Sleep/Consciousness, Memory, Attention, Drug Dependence

States of Consciousness

• Consciousness is awareness of our — and —. Different levels of awareness can be induced by — factors such as drugs or internal mental efforts. Range from alertness to sleep.

• Alertness – you’re awake

• Daydreaming- feel more relaxed, not as focussed. Can also be light meditation (self-induced)

• Drowsiness - just before falling asleep/after waking up. Can also be self-induced in deep meditation.

• Sleep – not aware of world around you. 4 main types (Each type oscillates at different frequency)

  • Beta (13-30Hz) = associated with —/—-. — stress, anxiety, restlessness. Constant —.

  • Alpha waves (8-13 Hz) = in daydreaming. Disappear in — but reappear in — —. During —.

  • Theta waves (7 Hz) = —-, right after you fall asleep.

  • Delta waves (0.5-3 Hz) = — — or —.

  • — can measure brainwaves

self environment, external

awake concentration, increased, alertness

drowsiness, deep sleep relaxation

drowsiness

deep sleep coma

EEGs

Sleep Stages and Circadian Rhythms

• Your brain goes through distinct brain patterns during sleep

• 4 main stages that occur in — min cycles

  • Order is from N— -> N— -> N— -> N— -> —-

  • How long each stage lasts depends on how —- you’ve been asleep and your —-

90

1, 2, 3, 2, REM

long age

Sleep Stages and Circadian Rhythms

• First is — — — — sleep (non-REM) – N1, N2, N3

• N1 (Stage 1)– Dominated by theta waves. Strange sensations; — hallucinations = hearing or seeing things that aren’t there.

  • Ex. Seeing flash of light, or someone calling your name, doorbell, etc. Or the — effect – if you play Tetris right before bed, you might see blocks. Also a feeling of falling –— jerks

• N2 (Stage 2) – — stage of sleep. People in N2 are harder to awaken. We see more theta waves, as well as — — and — ——

  • Sleep spindles help inhibit certain perceptions so we maintain a —- state during sleep. Sleep spindles in some parts of brain associated with ability to sleep through —— noises.

  • K-complexes suppress —- arousal and keep you asleep. Also help sleep-based —- consolidation. Even though they occur naturally, you can also make them occur by touching someone sleeping.

• N3 (Stage 3) – — wave sleep. Characterized by — waves. Where —/— in sleep happens.

non rapid eye movement

theta, hypnagonic

tetris, hypnic

deeper, theata, sleep spindles K complexes

tranquil, loud

cortical, memory

slow, delta, walking talking

Sleep Stages and Circadian Rhythms

• REM (rapid-eye movement) stage. Most of your other muscles are —-. Most — occurs during REM sleep, so paralysation inhibits actions. Most important for — —.

  • Combination of —, —, and — waves, similar to beta waves seen when awake.

  • Sometimes called — sleep, because brain is active and awake but body prevents it from doing anything. 

  • Waking up during REM sleep — memory formation of the dream.

• Circadian Rhythms – why you get sleepy in afternoon. They’re our regular body rhythms across — — period. Controlled by —, produced in the — gland.

  • Control our body temperature, sleep cycle, etc.

  • Daylight is big queue, even artificial light.

  • Also change as you age – younger people are night owls, but older people go to bed early.

paralyzed dreaming, memory consolidation

alpha beta desynchronous

paradoxical prevents

24 hour , melatonin pineal

Dream

• Everybody dreams during REM sleep. Can tell someone is dreaming because —— are moving rapidly under eyelids, and brainwaves look like they are completely —-.

• Activity in prefrontal cortex during REM sleep is —-… part responsible for logic. Why things in our things that defy logic don’t seem weird.

Sigmund Freud

• Dreams are our unconscious — and — that need to be interpreted. Little scientific support.

Evolutionary biology

• — simulation, to prepare for real world.

• — solving

• No purpose

Other

• Maintain brain —-

• Consolidate thoughts to — —- memory, and cleaning up thoughts. People who learn + sleep retain more than those who do not sleep. But role of REM is —-.

