecture)

Single vs. Dual Tasks (auditory/visual)

Inconsistent stimuli exposure to either or both sides of the sensory processing fields

- attending to information/discriminating one side

- only brief recollection of both stimuli,

Stroop Task

A task invented in which a subject sees a list of words (color terms) printed in an ink color that differs from the word named. The subject is asked to name the ink colors of the words in the list and demonstrates great difficult in doing so, relative to a condition in which non-color words form the stimuli

Attentional Maps (four kinds)

- bottom-up/salience maps

- top-down priority

- Value/History of Rewards

- Instruction map

Bottom-Up/Salience Maps

Maps that predict attention based on low-level visual features like contrast to environment, colors, intensity of light, and physical orientation

Top-Down/Meaning Maps

Maps that capture spacial distribution of semantic value and conceptual relevance within a scene

Priority Maps

Neural representative maps that integrate goals and attentional shifting based on objectives determined by the frontal lobe

Instructional Maps

Placing the main focus on core concepts, cognitive focusing on relevant data based on discrimination from irrelevant in "surrounding area"

Univariant analysis

Operation of action dedicated to single functional area; single electrical signal strength

Multivariant analysis

Statistical method used to decode mental states via examination of distributed patterns of activity in the brain (as opposed to looking at specific neuron locations)

Voxels

Small cube-shaped areas in the brain used in the analysis of data from brain scanning experiments.

Muscle Memory System

Transient Memory:

- Short Term Memory

- Sensory Information

Long Term Memory:

1. Declarative Memory:

1a. episodic

1b. semantic

2. Non-Declarative Memory:

2a. Conditioning

2b. Learned Skills

2c. Priming

Long-Term Memory Aspects

Declarative & Nondeclarative Memory

transient memory aspects (2)

STM & Sensory Information

Serial Position Effect

Combination of the primacy effect (episodic memory) and recency effect

Tendency for people to remember the first and last things in a sequence

Working Memory Model

- Central Executive: judgement, control of focus, attention redirection

- Phonological Loop: auditory information repetition of spoken works

- Visual Spacial Sketchpad: shapes, colors, and object spacial placement in time and space

Thorndike's Law of Shared Elements

The concept that overlap in one's practiced skills and skills one hopes to learn has a correlation; overlap in target skill and acquired skill will contribute to learning process

Critical Periods

Preprogrammed time periods during childhood in which development of specific skills are mandatory, and non-exposure of these skills is irreversible

Sensitive Periods

times in development when a person is particularly open to certain kinds of experiences towards one's overall development, however experiences can be supplemented later in life

Retrograde Amnesia

an inability to retrieve information from one's past while still forming memories

Anterograde Amnesia

an inability to form new memories while still retaining memories prior to one's incident resulting in brain damage

Declarative Memory (Explicit Memory)

memories that can be consciously accessed and, hence, can typically be declared; semantic, episodic

Non-Declarative Memory (Implicit Memory)

memories that cannot be consciously accessed (e.g. procedural memory); Skills, conditioning, priming

Semantic Memory

a network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

Episodic Memory

the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

Working Memory Modalities

- Central Executive

- Phonological Loop

- Visual Spatial Sketchpad

- Episodic Buffer

Dichotic Listening Taslk

Attention focused on auditory information from one side and discrimination of auditory information on the other; measured based on subject repetition from measured side

Hippocampus functionality proof via rat studies

Tone / Light = trigger from reward

Tone + Light = no reward

Combination of stimuli *not* processed as discriminate of rewarding stimuli (standalone)

Mental Maps

Maps that people create in their minds, based on their own experience and knowledge, as well as environmental cues leading to awareness of time and spacial position

The S-R (Stimuli-Response) Behaviorism Theory

The theory that behavior is a direct connection between environmental triggers and physical reactions; the environment determines how an organism will react

Classic Conditioning

Physical response elicited from a neural connection between natural response and learned-trigger; Pavlov's dog

