BBB - Chapter 11: The remembering brain

Plasticity

the brain’s ability to change as a result of experience; persists throughout life; changes in neural connectivity

synaptic pruning

the brain's natural process of eliminating weak, unused, or redundant connections (synapses) between neurons

Bilateral medial temporal lobectomy

a neurosurgical procedure that removes the inner (medial) structures of the temporal lobes, including the hippocampus, amygdala, and surrounding cortex, on both sides of the brain

medial temporal lobes (MTL)

a set of inner brain structures located on the inside of the temporal lobes. They are primarily responsible for memory consolidation

STM (Short term memory)

memory for information currently ‘in mind’; limited capacity

LTM (long term memory)

Stored information that need not be presently accessed or even consciously accessible; has virtually unlimited capacity

Working memory

A system for the temporary storage and manipulation of information.

Phonological short-term memory

the cognitive system responsible for the temporary storage and maintenance of speech-based and auditory information

Chunking

a method of facilitating short term memory by grouping individual pieces of information into larger, more familiar groups

Consolidation theory

the biological and psychological process that stabilizes newly acquired information in the brain, transforming fragile short-term memories into enduring long-term memories

Multiple-trace theory

a memory consolidation model advanced as an alternative model to strength theory. It posits that each time some information is presented to a person, it is neurally encoded in a unique memory trace composed of a combination of its attributes

Cognitive map theory

posits that the brain builds internal, map-like representations of the physical environment to store spatial knowledge, orient the body, and guide future actions

Confabulations

A memory that is false and sometimes self-contradictory without an intention to lie.

Non-declarative memory

a collective of nonconscious knowledge systems, but it is not itself a brain-systems construct.

Episodic memory

the cognitive system that allows you to consciously store and recall specific past personal experiences, along with their associated times, places, and contextual details

Semantic memory

Conceptually based knowledge about the world, including knowledge of people, places, the meaning of objects and words.

Declarative (explicit)

Things you know that you can tell others

Procedural (non-declaritve, implicit)

Things you can show by doing (not always consciously known)

Articulatory suppression

Silently mouthing words while performing some other task (typically a memory task).

Declarative memory

Memories that can be consciously accessed and, hence, can typically be declared.

Non-declarative memory

Memories that cannot be consciously accessed (e.g., procedural memory).

Explicit memory

See declarative memory.

Implicit memory

See non-declarative memory.

Procedural memory

Memory for skills such as riding a bike.

Anterograde memory

Memory for events that have occurred after brain damage.

Retrograde memory

Memory for events that occurred before brain damage.

Consolidation

The process by which moment-to-moment changes in brain activity are translated into permanent structural changes in the brain.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

An increase in the long-term responsiveness of a postsynaptic neuron in response to stimulation of a presynaptic neuron.

Ribot’s law

The observation that memories from early in life tend to be preserved in amnesia.

Place cells

Neurons that respond when an animal is in a particular location in allocentric space (normally found in the hippocampus).

Grid cells

Neurons that respond when an animal is in particular locations in an environment such that the responsive locations form a repeating grid-like pattern.

Recognition memory

A memory test in which participants must decide whether a stimulus was shown on a particular occasion.

Recall

Participants must produce previously seen stimuli without a full prompt being given (compare recognition memory).

Familiarity

Context-free memory in which the recognized item just feels familiar.

Recollection

Context-dependent memory that involves remembering specific information from the study episode.

Levels-of-processing account

Information that is processed semantically is more likely to be remembered than information that is processed perceptually.

Encoding specificity hypothesis

Events are easier to remember when the context at retrieval is similar to the context at encoding.

Retrieval-induced forgetting

Retrieval of a memory causes active inhibition of similar competing memories.

Directed forgetting

Forgetting arising because of a deliberate intention to forget.

Constructive memory

The act of remembering construed in terms of making inferences about the past, based on what is currently known and accessible.

False memory

A memory that is either partly or wholly inaccurate but is accepted as a real memory by the person doing the remembering.

Source monitoring

The process by which retrieved memories are attributed to their original context.

Prefrontal cortex (PFC)

A frontal-lobe region involved in working memory, memory retrieval and evaluation of memories.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

An increase in the long-term responsiveness of a postsynaptic neuron following repeated stimulation of a presynaptic neuron.

Amnesia

A memory disorder characterized by impaired ability to form new memories and/or remember past events.

Working memory model

A model proposing separate short-term stores controlled by an executive system.

Memory trace

A neural representation of an experience or item stored in memory.

Span task

A task used to measure the capacity of short-term memory by recalling sequences of items.

Memory consolidation

The stabilization of newly acquired information into long-term memory.

Memory retrieval

The process of accessing information stored in long-term memory.

Memory encoding

The process of transforming incoming information into a memory representation.

Priming

A change in processing caused by previous exposure to a stimulus, often occurring without conscious awareness.

Rhinal cortex

Cortical regions surrounding the hippocampus that contribute to memory formation.

Hippocampus

A medial temporal lobe structure important for forming episodic and semantic long-term memories.

Working-with-memory

The manipulation and evaluation of information retrieved from memory, associated with prefrontal cortex function.