• Preserve and developing —- pathways. Because infants constantly developing new neural networks spend most of time in REM sleep.

eyes, awake

decreased

thoughts desires

threat, problem

flexibility, long term, unclear, neural

Dream Theories

Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams

• Says dreams represent our unconscious feelings/thoughts. Like an iceberg.

  • 1. What happens? —- content (Ex. Monster chasing you)

  • 2. What is hidden meaning?  —- content (Ex. Job pushing you out)

    • Can help us resolve and identify — —

Activation Synthesis Hypothesis

• Brain gets a lot of neural impulses in brainstem, which is sometimes interpreted by the frontal cortex.

• Brainstem = activation, and cortex = synthesis.

• Our brain is simply trying to find —- from —- brain activity. Therefore might not have meaning.

manifest, latent, hidden conflict

meaning, random

Sleep Disorders

• People with sleep deprivation might be more irritable and have poorer memory. Could be dangerous when it comes to flying airplanes or driving cars.

  • Also more susceptible to —- … body makes more cortisol, and —- (hunger hormone)

  • Can also increase your risk for ——-. REM sleep helps brain process emotional experiences, which can help protect against depression (not certain).

  • Can get back on track by paying back “sleep debt”

    • How much is enough sleep? 7-8 hours for adults. Varies with age and individual. Babies need a lot more.

• More serious form is insomnia (persistent trouble falling asleep or staying asleep). Various medications but taking them too long leads to dependence and tolerance.

  • Exercising or relaxing before bed can help

• Other end of spectrum is narcolepsy – can’t —- themselves from falling asleep. Various fits of sleepiness, going into —- sleep. Can occur any time. 1 in 2000.

  • Indications it’s ——, and linked to absence of alertness ———.

obesity cortisol ghrelin

depression

stop, REM, genetic neurotransmitter

Sleep Disorders

• Sleep apnea – 1 in 20 people. People with it are often unaware. —- breathing while sleeping – body realizes you’re not getting enough oxygen, wake up just long enough to —- for air and fall back asleep without realizing. Can happen 100x/night!

  • Don’t get enough —— (slow-wave) sleep.

  • — is an indication, or fatigue in morning.

• Sleepwalking/sleep talking – mostly —-, occur during —- and are harmless. Occur more often in children (have more N3).

stop, gasp N3 snoring

genetic N3

Breathing-Related Sleep Disorders

• Sleeping problems can arise from brain, airways, or lungs/chest wall.

• Physical Obstruction to airways causes problems breathing at night

  • Air going into nose/mouth reaches the lungs. —- around neck may block this airflow – snoring/gasping/pauses in breathing. Called an apnea (absence of airflow).

  • Called obstructive sleep apnea, very common and gets worse as people get —-.

  • People are tired/sleepy and unrefreshed when they wake up.

  • 5+ apneas an hour (measured by polysomnography)

• In the brain, called central sleep apnea. Presence of apneas —— obstruction. Problem with the —— system for ventilation.

  • — —- breathing (period of oscillations, then flat, etc.) pattern in polysomnography

• In lungs or chest wall

  • — can occur (high pCO2, low pO2). Caused by medication/obesity. Chronically elevated pCO2 can lead to —- sided heart failure.

tissues older

without, control

cheyne stokes

hyperventilation, right

Hypnosis

• Hypnotism usually involves getting person to relax and focus on breathing, and they become more susceptible to —— in this state – but only if they —- to. More —- waves in this stage – an awake but relaxed state.

  • Some use hypnosis to retrieve —-, very dangerous because memories are malleable. Can create false memories.

  • 2 theories for how it works:

    • Dissociation Theory - hypnotism is an extreme form of —- consciousness

    • Social Influence Theory - people do and report what’s —— of them, like actors caught up in their roles

  • Refocused attention, so sometimes it’s used to treat pain. Reduced activity in areas that process sensory input. Although it doesn’t block it out, it might inhibit attention  

suggestion, want, alpha

memories

divided, expected

Meditation

• Meditation – training people to self-regulate their — and —. Can be guided and focused on something in particular, like breathing, but meditation can also be unfocussed – mind wanders freely.

  • More —- waves than normal relaxation in light meditation.

  • In deep meditation have increased —— waves in brain.

    • In people who regularly go to deep meditation, increased activity in prefrontal cortex, right hippocampus, and right anterior insula – increased — — (goal of meditation).

