PSYC 110 Exam 3 Review

Episodic Memory

memory for what happened when & where (mentally traveling back to reconnect with something in your past)

declarative memory

refers to semantic & episodic memory collectively

implicit memory

unconscious change, procedural knowledge, skills & priming

explicit memory

conscious recollection, recall, declarative knowledge & recognition

semantic memory

factual knowledge that doesn’t have specific personal experience

pavlovian (classical) conditioning

form of learning where organism, after one or more exposures to neutral stimulus followed by reward or threat, learns to associate stimulus to that reward or threat & acts accordingly

retrograde amnesia

loss of memories prior to trauma

anterograde amnesia

loss of ability to form new memories (like H.M.)

Patient H.M.

(medial temporal lobe removed to alleviate seizures) had amygdala, hippocampus, & parts of adjacent cortices surgically removed; developed anterograde amnesia for events in his life but retained some ability to learn new skills.

Patient E.P.

developed memory impairment following episode of herpes simplex encephalitis

present w: bilateral lesions of medial temporal lobe, severe anterograde amnesia, partial retrograde amenisia, immediate memory & non-mnemonic functions are spared

subiculum

part of hippocampus; receives strong projections form CA1 & projects to several subcortical targets as well as entorhinal cortex

hippocampus consists of

dentate gyrus, CA1, CA3, & subiculum

CA1

in hippocampus, “cornu amonts area 1”, receives strong inputs form CA3 & has robust projections to subiculum

CA3

in hippocampus, “cornu ammonisations area 3”, has robust projections to CA1

dentate gyrus

in hippocampus, part that in contrast to most other mammalian brain regions, exhibits high degree of adult neurogenesis

Hippocampus pathway

dentate gyrus→ CA3→ CA1

__________ involved in memory, learning and emotion; holds short term memories & transfers to long term storage in brains.

hippocampus

entorhinal cortex

cortical area that serves as bottleneck for information flowing into out or out of hippocampus, w which it is reciprocally interconnected

perirhinal cortex

cortical area that has reciprocal connections w entorhinal cortex * is needed for object recognition memory

amygdala

almond shaped structure in temporal lobe, major processing center for emotions & links them to memories ( electrical stimulation of lateral amygdala & perirhinal area 36 opens “gate” & spreads activity → entorhinal cortex → dentate gyrus)

recurrent collateral

axonal branch that projects back onto the neuron from which the axon originates

memory consolidation

hippocampus & neocortex (systems consolidation) process where hippocampus guide information stored in neocortex such that it eventually becomes independent of hippocampus

role of attention/ arousal/ emotion for enhancement of memory (recall & encoding)

attention allows information to be taken in and emotions tend to create stronger emotional events which are likely to be recalled more often with more clarity & detail.

Someone who has anterograde amnesia would have an inability to remember which of the following?

a) their mother’s name

b) how they drove to work that day

c) the location of the home they grew up in

d) all of the above

b) how they drove to work that day

Which of the following were important discoveries regarding learning and memory that patient H.M.

contributed to?

a) neuronal activity in the medial temporal lobes is necessary for recalling long-term memories

b) neuronal activity in the medial temporal lobes is necessary for procedural learning

c) neuronal activity in the medial temporal lobes is necessary for the formation of new episodic

memories

d) neuronal activity in the medial temporal lobes is necessary for performing cognitive tasks

c) neuronal activity in medial temporal lobes is necessary for the formation of new episodic memories

The hippocampus is necessary for __________, connecting memories of objects through space and time.

relational memory

Many CA3 neurons project to a dense network of additional neurons creating an

______________network of recurrent connectivity.

autoassociative

Cells that have “wired together” in a cell assembly can spread an input from a subset of neurons to the

entire assembly. This process is called_____________.

a) long term potentiation

b) pattern completion

c) Hebbian synapse

d) sequence learning

b) pattern completion

Memory consolidation requires relocation to the neocortex, which is termed ___________ consolidation.

systems

In rat experiments, it has been shown that the conditioned fear response is mediated predominantly by

the ___________, while the contextual fear response also involves the ______________ .

