LEARNING &

MEMORY
Learning and Memory are two
sides of a coin

• Learning-Ability to change behaviour on

the basis of sensory experience i.e
acquisition of information .
• Memory – is the acquisition, retention
storage and retrieval of sensory of the
information.
 Memory is of two main types:
on the basis of how information is stored
and recalled
Explicit/Declarative
Memory

Implicit/ Non-
Declarative/Reflexive
Memory
 Two forms of Long –term
memory
Explicit Memory Implicit Memory
• Associated with consiousness • It is memory of skills that
or awareness ie. Memory of we are never aware of and
knowledge, facts , events that make no conscious effort to
we are aware of. memorize or recall.
• It is factual knowledge about • Its retention does not
people, places and things. usually involve processing
• Dependent on Hippocampus in hippocampus.
and other parts of Medial
temporal lobes of the brain
• Explicit memory often
for its retention.
progresses to implicit
memory.
• Stores the feelings
associated with the events. • I. M stores the aut Ionomic
and somatic responses asso.
With events.
Striatu
m&

Spinal cord
& BS
 Types of
Semantic/Factual
Episodic Memory
Memory
Episodic /Autobiographical
• Memory of each attribute of • Stored on Prefrontal
Memory
an object is stored at cortex.
multiple sites in brain eg
stored in visual, auditory and • Frontal lobe damage
somatic areas of brain . l/t Source Amnesia.
• This memory is for facts like
words , rules and language.
• Hence loss of specific
cortical areas l/t
Fragmentation of
knowledge.
• eg Loss of post. Parietal
cortex l/t Astereognosis .
Loss of occipital cortex l/t
visual agnosia
 Implicit memory is subdivided into four types :
• Priming- ability to recognize words or objects by prior exposure
to them and dependent on Neocortex.

• Procedural learning or memory – learning of cognitive skills

and motor skills . Once acquired they become unconscious and
automatic.
• eg Learning to tell the time by looking at the clock is an example of cognitive skill.
• Learning to cycle ,swim or handle even a computer mouse is an example of motor skills.

• Associative Learning –One learns about the relationship

b/w two different stimuli or b/w a stimulus or a behaviour.
Involves two types of conditioning:
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Non –Associative Learning – most simple form of
learning .When animal exposed repeatedly to a single type of
stimuli ,animal learns about the properties of sngle stimuli,
• Includes : Habituation & Sensitization
 Non- Associative Learning
Studied in Aplysia (sea snail)
Habituation Sensitization
• Learning where • Augumentation of
individual learns not to response to a non specific
respond to low intensity stimuli by pairing it with a
weak stimuli and ignore strong or noxious
them as unimportant (sensitizing) stimuli.

• There is gradual loss of • Increases arousal and

response to stimuli attention and repeated
when presented exposure to noxious stimuli
repeatedly. l/t LTS lasting wks or
more.
• Asso. With decrease in
NT(Glu) release at the • Occurs d/t Presynaptic
synapse d/t decreased Facilitation by a facilitator
 Associative learning
eg. CONDITIONED REFLEXES

• A conditionded reflex is a Reflex response

to to a stimulus , that previously elicited
little or no response, acquired by
repeatedly pairing it with another stimulus
that normally does produce a response
• An asso. is made b/w a neutral or benign
conditioned stimuli (CS) and
unconditioned stimuli(US) which is innate
and produces a response.
 Pavlov’s experiment to demonstrate
the Classical conditioned reflex
• In his experiments , salivation normally induced by
placing meat in the mouth of a dog was studied.
• A bell was rung just before the meat was placed in the
mouth and this was repeated a number of times until
the animal would salivate when the bell was rung even
though no meat placed in the mouth.
• US –food/meat placed in mouth produces salivation
(particular innate response).
• CS – was the bell ringing.
• When the bell is rung(CS) just before the food is
presented (US) dog learns to associate the bell(CS)
with the food(US).
• Eventually , ringing of bell (CS) alone causes salivation.
 Features asso. with conditioned reflexes
• For a conditioned reflex to continue , CS should always be
followed by US for REINFORCEMENT.
• Positive R. develops with pleasant effect and Negative R. develops
with unpleasent effect
• Deconditioning – Abolition/Inhibition of CR.
• Presentation of the CS without the US causes EXTINCTION or
INTERNAL INHIBITION