  • Can be helpful for people with ADHD, or in aging.

attention awareness

alpha theta

preattention control

Drug Dependence - Psychoactive Drugs

• Depressants are drugs that —- your body’s basic functions and neural activity, ex. Heart rate, reaction time, etc. The most popular depressant is —-.

  • Think more —-, disrupt —- sleep (and form memories), removes your —-

  • Barbiturates – used to induce —- or reduce —. Depress your CNS.

    • Side effects are reduced memory, judgement and concentration, with —- can lead to death (most drugs w/ alcohol are bad)

  • Benzodiazepines are the most commonly —- suppressant. Sleep aids or anti-anxiety

    • Enhance your brain’s response to —-. They open up GABA-activated chloride channels in your neurons, and make neurons more —- charged.

    • 3 types: short, intermediate, and long-acting. Short and intermediate are usually for —, while long acting are for —.

• Opiates are used to treat pain and anxiety.  Ex. Heroine and morphine. NOT a depressant.

  • Used to treat —- because they act at body’s receptor sites for —-.

  • Different class than depressants, even though overlapping for anxiety, depre act on GABA receptors while opiates act on endorphin receptors.

  • Lead to euphoria, why taken recreationally

lower, alcohol slowly REM inhibitions

sleep anxiety, alcohol

prescribed

GABA, negatively, sleep anxiety

pain endorphins

Drug Dependence - Psychoactive Drugs

Stimulants

• Stimulate or inc intensity neural activity/bodily functions.

• Range from caffeine to cocaine, amphetamines, methamphetamines, and ecstasy. In between is nicotine.

• Caffeine (inhibits — receptors) can disrupt your sleep. Nicotine also disrupts — and can suppress —.

  • At high levels, nicotine can cause muscles to —- and release stress- —— neurotransmitters (to counteract hyper alertness).

  • Both physiologically addicting.

  • Withdrawal symptoms from both. Like anxiety, insomnia, irritability.

• Cocaine is even stronger stimulant – releases so much ——, —-, and —- that it depletes your brain’s supply. Intense crash and very depressed when it wears off.

  • Regular users can experience suspicion, convulsions, respiratory arrest, and cardiac failure.

• Amphetamines and methamphetamines also trigger release of —-, euphoria for up to 8 hours.

  • Highly addictive

  • Long-term addicts may lose ability to maintain normal level of dopamine

adenosine, sleep appetite

relax reducing

dopamine serotonin norepinephrine

dopamine

Drug Dependence - Psychoactive Drugs

Hallucinogens

• These drugs cause hallucinations, altered perception. Many types of hallucinations. Some even have medical uses.

• Ecstasy – synthetic drug both a —— and hallucinogen.

  • Increases —- and —- and euphoria. Also stimulates the body’s NS. Can damage neurons that produce serotonin, which has several functions including moderating mood.

  • Causes hallucinations and heightened sensations, ex. artificial feeling of social connectedness.

• LSD – interferes with ——, which causes people to experience hallucinations.

  • Hallucinations are —- instead of auditory

• Marijuana is also a mild hallucinogen. Main active chemical is —-, which heightens sensitivity to sounds, tastes, smells.

  • Like alcohol, reduces inhibition, impairs motor and coordination skills.

  • Disrupt —- formation and — —- recall.

  • Stays in body up to a week.

  • Used as medicine to relieve pain and nausea

• Some hallucinogens are used for —- treatment. Allow people to access painful memories from past that’s detached from strong emotions – so they can come to terms with it.

stimulant, dopamine serotonin

serotonin , visual

THC, memory short term

PTSD

Drug Dependence and Homeostasis

• Homeostasis is how you maintain temperature, heartbeat, metabolism etc.

  • If you take amphetamines, body quickly tries to lower HR and get back to normal. Brain is smart about this.

    • If regular drug user, might take it at same time of day.

  • If you’re cocaine addict, your brain starts to recognize external cues like room, needles, etc. and knows it’s about to get big dose of drug. Brain tells body to get head start – lowers HR before you take drugs. Why you need higher dose over time.

• What would happen if you get those cues and don’t get the drug? You get a —-.