a) neocortex, amydala

b) hippocampus, amydala

c) amydala, hippocampus

d) thalamus, hippocampus

c) amygdala, hippocampus

hippocampus lesions impair recent memories much more than distant (old) memories resulting in __________.

retrograde amnesia gradient

model of memory in CA3 (recurrent collateral input)

CA3 receives input from 3 major pathways:

1. entorhinal cortex

2. dentate

   1. other CA3 neurons

projection from entorhinal cortex to neurons in dentate gyrus & CA3 is called the ____________ because it __________ the boundary between dentate and entorhinal cortex.

perforate path; perforates

entorhinal cortex (EC):

located in medial temporal lobe & is a network for memory, navigation & perception of time.

During __________, activation of just a few of previously active neocortical neurons activates hippocampal cell assembly, which then _________, at least to some extent, the pattern of neocortical activity that had been active during the original experience.

cued recall; reinstates

encoding

converting information into a form usable in memory

retrograde vs. anterograde amnesia

loss of memories prior to trauma vs. loss of ability to form new memories (like H.M.)

model of memory formation (hippocampal assembly)

neurons form entorhinal cortex project to dentate gyrus → CA3 → CA1 → subiculum which finally projects out of hippocampus to entorhinal cortex & several subcortical targets (e.g. amygdala, hyothalamus, etc.)

model of cued memory recall (reactivation, pattern completion)

cued recall includes reactivation & pattern completion in figure.

model of memory consolidation (hippocampus & neocortex) → systems consolidation

memory consolidation is the gradual strengthening of memories, the idea that memory consolidation involves relocation of memories to the neocortex

Fear Memory

in rat experiment, it has been shown that the conditioned fear response is mediated predominantly by the amygdala, while the contextual fear response also involves the hippocampus

replay of activity patterns during sleep

6 hoppocampal place cells recorded while rat was running, replay activity during slowaveo sleep just after running the 6 neurons fire in roughly the same sequence as they did during live running, replay activity occurred more frequently than expected by chance

voluntary attention

attention that can be directed at will; for example, when you are looking for a specific item in a cluttered scene or listening for a specific sound embedded in other sounds

involuntary attention

a form of attention in which external stimuli “grab” a person’s attention against their will or, in any case, without them having conscious control

parallel search

several stimuli attended to at the same time

serial search

only one stimulus attended to at a time

overt attention

moving the eyes to point at the location you’re focusing one

covert attention

improves perception, paying attention without moving eyes (ex: someone in martial arts might have trained themselves to attend to things that they are not directly looking at)

salience

“salient” means most noticeable or important; saliency map is a model of spatial attention and predicts attention well

superior colliculus

critical part in neural circuits underlying attention

Frontal Eye Field (FEF)

activity correlates with covert voluntary attention (located in frontal lobe); helps direct voluntary spatial attention

Parietal Eye Field (PEF)

correspond to the lateral intraparietal area of the monkey (located in parietal lobe)

Hemispatial neglect

characterized by inattention to left side of objects or the world; generally caused by lesion of inferior parietal and/or superior temporal cortex on right side of brain (ex. patient asked to copy drawings like a clock or flower, they tend to only copy right side of drawing

arousal

stage in sleep activity that is caused by a change in pattern of brain wave activity

• from deep sleep → light sleep or from sleep → wakefulness

slow-wave sleep

low frequencies in EEG

REM-sleep

waves are desynchronized, slow waves disappear

synchronization of EEG

large amplitude, low frequency waves

desynchronized EEG

smaller amplitude irregular EEG traces

locus coeruleus

LC activity responds to external stimuli (loud sounds, stepping on sharp objects, etc.); norepinephrine released

Thalamus

brain & body’s relay station located near the center of the brain

rhythmic oscillations

in cortical neurons, during slow-wave sleep comes from intrinsic neuronal rhythms as well as looping interaction between the neocortex, dorsal thalamus and the thalamic reticular nucleus

thalamocortical neurons

fire rhythmic bursts of action potentials during slow=wave sleep, they are inhibitory

importance of sleep

important for health just like nutrition & exercise

Which of the following is an example of covert spatial attention?