Operant Conditioning

Response magnitude/frequency determined by consequence (reward/punishment) of one's actions

"Place" Cells (hippocampal center)

Neural cells firing in response to an organism's specific location respective to past experiences; provides recognition of cues/meaningful locations

"Grid"Cells (Entorhinal Cortex)

Neural cells firing in response to multiple regular locations repeating to form a hexagonal grid pattern in a space; provides a metric grid for measuring distance; Context dependent

Integrated Pathways

Metaphorical hypotenuse between one's location and destination based on experience traveling between the two points; internal compass pointing towards where you have to go; doesn't always align with route

Consolidation process

moving memories from short term to long term; to make "solid" via hippocampus interacting with other cortices

Simple Consolidation Theory

Similar stimuli are processed structurally closer together in the brain, and move from the hippocampus (STM) to other cortices (LTM)

Brain Structures involved in Memorization

- Hippocampus

- Amygdala

- Prefrontal Cortex

- Entorhinal Cortex

- Cerebellum/Basal Ganglia

- Thalamus

Entorhinal Cortex

an area of the medial temporal cortex that is a major source of neural signals between the hippocampus

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

a process whereby communication across the synapse between neurons strengthens the connection, making further communication easier; occurs primarily in the hippocampus

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

an anxiety disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, anxiety, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience; processed by the amygdala and hippocampus

Korsakoff's Syndrome

Occurring with chronic alcohol abuse + vitamin B1 deficiency, affecting the thalamus and hippocampus, results in severe memory deficits and anterograde amnesia

Amygdala

A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and traumatic memory processing; responsible for flashbulb memories

Alzheimer's Disease

Progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline; hierarchal affection of memory systems, starting with STM/reaction time, moving towards LTM decline; accumulation of amyloid plaques and neuronal fibrillary tangles in brain

Encoding

the processing of information into the memory system; turning raw information into interpretable signals

Properties of Long-Term Memory

- Dynamic

- Strengthened by frequency access

- Reconfigurable

Hierarchical neural clusters with strong connections via synapses

Stages of Brain Development (as neural cells)

Organoid Development

1. Neurogenesis and migration of specialization

2. Neurite genesis/growth

3. Programmed cell death/pruning

4. Synaptogenesis

Mechanisms of Closure of Critical Periods

5. Synaptoplasticity/synaptogenesis

6. Metaplasticity

7. Frontal cortex development/inhibition

8. Maturation of cortex

9. Myelination

The Process of Memorization (closed loop between STM + LTM)

1. Stimuli exposure into senses

- Stimuli is either attended to or disregarded

2. Short-Term Memory

- if exposure is not rehearsed, memory is pruned

3. Encoding

- concept of stimuli is represented neurologically

4. Long-Term Memory

Entering LTM (what contributes?)

- Repetition

- incidental learning condition

- semantic processing / contextual placement

***(NOT on the test) Cognitive Process of Memorization

1. Begin processing

2. Encoding

3. Retention

4. Rehearsal Test

5. Retrieval

6. Decoding

7. Repetitive Memory Test

Repression of Memories

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that removes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and traumatic memories

Childhood Amnesia / Infantile Amnesia

the inability to remember events from early childhood due to underdevelopment of major brain structures involved in memory processing/storage; pre-hippocampus age

Childhood Trauma Repression reason

Children before specific ages don't have schematic categories to encode traumatic/ abusive events

Orientation tasks

Tasks involving the processing of stimuli with respect to space, time, the individual, and visual lines

- mental rotation

- spacial reorientation/navigation

State-Dependent Learning / Mood Congruent Memory

The state in which an organism is in when processing new information is a determining factor in the retention of that information

encoding specificity principle

the idea that cues and contexts specific to a particular memory will be most effective in helping us recall it

Incidental Learning Conditions

Situations of unintentional learning conditions; knowledge or skills are acquired as a *byproduct* of primary activity, as opposed to conscious memorization