Learning and memory

The story of H-M.

H.M had epilepsy, had part of his medial temporal lobe removed, could no longer. form long-term memories of his experiences, had severe amnesia

Hippocampus

- in limbic system, converts short-term to long term memory, and spatial navigation, important for forming, organizing, consolidating, and retrieving memories

Amygdala - used to attaching emotional significance in memories

Parahippocampal region - used to process the what in an event

Declarative Memory-saying something you know (Semantic), saying an event that had happened (Episodic)

Declarative- conscious memory of facts/events (enters as working memory, prefrontal cortex can combine info in working memory with other relevant information)

Executive functions- selection, rehearsal etc. Can help put from working memory into long-term storage, facilitating better recall and understanding of the information later.

Declarative Memory

semantic-data and facts (different zones for different types of data)

Episodic- experiences and events (parts of parahippocampal region help process the details (what/when/where) of the events. Semantic include faces, houses, what a tool is, actions,language, prospagnosial (face blindness)

Nondeclartive- unconscious memory on how to do something (processed by basal ganglia and cerebellum)

Emotional Memory-fight-or-flight, don’t repeat mistakes (hypothalamus and the sympathetic nervous system)

Knowledge how to do skill- nondeclarative/procedural memory

parts of brain for emotional memory-amygdala, hypothalamus, and sympathetic nervous system

How memory is stored

Involves changes in synapses between two neurons LTP-(long-term potentiation) lasting increase in strength of the synapse (signal transmission)

synaptic plasticity - the ability of synapses to change their strength

NDMA receptor (cation channel) is blocked

Mg2+ at rest ins, to unblock it must be depolarized the channel opens to allow sodium,potassium, and calcium NMDA can't be used unless the cell gets a signal to depolarize, works as a "molecular coincidence detector"

For NMDA to function there must be synchronous signals, because the cells needs to be slightly depolarized in order to be unblocked

Calcium in—> Activates cAMP—>Activates CREB—> Activates genes in nucleus—> Nuerotropins produced—>Growth of synapse

—> Activates other enzymes—> Increases number of AMPRs—> Increases sensitivity to neurotransmitters