PSY 250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 64: Complications Of Pregnancy, Stem Cell, Alpha Waves
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Study Guide Exam 4 Chapters 12 - 15
A. Chapter 12: Learning and Memory
a. Henry Molaison (HM)’s Memory Problems
i. Henry Molaison’s life was changed at the age of 7
ii. He was knocked down by a bicycle and was unconscious by 5 minutes
iii. 3 years later, he started having minor seizures and his 1st major seizure was on his 16th
birthday
iv. Had a normal life other than 2 year break from high school because made fun of because
of his seizures
v. Was eventually having 10 small seizures a day and at least 1 major seizure a week
vi. Medications unable to help, so decided to have an experimental operation
vii. A surgeon removed much of both of his temporal lobes, where the seizure activity was
originating
viii. With medication and the surgery, minor seizures were manageable and major seizures
were only 1 a year
ix. He moved home and helped his parents and eventually got a job in a rehab facility
x. IQ not affected
xi. He was still able to recall personal and public events and remember songs from his earlier
life, he had difficulty learning and retaining new information
b. Anterograde and Retrograde Amnesia
i. Anterograde Amnesia: an impairment in forming new memories (Henry Molaison’s
symptoms)
ii. Retrograde Amnesia: the inability to remember events prior to impairment (Henry’s
surgery caused this)
iii. HM’s retrograde amnesia extended from the time of the surgery back to the age of 16
1. Had few memories from that period
2. Did not remember the end of WWII or his own graduation
3. When he returned for his 35th high school graduation, he didn’t recognize any
of his classmates
a. It is typical of patients who have brain damage similar to HM’s
iv. HM’s surgery destroyed the hippocampus, hippocampal formation, and amygdala
v. It is impossible to tell (after the surgery) which structures are responsible for the memory
functions that were lost
vi. Role of the Hippocampus
1. CA1 provides the primary output from the hippocampus to other brain areas;
damage in that part of both hippocampi results in moderate anterograde amnesia
and only minimal retrograde amnesia
2. If damage includes the rest of the hippocampus, anterograde amnesia is severe
3. Damage to the entire hippocampal formation results in retrograde amnesia
extending back 15 years of more
4. More extensive retrograde impairment occurs with broader damage or
deterioration
c. Mechanisms of Consolidation and Retrieval
i. Consolidation: process in which the brain forms a permanent representation of a memory
ii. Retrieval: the process of accessing stored memories
iii. Short-Term Memory
1. The part of the memory system where information is stored for roughly 30
seconds
2. Information can be maintained longer with the use of such techniques as
rehearsal
3. To retain the information for extended periods of time, it must be consolidated
into long-term memory where it can then be retrieved
4. According to the book, short-term memory lasts seconds to hours
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iv. Long-Term Memory
1. A system for permanently storing, managing, and retrieving information for later
use
2. Items of information stored as long-term memory may be available for a lifetime
3. According to the book, long-term memory can last hours to months or months to
lifetime
4. Has two stages of learning
d. Two Kinds of Learning
i. Declarative Memory
1. Declarative Memory: the memory process that records memories of facts,
people, and events that the person can verbalize, or declare
a. Example: you can remember being in class today, where you sat, who
was there, and what was discussed
b. Includes subtypes
i. Episodic Memory (events)
ii. Semantic Memory (facts)
iii. Autobiographical Memory (information about oneself)
iv. Spatial Memory (location of the individual and of objects in
space)
c. Declarative memory is informational (what)
ii. Nondeclarative Memory
1. Nondeclarative Memory: nonstatable memories that result from procedural or
skills learning, emotional learning, and simple conditioning
a. Examples
i. Learning mirror tracing
ii. Learning how to ride a bicycle
iii. Learning how to solve the Tower of Hanoi problem
b. Nondeclarative memory is more concerned with the control of behavior
(how)
e. Working Memory
i. Brain stores a lot of information, but information just stored is useless
ii. Information must be available
iii. Working Memory: a memory function that provides a temporary “register” form
information while it is being used
1. Holds a phone number you just looked up or that you recall from memory while
you dial the number
2. Holds information retrieved from long-term memory while it is integrated with
other information for use in problem solving and decision making
3. Without this, we couldn’t do long division, plan a chess move, or even carry a
conversation