• If you’re in a new location but take same level of drugs, might get ——.

crash overdose

Routes of Drug Entry

• Oral, injection, inhalation,

• Oral is ingesting something, one of —- routes because goes through GI tract – takes about a — —-

• Inhalation is breathing or smoking, because once you inhale goes straight to brain – takes — —-.

• Injection- most direct, intravenous means goes right to vein. Takes effects within ——. Can be very dangerous.

• Transdermal – drug is absorbed through skin, ex. Nicotine patch. Drug in patch has to be pretty potent, released into bloodstream over several —-.

• Intramuscular – stuck into muscle. Can deliver drugs to your system —- or —-. Quick for example is epipen. Or vaccines, slowly.

  • Faster route of entry = more —- potential.

slowest, half hour

10 seconds

seconds

hour

slowly quickly

addictive

Reward Pathway in the Brain

• When you first experience pleasure, brain releases neurotransmitter called dopamine. Produced in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), in the midbrain.

• VTA sends dopamine to the:

  • — (emotions, arousal)

  • — — (controls motor functions)

  • — cortex (focus attention and planning)

  • — (memory formation).

    • Nuc. Accum., amygdala and hippocampus are part of the —- pathway.

• Different stimuli active circuit to different degrees.

• VTA releases dopamine and receptors uptake dopamine → amygdala says this was enjoyable, hippocampus remembers and says let’s do it again, and nucleus accumbens says let’s take another bite → Prefrontal cortex focuses attention to it.

  • At same time dopamine goes —, serotonin goes — (which is partially responsible for feelings of satiation… so Less likely to be satiated or content)

• Increased genetic risk.

• Biological basis comes from animal models

  • Ex. Rats and drug experiment, rats keep increasing dosage. Or if sick drug + favorite food = avoids it, addictive drug + fav food = wants more.

• Addiction takes over —— mind.

amygdala , nucleus accumbens, prefrontal hippocampus

mesolimbic

up down

rational

Tolerance and Withdrawal

• Tolerance means you get used to a drug so you need —- of it to achieve the same effect.

  • Ex. Just took cocaine, lots of dopamine in synapse. Post-synaptic neuron has receptors for dopamine. Long-term stimulation can lead to brain shutting down some receptor = same amount of drugs won’t cause same high.

• If you go through period of not having the drug, you experience withdrawal symptoms.

  • Things less strong as cocaine won’t give you as strong of an effect, so dopamine levels decrease and you feel depressed, anxious, etc. (varies).

  • Will do whatever it takes to get that high.

  • Once you’ve built up tolerance, need drug to feel “normal” again.

  • However, with time and effort brain can reverse back.

more

Substance Use Disorders

• Drugs include alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, opioids (heroin/morphine), stimulants (cocaine), hallucinogens (LSD), inhalants, and caffeine

• We have to consider what happens when drugs enter the body and when they exit. 2 different processes: intoxication and withdrawal.

  • Intoxication = — and — effects on the person, drug-specific. Ex. “drunk” or “high”

  • Withdrawal = when you stop after using for — time.

• Can result in substance-induced disorders. Could be disorders of mood (mania/depression), anxiety, sleep, sexual function, psychosis (loss of contact with reality).

• Which can lead to substance use disorders. Causing real degree of impairment in life, at work, school, or home.

  • How do you know? By looking at their —-. Are they using increasingly large amounts, stronger cravings, more time recovering from it, failing to cut back, affecting obligations at work/home/school?

  • Second factor is presence of ——-.

  • Also ——-.

• With caffeine, can’t develop substance-use disorder.

behavioral psychological prolonged

usage

withdrawal tolerance

Treatments and Triggers for Drug Dependence

• Treatments address —- + —- symptoms

• To treat, detox. But sometimes require strong medications to address symptoms.

  • For Opiates such as heroine act at neural receptor site for —- to reduce pain and give euphoria.

    • Methadone activates opiate receptors, but acts more —-, so it dampens the high. Reduces cravings, eases withdrawal, and can’t experience the high because receptors are already filled.

  • For stimulants like tobacco, medications replace nicotine by delivering —- levels of nicotine through patch, or deliver chemicals that act on nicotine receptors in brain. In this case —- release or reuptake of dopamine. Help reduce cravings.

