Chapter 9 L&M

LTP is NOT _?

memory

The experience used to induce LTP is a _ electrical event

low-intensity high-frequency

The experience used to induce LTP is a low-intensity high-frequency electrical event that bypasses all the _ that normally bring environmental information into the brain

sensory inputs

Knowledge gained from the studies of synaptic plasticity is best viewed as the **_**

fundamental source of hypotheses about how the brain makes memories

the training phase is where _?

memory is established

All experimental investigations of memory require a training phase to _?

establish a memory

a slightly more intense inducing stimulus than LTP would generate _ in a normal brain

seizure activity

Which statement(s) about memory and the brain is/are true? (Select all that apply.)

a. Synaptic changes recorded as LTP are memories.

b. Memories result from behavioral experiences.

c. Studies of synaptic plasticity provide hypotheses about what molecules are involved in memory

d. Memories are directly observable

b and c

memories are the product of _ interacting with _.

behaving organisms, their environments

The inference that a memory has been established requires that the subject in the experiment have a particular experience and then be tested with some component of that experience. If the experience influences the behavioral test, then one might infer that _.

a memory has been established

All experimental investigations of memory require a training phase establish a memory and a to test phase to _.

detect the memory

the existence of a memory is *inferred* when the training experience _

influences behavior

test behavior can be thought of as _

the window to memory trace

An organism’s behavioral response is determined by the interaction of many different _.

component processes

Before you can conclude that some biological manipulation influenced some aspect of memory, you have to be sure that it did not influence _.

some other component that influences behavior

Without a _, there would be no evidence that Ebbinghaus’ studying produced a memory trace.

measurable behavioral test response

Unless the researcher can demonstrate that _, there is no basis to say it established a memory.

experience alters test behavior

what are seven types of component processes that alter behavior?

sensory, attentional, perceptual, motivational, emotional, motor, memory

sensory, attentional, and perceptual processes determine _?

what the subject experiences at the time of training and testing

motivational processes determine _

the subject’s willingness to respond

emotional processes can interfere with _?

the subject’s ability to access stored information

motor processes can provide the basis for _

the behavioral response to be expressed

a memory system _

stores experince

to study memory, neurobiologists can?

•Damage a particular region of the brain

•Inject drugs into the brain that are designed to influence some aspect of neural function

•Modify the DNA to increase or decrease the expression of some molecule

•Increase or decrease the activity of certain cells

How can neurobiologists be sure that behavior is effected by memory and not some other component process?

by using control experiments

what does the learning performance distinction recognize?

When concluding that memory was affected, which is unobservable, it has to be shown that other components are not affected

A treatment manipulation is made either _ or _ training

before or just after

most researchers who study the biological basis of memory agree that experience initiates _ memory traces, namely _ and _

at least two

what are the two types of memory traces that experience initiates?

short-term memory trace and long-term memory trace

what type of state does STM lead to?

active state

what type of state does LTM lead to?

inactive state

Memory traces can differ on at least three dimensions: _?

state, duration, and vulnerability to disruption

what is the duration of STM?

rapid decay

what is the duration of LTM?

slow decay

what is the vulnerability of STM to disruption?

vulnerable to disruption

what is the vulnerability of LTM to disruption?

less vulnerable to disruption

retrograde amnesia is _?

a failure to remember an experience that happened prior to the occurrence of the disrupting event

Amnesia for events experienced prior to the blow to the head that caused it is an example of __________.

retrograde amnesiathe inability to acquire new memories

anterograde amnesia is _?

the inability to acquire new memories

Memories in the _ are more vulnerable to disruption than memories that have become _.

active state, inactive

The concept of consolidation exists to explain the observation that _.

newly formed memories are more easily disrupted compared to older ones

The term consolidation processes is used to designate _?

processes that stabilize the memory trace

The term consolidation period refers to _?

the time it takes to stabilize the memory trace

what is an example of a clinical observation of the concept of memory consolidation?

people who suffered head injury often cannot remember the events that occurred just prior to the injury but can remember episodes that occurred earlier

what is electroconvulsive shock (ECS) therapy?

a treatment for psychiatric disorders in which seizures are induced with electricity for therapeutic effect

who invented electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT )?

Cerletti and Bini

it was discovered from clinical reports that the patients who received ECS had _?

impaired memories

Carl Duncan (1949) was the first person to use ECS to experimentally induce _. 

amnesia in animals

Carl Duncan found that rats who received ECS _ after training displayed amnesia

within a minute

Carl Duncan found that rats who received ECS an hour or so after training _ amnesia

did not display

what was the main idea of Carl Duncan’s findings?