iv. Has a very limited capacity
v. Prefrontal damage impairs humans’ ability to remember a stimulus during a delay
vi. Prefrontal area plays the major role in working memory
vii. Many researchers believe that the primary role of the prefrontal cortex in learning is as a
central executive
1. Manages certain kinds of behavioral strategies and decision making and
coordinates activity in the brain areas involved in the perception and response
functions of a task, all the while directing the neural traffic in working memory
f. Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
i. Brain stores a lot of information, but information just stored is useless
ii. Information must be available
iii. Working Memory: a memory function that provides a temporary “register” form
information while it is being used
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1. Holds a phone number you just looked up or that you recall from memory while
you dial the number
2. Holds information retrieved from long-term memory while it is integrated with
other information for use in problem solving and decision making
3. Without this, we couldn’t do long division, plan a chess move, or even carry a
conversation
iv. Has a very limited capacity
v. Prefrontal damage impairs humans’ ability to remember a stimulus during a delay
vi. Prefrontal area plays the major role in working memory
vii. Many researchers believe that the primary role of the prefrontal cortex in learning is as a
central executive
1. Manages certain kinds of behavioral strategies and decision making and
coordinates activity in the brain areas involved in the perception and response
functions of a task, all the while directing the neural traffic in working memory
viii. How LTP Happens
1. Long trains of stimulation experimenters use to induce LTP and LTD seem very
artificial, and they are; in the brain, these changes are more likely triggered by
theta EEG
2. Theta rhythm is EEG activity with a frequency range of 4-7 Hz
3. Rhythm is interesting because it occurs in hippocampus when an animal is
experiencing a novel situation, and any learning situation is somewhat novel
(nothing to learn)
4. LTP could be produced by just 5 pulses of stimulation
5. Suppressing theta EEG in hippocampus with a sedative drug eliminated rats’
ability to remember which way they turned on the previous trial in a 2 choice
maze
6. LTP induction involves a cascade of events at the synapse
a. Neurotransmitter involved in LTP is glutamate
b. Glutamate is detected by 2 types of receptors
i. AMPA (alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole
propionic acid) receptor
ii. NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartic acid) receptor
c. Glutamate activates AMPA but not NMDA because they are blocked
by magnesium ions
d. During LTP induction, activation of the AMPA receptors by the 1st
few pulses of stimulation partially depolarizes the membrane, which
dislodges the magnesium ions
e. NMDA receptor can then be activated, resulting in an influx of sodium
and calcium ions (depolarizes the neuron and calcium activates
CaMKII (calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase Type II)
f. CaMKII is necessary for LTP and functions as a 2 way switch that
changes the strength of a synapse
g. Neural Growth in Learning
i. LTP induction is followed by gene activation, gene silencing, and synthesis of proteins
(all result in functional changes in synapses and growth of new connections)
ii. Process of Neural Growth
1. Postsynaptic neuron is activated
2. Nitric oxide gas released (retrograde messenger) back into synaptic cleft
3. Nitric oxide diffuses across cleft to presynaptic neuron (induces neuron to
release more neurotransmitter)
4. Nitric oxide lasts only briefly, but increase in neurotransmitter release is long
term
iii. Dendritic Spines: outgrowths from the dendrites that partially bridge the synaptic cleft
and make the synapse more sensitive
1. 30 minutes after LTP, these increase
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Document Summary
Study guide exam 4 chapters 12 - 15: chapter 12: learning and memory, henry molaison (hm)"s memory problems. Henry molaison"s life was changed at the age of 7. He was knocked down by a bicycle and was unconscious by 5 minutes. 3 years later, he started having minor seizures and his 1st major seizure was on his 16th birthday. A surgeon removed much of both of his temporal lobes, where the seizure activity was originating: with medication and the surgery, minor seizures were manageable and major seizures ix. xi. were only 1 a year. He moved home and helped his parents and eventually got a job in a rehab facility. He was still able to recall personal and public events and remember songs from his earlier life, he had difficulty learning and retaining new information: anterograde and retrograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia: an impairment in forming new memories (henry molaison"s symptoms)
