Learning and Memory

Learning

Acquisition of knowledge or skills.

Memory

The process of storing and retrieving information.

Types of Memory

Short-term (minutes), Intermediate (hours to days), Long-term (days to years).

Working Memory

Memory system used for temporarily holding and manipulating information needed for cognitive tasks. Example: Multiplication facts 

Haptic

Memory of auditory information.

Echoic

Type of memory for auditory stimuli.

Iconic Memory

Type of memory for visual stimuli.

Retrograde Amnesia

lost memories prior to the injury, remember things from childhood

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories after an injurious event.

Habituation

Decreased response to a stimulus after repeated exposure.

Sensitization

Increased response to a stimulus after repeated exposure to an intense or unpleasant stimulus.

Explicit/Declarative Memory

Conscious memory that includes facts and experiences.

Implicit/Procedural Memory

Unconscious memory for skills and habits.

Semantic Memory

Memory for facts and general knowledge. Paris is the capital of France 

Episodic Memory

Memory of personal experiences and specific events. When I was in Paris last year, I ate a delicious croissant  

Contextual Fear Conditioning

Learning to fear a context due to a negatively charged event, such as a shock. Brain areas: Amygdala & Hippocampus  

Hebb's Rule

• Neurons that fire together, wire together  

• Suggested that memory might rely on simultaneous activity of the presynaptic and postsynaptic neuron 

• Every time we practice info or retrieve same neurons are firing again, connections between them get stronger = how we build memory and long-term storage  

Long-term Potentiation (LTP)

Definition: Strengthening then of those synaptic connections  

• Can last weeks 

• Can be homosynaptic (occur at one synapse) 

• Can be associative (spread between synapses) --- > Ex. a weaker synapse becomes stronger when it fires at the same time as the stronger synapse 

• Has an early phase and late phase 

Alzheimer's Disease

The most common form of dementia, characterized by memory loss, impaired planning, and decision-making.

Core symptom 

•  Deterioration of episodic memory = forget things about their own lives  

• Then, executive functions= forget to feed or will not drink, can get really sick 

Operant Conditoning

Reinforcement and Punishment 

• Basil ganglia -- > striatum 

• Also: mPFC, Amygdala 

• Mesolimbic reward pathway  

(All contribute to goal directed behaviors and stimulus response behaviors) 

Hippocampus & odor sequence learning: 

Rats with hippocampal damage are unable to remember particular sequence of odors, even with no problem remembering individual odors.  

Results: rats with hippocampal lesions are impaired in the sequence memory but not recognition memory 

Place cells and where are they?

• In the hippocampus

• Dots indicate positions where action potentials were recorded, with color indicating which neuron emitted that action potential. 

• Neurons fire when in a specific place  

• Activation of specific space cells 

• Black = trajectory of a rat through a square environment.  

  Red dots = locations at which a particular entorhinal grid cell fired.