As the memory ages it becomes more resistant to disruption, suggesting that the memory requires time to consolidate.

what are the two reasons that memory can be disrupted?

storage failure and retrieval failure

what happens if storage failure occurs (amnesia)?

amnesia is permanent

what happens if retrieval failure occurs (amnesia)?

amnesia is temporary

when memories are consolidated they _?

become resistant to disruption and decay at a slower rate

what possibility can’t be ruled out with regards to ECS?

the possibility that ECS produces amnesia because it produces a retrieval failure

what happens in inhibitory avoidance conditioning?

the rodent has to inhibit its tendency to cross over to the dark side and avoid the place where it was shocked

what is an important attribute of inhibitory avoidance conditioning related to shock?

as shock intensity is increased, the latency to cross over also increases

what type of current is thought to be the most desirable for inhibitory avoidance conditioning?

mid level current

what is a ceiling effect?

a measurement problem that occurs when the response measure is at the maximum (ceiling), and there is no way to see the influence of some other manipulation

what is a floor effect?

when a treatment is hypothesized to impair the memory processes that produce avoidance behavior, but the performance measure was too low to be further reduced by the drug

what is auditory-cue fear conditioning?

a conditioning procedure in which an auditory stimulus (tone) is paired with shock

what is fear conditioning?

a form of learning in which fear comes to be associated with a previously neutral stimulus

what is contextual fear conditioning?

fear that is produced to the context or place in which the shock unconditioned stimulus is presented

what is an important advantage of fear conditioning procedure?

it allows the experimenter to have very precise control over factors that might influence the strength of a memory

what is spatial learning?

learning that requires the animal to use the spatial position of cues to locate a goal object

what is a probe trial in the morris water-escape task

the stage at which the platform is removed to assess the rodent’s memory of the platform location

what is the control trial in the morris water-escape task?

the visible platform task

what happens in the three recognition memory tasks?

in each task the rodent demonstrates that it remembers the training experience by exploring the circled object more than the other objects

Which statement(s) about inhibitory avoidance conditioning is/are true? (Select all that apply.)

a. Longer latencies are thought to reflect a stronger memory trace

b. Crossover latency is the dependent variable

c. As shock intensity increases, crossover latency decreases

d. As shock intensity increases, so does response latency.

e. none of the above

a, b, d

Which statement(s) is/are true about are inhibitory avoidance conditioning and fear conditioning? (Select all that apply.)

a. Both are measures of aversive learning

b. Crossover latency is the dependent variable in both tasks

c. Freezing is the dependent variable in both tasks

d. Only one trial is needed to produce the memory

a and d

what is stereotaxic surgery?

a stereotaxic device is used during surgery for precise placement of a fine wire (electrode) or a small injection needle (cannula) for targeting electrical current or a chemical solution into a specific region of the brain

how does genetic engineering work?

DNA is injected into a pronucleus from a fertilized egg, this DNA can be designed to replace or knockout a particular gene or it can substitute for another gene, this procedure can also knock in a gene

what is viral vector methodology?

the use of viruses to deliver new genetic material into specific cells

what is viral vector methodology used for?

to deliver new genes to the brain where they will be expressed in neurons infected by the viruses

what is optogenetics?

a methodology that combines genetic engineering with optics, the branch of physics that studies the properties of light, to provide a way to control the activity of individual neurons

what are channelrhodopsin used for (optogentics)?

to excite neurons

When channelrhodopsins are activated by light, the neuron _.

depolarizes

When halorhodopsins are activated by light, the neuron _.

hyperpolarizes

what are halorhodopsins used for (optogentics)?

to inhibit neurons

what does DREADD stand for?

designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs

how does DREADD work and how long does it take?

the researcher uses a viral vector to introduce a novel receptor into neurons of interest, it takes about two weeks for the target neurons to express the receptors, the receptors are designed so they don’t respond to any natural ligand and instead a synthetic agent is injected to activate the receptor

Which statement(s) is/are true? (Select all that apply.)

a. DREADDS but not optogenetic methods depend on viral vector delivery systems.

b. Both DREADDs and optogenetic methods depend on viral vector delivery systems.

c. Viral vector systems deliver genetic material.

d. When channelrhodopsins are activated by light, the neuron hyperpolarizes.

b and c

Studies of _ provide a foundation for uncovering memory molecules

LTP

The existence of a memory trace is inferred when the __________ influences behavior.

training experince

Describe three methods for influencing brain function?

1) experimentally damaging a particular region of the brain, 2) injecting drugs, 3) genetic engineering

LTP is memory. (t/f)

false

Forgetting the location of a book or a coffee cup, only to remember it later, is an example of __________.

retrieval failure

Which of the following statements about memory and the mind is true?

a. An LTP inducing stimulus produces a memory.

b. Memories result from behavioral experiences.

c. Behavior is the window to the mind.

d. Memories are directly observable.

e. Both b and d

b and c

In inhibitory avoidance conditioning, it is assumed that the strength of the memory trace is reflected in the __________.

response latency

What is the difference between amnesia due to a retrieval failure versus a storage failure.

memories can be recovered if the amnesia is a retrieval failure but not if it is a storage failure

In a probe test in the Morris water task the _ is removed.

hidden platform

In the object in context task animals memory is demonstrated if the animal explores the object that was present in the training context. (t/f)

false

Why is test behavior considered the window to the memory trace?

Because without a measurable behavioral test response, there would be no evidence that the training phase produced a memory trace.

If the experimenter wants to study a drug that might interfere with memory then the _ would be a problem to avoid.

floor effect

emotional processes can interfere with _

memory retrieval

many component systems contribute to _ used to test memory retrieval

behaviors

What is a time-limited retrograde amnesia?

a failure to remember an experience that happened just prior to the occurrence of the disrupting event, yet maintaining memories of older experiences

List three differences between a short-term memory trace and a long-term memory trace.

duration, state, vulnerability to disruption/decay rate

An advantage of the inhibitory avoidance task is that _.

only one trial is needed to produce a behavioral change