Procedural Memory

Procedural Memory

skills & habits

Huntington’s Disease

Protein: huntingtin is abnormal

Motor symptoms (arm jerks, facial twitches, tremors (quivering movement), writhing)

Associated w/ gradual & extensive brain damage (in the caudate nucleus, putamen, & globus pallidus)

Fatal; autosomal dominant genetic disorder (located on chromosome 4)

Parkinson’s Disease

Symptoms: muscle tremors; rigidity (stiff muscles); slow movements & difficulty initiating physical & mental activity

Associated w/ an impairment in initiating spontaneous movement in the absence of a stimulus to guide the action

Causes:

• gradual & progressive death of neurons (in the substantia nigra)

• susbtantia nigra sends dopamine-releasing axons to the caudate nucleus & putamen

• loss of dopamine leads to less stimulation of the motor cortex & slower onset movements

Weather Prediction Task

Pretend they're a weather forecaster

They learn how to predict rain or sun using a deck of four cards

They only see 1-3 cards at a time

Squares: 75%; Triangles: 57%; Circles: 43%, Diamonds: 25%

Results: Over time they got better at their predictions; people w/ amnesia did significantly better than people w/ parkinson’s