MEMORY & LEARNING
Henry Molaison
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
■ Describe the case of H.M.’s memory loss
■ Explain how the case of H.M. changed our
understanding of memory
Henry Molaison
Age 27: Bilateral
Childhood
Age 16: Epilepsy medial temporal
Accident
lobectomy
Henry Molaison
■ Removed the medial
temporal lobe
(includes the hippocampus)
from both hemispheres
Henry Molaison
■ After the surgery, many things left intact:
– Old memories from childhood
– Short-term memory
– Personality
– IQ
– Perceptual abilities
Henry Molaison
■ Partial retrograde amnesia
^^Difficulty in retrieving memories
formed before onset of amnesia
– H.M. had difficulty recalling events from ~2yrs
before operation
■ Profound anterograde amnesia
^^Difficulty in forming new memories
– H.M. could not form new explicit and spatial memories
Henry Molaison
■ Could learn new skills
Henry Molaison
What did we learn from H.M.?
1. Not all memories are the same
– Formation of new, explicit memories was impaired
– Short-term memory was unaffected
– Implicit memory was unaffected
– Skill-learning (e.g., mirror-tracing, piano, bicycle)
– Conditioning (e.g., Pavlovian)
Henry Molaison
What did we learn from H.M.?
2. Different types of memories must use
different neural substrates
– Hippocampus & surrounding cortex necessary to
consolidate explicit memories
– For short-term & implicit memories, hippocampus &
surrounding cortex is less important
Henry Molaison
What did we learn from H.M.?
3. Memory is distinct from perceptual and cognitive ability
Readings on H.M.
(if you’re interested)
■ [Link]
■ [Link]
0
■ [Link]
[Link]?_r=1
■ [Link]
about-patient-h-m-ae4ddd33ed9c#.4ld0tzvnw
■ [Link]
MEMORY & LEARNING
Kinds of Memories and Their
Neural Substrates
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
■ Compare and contrast short-term, long-term,
and working memory
■ Distinguish between the different forms of
long-term memory
■ Identify the key brain regions associated with
each kind of memory
Short-term/Long-term/Working Memory
■ Short-term Memory: Cognitive
system used to hold a little info
for a short time (seconds)
Accuracy
Number of recall items
Short-term/Long-term/Working Memory
■ Working Memory:
A portion of short-term
memory where info is
manipulated to control
behavior
Example: Mental Math
78
X 2
???
Short-term/Long-term/Working Memory
■ Working Memory:
– Lasts seconds, or as
long as info is rehearsed
– Cortical brain regions:
■ Prefrontal cortex
■ Anterior cingulate
cortex
■ Broca and
Wernicke’s areas
■ Parietal & occipital
lobes
Short-term/Long-term/Working Memory
■ Long-term Memory: Vast storage of knowledge, and a
record of prior events
– Networks & associations
– Unlimited capacity and
lasts indefinitely
– Could be forgotten, but
later remembered with
appropriate cues
Long-Term Memory
■ Two major forms of long-term memory include:
– Declarative (“Explicit”)
– Non-declarative (“Implicit”)
Oklahoma City
Long-Term Memory
Oklahoma City
Medial Temporal Lobe
(Incl. Hippocampus),
Parts of the thalamus
Long-Term Memory
■ Two major forms of long-term memory include:
– Declarative (“Explicit”)
– Non-declarative (“Implicit”)
Long-Term Memory
Motor cortex, Neocortex Cerebellum,
basal ganglia, amygdala
cerebellum
MEMORY & LEARNING
Stages of Memory
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
■ Identify and describe encoding,
consolidation, retrieval, and reconsolidation
■ Explain effects of memory recall
■ Describe the testing effect
sdfs
■
STM à LTM
■ How do we transfer information
from STM to LTM?
– Consolidation
■ Time & effort needed for
consolidation varies, depending
on:
– Familiarity of topic
– Emotional content
Retrieval
■ Each time information is
remembered it is malleable and
REconsolidated
Memories can be
inaccurate, and can
become distorted
Memory traces can
become strengthened
Retrieval
■ Recall à Reconsolidate = Strengthen!
■ Memories, and the neural
changes that underlie them,
strengthen over time
– Especially with
experience or recall
The Testing Effect
■ The finding that long-term memory is increased when
some of the learning period is devoted to retrieving the
to-be-remembered information
What does this mean for YOU?????
Quiz Yourself (b/c the testing effect!)
■ Alex can’t form any new memories.
Alex has ___________ amnesia.
■ I can tie my shoe!
This is an example of a(n) _______ memory.
– What parts of my brain are required for this memory?
■ Tell me something you did last summer.
– What kind of memory is this, and what parts of my
brain are required for that?
MEMORY & LEARNING
Synaptic Plasticity
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
■ Explain what memory is (in the brain)?
■ Define Hebbian synapse
■ Explain neuroplasticity using examples of
synaptic changes that can occur to store
memories
What is a memory?
“Neuronic,” by Mike Fields, sculptor
What is a memory?
■ Biological basis of learning & memory:
– A memory represents a change in the brain
– These changes include strengthened synapses
Neuroplasticity
■ “Cells that fire together wire together”
– When an axon successfully stimulates another neuron, it
will be even more successful in the future
– Synapses that are not strengthened become weaker and
fade away
The synapse is
strengthened
Neuroplasticity
■ Hebbian synapse:
A synapse that
increases in
effectiveness b/c
of simultaneous
activity in pre- and
postsynaptic
neurons
Synaptic Changes that Store Memories
■ If a memory involves strengthened synapses, how do
they become strengthened and what changes are
occurring??
Synaptic Changes that Store Memories
■ More neurotransmitter may be released from the axon
terminal
Is this a presynaptic
change or a
postsynaptic
change?
Synaptic Changes that Store Memories
■ Receptive area on membrane becomes larger and/or
more sensitive to neurotransmitters
Is this a presynaptic
change or a
postsynaptic
change?
Synaptic Changes that Store Memories
■ Synapse enlarges on both sides of the synaptic cleft
Is this a presynaptic
change or a
postsynaptic
change?
Synaptic Changes that Store Memories
■ An interneuron* causes the release of more
neurotransmitter molecules per nerve impulse
Is this a presynaptic
change or a
postsynaptic
change?
*Interneurons help
regulate activity of
neurons
Synaptic Changes that Store Memories
■ Number of synaptic contacts increased and new
synapses are formed
Is this a presynaptic change or a postsynaptic change?
Synaptic Changes that Store Memories
■ More frequently used neural pathway takes over synaptic
sites formerly occupied by less active connections
Is this a presynaptic change or a postsynaptic change?
Synaptic Changes that Store Memories
■ These synaptic changes produce a stable and enduring
increase in the effectiveness of synapses
This is called Long-term Potentiation (LTP)