a) Turning your head when you hear a loud crash

b) Being startled awake by a loud thunk in your house

c) Keeping your head facing forward while driving but still paying attention to the conversation you have

with a passenger in the car

d) Diverting your attention back and forth form a powerpoint slide to the lecturer giving the

presentation

c) keeping your head facing forward while driving but still paying attention to the conversation you have with a passenger in the car

What sort of search are you performing when you identify the green heart in the image above?

a) serial search

b) parallel search

c) salient search

d) all of the above

a) serial search

The amplitude of an EEG of a drowsy individual is _________(than) an individual that is behaviorally

aroused.

a) the same as

b) higher

c) lower

d) slower

e) faster

b) higher

Projections from the_______________, located near that fourth ventral, that are important for the arousal system include the cerebellum, thalamus, neocortex, and brainstem.

locus coeruleus

The feeling of “sleep paralysis” is caused by caused by the hyperpolarization of skeletal muscle neurons in a state called___________.

muscle atonia

Why do we not physically act out our dreams during REM sleep?

motor neurons are hyperpolarized, can’t generate action potentials, body is paralyzed, so don’t act out dreams

Classical conditioning is

passive learning

hippocampus important for remembering

order of sequences

Stages of Memory

1. Encoding

2. Storage

3. Retrieval

Encoding

converting info into a form usable in memory

Storage

retaining information in memory

Retrieval

active process of locating and using stored information

Short term memory

tracks tasks in which brain is currently engaged in; if info is not rehearsed stays in short term memory about 20 seconds capacity is 7 + or - 2, more if chunking

Procedural Memory

memory for motor skills (Ex: testing, riding a bike, & tying shoes); stored in cerebellum & basal ganglia

Episodic memory

mentally traveling back to reconnect with something in your past

Semantic memory

factual knowledge that doesn’t have a specific personal experience

How do animals navigate through space?

animals may either memorize a habitually traveled route or form an allocentric (world-centered) cognitive map aka Place Learning

Tolman’s cross maze & Morris water maze have been used to demonstrate:

that rats are capable of allocentric (world-centered) navigation

Place Grid Cells

pyramidal neuron located in the hippocampus that becomes active when animals enter a particular place int their environement

Grid cells

not in the hippocampus but allows us to understand our position in space aka the entorhinal cortex, name comes from firing fields that form a triangular grid

superior colliculi is important for forming

saliency map

competitive algorithm

determines most salient location, which draws your attention

sleep cycle (circadian rhythm)

2 types: REM & non-REM

5 stages of sleep

1-2 drowsy light sleep

3-4 deep sleep “restorative’

5 REM dreaming & memory consolidation

Large amplitude waves as people become

drowsy & then fall asleep

Small amplitude waves during

REM sleep & when awake

hippocampus is important for

• remembering order of sequences

• long term memory consolidation

  • newer memories (hippocampus needed, older memories (10 years ago) hippocampus not needed cortical circuit used instead

• associative learning

alzheimer’s disease

characterized by presence of amyloid plaques & neurofibrillary tangles often located in hippocampus

Your roommate dropped a pan in the

kitchen and you turn to see what it was.

This is an example of:

A. Covert attention

B. Overt attention

b. overt attention

An adult with anterograde amnesia would

not be able to remember which of the

following:

A. Their high school graduation

B. Their mother’s maiden name

C. The location of the home they grew up in

D. What they ate for breakfast

d. what they ate for breakfast

The amplitude of an EEG of a drowsy

individual is _________(than) an

individual that is awake.

A. the same as

B. higher

C. lower

D. slower

E. faster

b. higher

H.M. had what area of the brain removed?

a. cerebellum

b. locus coeruleus

c. inferior parietal lobes

d. medial temporal lobes

d. medial temporal lobes

Which is involved in involuntary attention to salient stimuli

a. hippocampus

b. basal ganglia

c. amygdala

d. superior colliculus

d. superior colliculus

_________ is the stage of sleep where most of our dreams happen.

a. NREM -Stage 1

b. NREM -Stage 2

c. NREM -Stage 3

d. NREM -Stage 4

e. REM

e. REM