  • For alcoholics, meds —— receptors in reward system of alcohol. Also reduce symptoms of withdrawal.

    • Important to prevent relapse during this early stage by minimizing negative symptoms.

physiological psychological

endorphins, slowly, low, prevents, block

Treatments and Triggers for Drug Dependence

• Inpatient treatments require residence at a hospital or treatment facility, outpatient means they can live at home and come in for treatment.

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) addresses both —- and —- components of addiction. Recognize problematic situations and develop more positive thought patterns and coping strategies, and monitor cravings. Long-lasting!

• Motivational interviewing involves working with patient to find —- motivation to change. Very few sessions and can be doorway for patient to engage in another treatment.

• Group meetings such as AA involve 12-step program – acceptance, surrender, and active involvement in meetings.  (Evidence they’re helpful)

• Relapse is when patient can slip and go back. More addictive substances make relapse more likely. Why it’s hard for people to stay clean.

cognitive behavioral

intrinsic

Attention

• Divided Attention, Selective Attention, Inattentional Blindness, and Change Blindness

• Attention is a limited resource

• Divided Attention. doing two things at once you end up —— between tasks rather than doing them simultaneously.

• When you switch you’re exercising your —- attention = process of reacting to certain stimuli selectively as they occur simultaneously. There are two types of cues that can direct our attention:

  • Exogenous - — — have to tell ourselves to look for them (Ex. Bright colors, loud noises, “pop-out effect”)

  • Endogenous = require —- knowledge to understand the cue and the intention to follow it, (ex. A mouse arrow, or the cocktail party effect).

  • Cocktail party effect = ability to concentrate on — voice amongst a crowd. Or when someone — your name.

• Inattentional blindness – we aren’t aware of things —- in our visual field when our attention is directed —— in that field.

• Change blindness – fail to notice —- in environment.

switching, selective

do not, internal, one, calls

not elsewhere

changes

Theories of Selective Attention

• How do we filter out the unimportant information?

• Shadowing task

  • Left ear hear one thing, right ear another thing.

  • Told to repeat everything said in one ear and ignore the other

  • We can learn about how selective attention works by seeing what they filter out in other ear.

ok

Theories of Selective Attention

• 1) Broadbent’s Early Selection Theory

  • All info in environment goes into sensory —-, then gets transferred to selective —- right away which filters out stuff in unattended ear and what you don’t need to understand it (accents etc.), and finally perceptual processes identifies friend’s voice and assigns meaning to words. Then you can engage in other cognitive processes.

  • Some problems – if you completely filter out unattended info, shouldn’t identify your own name in unidentified ear. Cocktail party effect.

• 2) Deutch & Deutch’s Late Selection Theory

  • Places broadband selective filter after perceptual processes. Selective filter decides what you pass on to —— awareness.

  • But given limited resources and attention, seems wasteful to spend all that time assigning meaning to things first.

• 3) Treisman’s Attenuation Theory

  • Instead of complete selective filter, have an attenuator = —- but doesn’t eliminate input from unattended ear. Then some gets to perceptual processes, so still assign meaning to stuff in unattended ear, just not high priority. Then switch if something important.

register filter

conscious

weakens,

The Spotlight Model of Attention and Multitasking

• Spotlight model of attention: Selective attention = takes info from 5 senses, but don’t pay attention to everything.

• Aware of things on an —— level

  • Priming, where exposure to one stimulus affects —- to another stimulus, even if we haven’t been paying attention to it.

  • We’re primed to respond to our name. Why it’s a strong prime for pulling our attention.

unconscious

response

Attention

• Resource model of attention – we have ——- resources in attention.

  • Both models say something about our ability to —- … not very good at it. Supported by research study.

• Multitasking/divided attention

  • What about talking on phone or texting while driving?

    • Maybe not multitasking, just switching spotlight back and forth.

• What about singing to radio?

  • Task similarity – ex. Listening to radio while writing a paper. Better to listen to classical music, because harder to multitask with similar tasks.

• Task difficulty – harder tasks require —- focus.