• Otherwise if animal is disturbed immediately after the CS is applied

the reflex fades away soon. This is c/a EXTERNAL INHIBITION.
• Physiological basis of Conditioned Reflex- Explained by:
Formation of new functional synapses in the Nervous System.
• In this experiment, function connection b/w Auditory pathway and
autonomic centers controlling salivation.
• Cellular Mechanism of C.R :Presynaptic Facilitation to produce large
increase in Ca influx and NT release.
 OPERANT CONDITIONING
• In contrast to classical conditioning,in which
animal learns that an external event(US) predicts
the occurrence of a reinforcer(CS).
• In O .C organism learns which of its
actions/behaviour are responsible for the
occurence of reinforcement [Link] is of three
types:
• Reward conditioning –reward is given in response to a
particular behaviour . Behaviour becomes intensified
in response to pleasure it gives.
• Aversive conditioning –punishment is given in
response to a behaviour which weakens the response
and l/t Negative reinforcement.
• Neural mechanism of Op. Conditioning:
 Types of Memory
On the basis of Permanency of Storage

S • Short term memory or Primary Memory

• Lasts for seconds to min.
T
M
• Intermediate long –term memory
IL • Lasts for days to weeks but eventually it
T fades away.
M
• Long –term Memory
L • Once stored can be recalled years later or
T for a life time.
M
 Short - term Memory