• Practice – activities well practiced become ——, or things that occur without need for attention. Whether task is automatic or controlled (harder).

limited, multitask

more, automatic

Memory

• Information Processing Model: Sensory, Working, and Long-term Memory

• Information processing model proposes our brains are similar to computers. We get —- from environment, —- it, and —- decisions.

  • First stage is getting the input – occurs in —- memory (sensory register). Temporary register of all senses you’re taking in.

  • You have iconic (what you —-, lasts half a second) and echoic (what you —-, lasts 3-4 seconds) memory

input, process output

sensory

see, hear

Memory

• Working memory is what you’re thinking about at the moment (—- thinking)

  • Verbal info – any words + numbers in both — and — memory

    • Is processed in the phonological loop.

  • Visual + verbal info – Need coordination of the two – the — — fills that role.

    • Creates an integrated representation that stores it in the —- buffer to be stored in long-term memory.

  • Visual + spatial info are processed in the visuo-spatial sketchpad

• Magic number 7 – can hold —— pieces of info at a time. Why phone #s are 7 digits long.

• Explains the serial position effect (primacy and recency effects)

  • Easier to recall objects seen/heard earlier (primacy) as they have already moved to long term memory while later objects are still in short term, as well as the last few seen (recency)

• The dual coding hypothesis says it’s easier to remember words associated with images than either one alone.

  • Can use the method of —— – imagine moving through a familiar place and in each place leaving a visual representation of topic to be remembered.

active, iconic echoic, central executive episodic,

7 ± 2

loci

Memory

• Final stage is long-term memory. Capacity is ——. 2 main categories: explicit (declarative) and implicit (non-declarative).

• Explicit Memory (Declarative) - are facts/events you can clearly ——.

  • Anytime you take vocabulary test or state capitals you’re using —— memory (has to do with words). So remembering simple facts.

  • Second type is —- memory (event-related memories).

• Implicit memories (Non-declarative) involve things you may not —- – such as riding a bicycle, —- memories.

• Other is priming = previous —— can —— current interpretation of an event.

unlimited, describe

semantic, episodic

articulate, procedural

experiences current

Encoding Strategies

• Encoding is transferring —- information into —-.

  • If you want to remember more than 7 things, need to process that info so it stays in long-term memory.

• 1. Rote rehearsal –You —- same thing over again.

  • — effecive

• 2. Chunking – we —- info we’re getting into —- categories we already know.

• 3. Mnemonic Devices – imagery (crazier the better), pegword system (verbal anchors like words that rhyme with the number – 1 is gun), method of loci (tying info to locations), acronym

• 4. Self-referencing – think about new info and how it —- to you personally.

  • Also preparing to teach – learning it as if to teach it to someone else (putting more effort into understanding + organizing info)

• 5. Spacing – spreading out studying to —- periods.

sensory memory

say least

group meaningful

relates

shorter

Retrieval Cues

• Priming – prior activation of nodes/associations, often —- our awareness.

  • Ex. hearing apple and asked to name word starting with A

• Context – the —- you encode and take the test.

  • Scuba divers who learned and tested on same place scored better than learned in one place and took test in another.

  • But not always the case, if you can’t take test in same place studying in different places gives you diff cues for retrieval – so multiple cues that will help you.

• State-dependent Memory – your —- at the moment.

  • Ex. If you learn something while drunk you’ll remember next time you’re drunk. Or combining a mood with an advertisement – next time you’re in that mood will remember the product.

without, environment, state

Retrieval Cues

• Anytime you pull something out of —- term memory, you’re engaging in retrieval.

• Free recall - —— cues in recalling.

  • Better recalling first items on a list (—-) as well as last few (—-). Harder in middle.

  • Curve is called the — —- curve/effect

• Cued recall – give you “pl” for “planet”.

  • Get —- retrieval cues, tend to do better than free recall.

• Recognition – best method out of the 3 tests.

  • — with two words, and say which one you heard.

long, no, primacy, recency

serial position

more

presented

Memory Reconstruction, Source Monitoring, and Emotional Memories

• Brain doesn’t save memories exactly. Every time we retrieve a memory we —- it in small ways, according to our goals/mood/environment. Or due to our own desires. If gap brain fills it in with something desirable.

• Sometimes information we retrieve is based on a —— = mental blueprint containing common aspects of world, instead of reality.

• False information = —— recollections of an event.  

• Misleading information = recall is skewed by —- information; observed video of car crash, and asked how fast cars were going when they “smashed” or “hit”. If people were told “smashed”, more likely to say there was glass on the ground.

• Source monitoring Error = memory error where source of memory is incorrectly attributed to a specific recollected experience (when people recall information they often forget the information’s source) –

  • Ex. angry with someone but forgot it happened in a dream. Or recognize someone but don’t know from where.

• Emotional memories can be positive or negative

  • Highly vivid memories are called —— memories – even if they seem as real as life, still susceptible to reconstruction.

change, schema

inaccurate

outside

flashbulb

Long Term Potentiation and Synaptic Plasticity

• Brain doesn’t grow new cells to store memories – connections between neurons ——. Called long-term potentiation, one example of synaptic plasticity.

  • Neurons communicate using electrochemical signals – through synapse.

  • Pre-synaptic neurons release neurotransmitters on post-synaptic neurons, allowing Na and Ca to flow in. Difference in charge between outside and inside is the potential.

• With repeated stimulation, the same pre-synaptic neuron converts into —- post-synaptic neuron = stronger synapse….. and when it lasts longer called long-term potentiation. This is learning!

strengthen greater

Decay and Interference

• Decay – when we don’t encode something well or don’t retrieve it for a while, we can’t at all anymore. Connections become ——- over time. Initial rate of forgetting is —— but levels off over time.

  • Ebbinghaus was first investigator of decay. Found his rate of forgetting very fast, but if he remembered it after initial stage it —— out.

  • Just because you can’t retrieve something doesn’t mean it’s completely gone = relearning. Even if Ebbinghaus couldn’t reproduce everything, took less time to learn list second time around = savings.

  • Works with procedural skills too – ex. With piano.

• Sometimes interference is the problem though – 2 types:

  • Retroactive = —- learning impairs old info (ex. Writing new address)

  • Proactive = something you learned in —— impairs learning in future (Ex. New password).

weaker, high, leveled

new past

Aging and Cognitive Abilities

• Some abilities decline, some main stable, and some improve

• Stable with Age

  • — memory (ex. riding a bike)

  • — (picking something out of a list)

• Improve with Age =

  • —— memories improve around age 60, so older adults have better verbal skills

  • Also —- IQ (ability to use knowledge and experience)

  • Also —— reasoning.

• Decline with Age

  • — becomes more difficult

  • Episodic memories impaired (forming — memories is difficult, — memories stable)

  • — speed (harder time outputting response)

  • — attention (hard to switch attention, easily distracted)

  • Also —- memory (remembering to do things in future) is decreased.

implicit recognition

semantic crystallized emotional

recall new old, processing, divided prospective

Alzheimer’s Disease

• Excessive forgetting can be problematic.

• Dementia is forgetting to point of interfering with —- life … results from excessive —— to brain tissue, ex. From strokes.

• Most common form is Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurons —- off over time. Earliest symptoms are memory loss, attention, planning, semantic memory, and abstract thinking.

  • As it progresses, more severe language difficulties and greater memory loss, emotional stability and loss of bodily functions.

  • Cause is unknown – have buildup of — —- in brain.

normal brain damage

die, amyloid plaques

Korsakoff’s Syndrome

• Korsakoff’s Syndrome – caused by lack of vitamin — or —-. Caused by malnutrition, eating disorders, and especially —-.

  • Thiamine converts carbohydrates into glucose cells need for energy. Important for neurons.

  • Damage to certain areas causes poor balance, abnormal eye movements, confusion, and memory loss.

    • At this stage called — —- = precursor to KS.

    • If diagnosed in time can prevent further damage.

    • If untreated, will progress to Korsakoff’s. Main symptom is severe memory loss, accompanied by —— (patients make up stories to fill in memories).

  • Treatment is healthy diet, abstain from alcohol, take vitamins, and relearn things.

• Retrograde amnesia is inability to recall info —- encoded, anterograde amnesia is inability to encode —- memories.

B1 thiamine alcoholism

Wernicke’s encephalopathy

severe, confabulation

previously, new