• Lasts only as long as the person

continues to think about the numbers or
facts.
• Mechanism :
• Caused by continual neural activity resulting
from nerve signals that travel around and
around a temporary memory trace. In a
circuit of Reverbrating neurons in
Hippocampus.
• L/t accumalation of Ca in axon terminals
results in prolonged facilitation.
 Intermediate LTM:
studied by KANDEL in large snail Aplysia
• Results from temporary chemical or physical changesin
either the presynaptic or postsynaptic membrane that
can persist for days to 3 weeks.
 Molecular mechanism of ILTM
• Habituation –occurs d/t repeated stimulation of sensory
terminal which causes less intense response .
• Mech -D/t Closure of Ca channels causes decreased release of NT.
• Sensitization – Studied by Bryne and Colleagues in
[Link] term changes in membrane of both Pre and Post
synaptic neuron.
• Stimulation of Facilitator Presynaptic terminal
• causes Serotonin release at the Facilitator synapse
• acts on serotonin Receptors on Sensory terminal
• activates AC enzyme increases cAMP levels
• (+) PKA which causes Phosphorylation of of protein for K+ ch
• Blocks conductance through K+ channels
• Causes prolonged activation of Ca channels
• Increased Ca influx into the sensory terminal
• Increased NT release at the Synapse
Marked increase in synaptic transmission to Post- Synaptic
neuron
 Long term Memory
• Result from actual Structural changes rather than
chemical changes at the synapses and formation of
permanent memory trace.
• Various structural changes that occur at synapses
increases their sensitivity for transmitting nervous signals:
• Increase in vesicle release sites for secretion of NT release.
• Increase in number of transmitter vesicles released.
• Increase in number of presynaptic terminals
• Changes in structure of dendritic spines that permit transmission
of stronger stimuli.
• Number of Neurons and their Connectivities often change
Significantly during Learning: no .of neuronal connectionsis
determined by specific NGF’s released retrogradely from
stimulated cells.
• USE IT OR LOSE IT –suggests phenomenon of
Plasticity.
 Processing of Explicit Memory
• Storage of memory proceeds through four stages :
• ENCODING, CONSOLIDATION , STORAGE, RETRIEVAL
1. ENCODING- process by which newly learned
memory is processed when 1st encountered .Eg
Sensory memory, Primary or STM and Working
memory.
• Working memory is a special STM stored
temporarily in Prefrontal cortex and keeps
incoming information availiable for short time
while deciding what to do with it and has three
components:
• CENTRAL EXCECUTIVE- in prefrontal cortex
• TWO REHEARSAL SYSTEMS-Accelerate and Enhance Consolidation
• include Verbal system and Visuospatial Sketch Pad.
 Storage of Working Memory or STM
Sensory Information
Sensory Memory
WORKING MEMORY
(Polymodal information from Association Corticies ,visual , auditory , olfactory )
Entorhinal Cortex
HIPPOCAMPUS
Mamillary Bodies of Hypothalamus (damaged in
Alcoholism)
Anterior thalamus
Prefrontal cortex Basal Forebrain (Nn. of Basalis of
Meynert)
Ach
AMYGDALA & NEOCORTEX
Loss of these cholinergic fibers l/t ALZHIMERS DISEASE
Loss of recent memory and Confabulation in ALCOHOLISM
 Interhemispheric
Memory transfer
• Occurs through Corpus Callosum and
Optic Chaisma.
• Intercortical transfer of learning and
memory fails to occur after sectioning of
Corpus callosum and Optic chaisma.
 [Link] of Long term Memory
• It is conversion of newly stored still liable information to more stable
LTM that can be recalled weeks or years later.
• Consolidation is a FUNCTION of Medial Temporal Lobe .
• Left Hippocampus Processes Verbal Memory &
• Right Hippocampus processes Spatial Memory.
• Requires 5-10 min for minimum consolidation and 1 or more hrs for
strong consolidation otherwise data in STM is completely forgotten.
• But in patients of Brain concussion , Deep GA or following ECT
consolidation is blocked temporarily and they are unable to recall the
events immediately preceding the concussion or convulsion .
This is c/a RETROGRADE AMNESIA.(also occurs before onset of
sleep).
• ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA : Impaired new memory formation
without affecting old memories.
• Experiences asso. with no Emotional component are better forgotten and
do not form a memory .
• Amygdala concerned with storage of Emotionally charged memories.
 3. Storage of Memory
• Refers to the mechanism and sites of memory retention.
• Long term memories are stored in various sites in
neocortex which has almost unlimited capacity.
• Rehearsals fix the sensory experiences in memory
stores .
• Small amount of Information studied in depth is remembered
better.
• Memories are codified into different classes of
information.
• New memories are not stored randomly or unprocessed in
the brain.
• New and Old memories are compared for similarities and
differences and are stored in direct association with other
memories of the same type , so that one can search the
memory store later on to find required information.
 4. RETRIEVAL OF
MEMORY
• Permits the recall of and use of stored
information.
• It involves bringing he various parts of memory
together that are stored separately in visual ,
auditory, olfactory, etc cortical areas of the
[Link] that LTM are recalled or assessed by
a large no. of associations.
• Eg. Memory of a vivid scene can be evoked not
by a smiliar scene but a sound or smell
associated with the scene and also by words.
ALZHIMERS DISEASE / SENILE DEMENTIA
• Diseaes of Elderly (8%-17% in poulation over 70 yrs reaches 40-
50 % by 95 yrs of age)
• Both genetic and Environmental factors contribute to etiology of
the disease.
Caused by:
Mutations in genes for the
 AMYLOID PRECURSOR PROTEIN on Chromosome 21,
 PRESENILIN-I in Chromosome 14 or PRESENILIN –II on
Chromosome 1.
Treatment
 Mental Activities delays Cognitive Dementia.
 Acetylcholinestrase
Inhibitors(RIVASTIGMINE),Antidepressants
 Drugs to block production of Amyloid Proteins (MEMANTINE)
and prevent Glutamate induced excitotoxicity in brain(R-