Memory and Attention

Loss of ability to encode and learn new information after a defined event (e.g., head injury, disease)

Loss of old memories (that took place before the defined event)

-Fleeting
-Milliseconds
-Capacity is essentially unlimited

-Limited capacity (7 +/- 2 chunks)
-Degrades quickly (seconds)
-Must be transferred to LTM or held by rehearsal

-Theoretically unlimited capacity
-Relatively permanent?
-Generally of most interest to neuropsychologists

The ability to:
1. Register information (encode)
2. Organize it in a meaningful way (storage)
3. Recall or recognize it (retrieval)

Memory for long-past events

Hemispheric-Encoding-Retrieval-Asymmetry (HERA) model

L prefrontal (dorsolateral) region

R prefrontal region

L prefrontal

R lateral prefrontal & bilateral

R prefrontal

1. temporomedial
2. parietal
3. medial parietotemporal
4. temporal
5. occipital
6. cerebellar

L prefrontal (for both nonverbal and verbal)

1. temporal
2. anterior cingulate
3. cerebellar

1. Medial temporal lobes
2. Diencephalon
3. Basal forebrain

Surgical removal bilaterally of hippocampus and surrounding area

1. Above average intelligence
2. recall of old memories and facts
3. STM (retain info for a few minutes)

1. Amnesia for new learning (anterograde amensia)--both episodic and semantic
2. Information was not consolidated into LTM
-ex: always meeting the same person for the first time

Preservation of old memories (despite the medial temporal damage)

the movement of new information into LTM storage

The L medial temoral activated during encoding of verbal info

bilateral activation of the medial temporal lobes takes place during encoding of nonverbal information

Significantly disrupts declarative memory

Entorhinal and Parahippocampal regions

the amnesia becomes more severe and long-lasting

1. Hippocampal formation/ complex
2. medial temporal lobe
3. often the areas adjacent to the hippocampal formation

1. hippocampus
2. dentate gyrus
3. subiculum

Entorhinal cortex

Perirhinal cortex

Parahippocampal cortex

Relating, Combining, Cortical

1. Specific nuclei of the thalamus
2. Mammillary bodies of the hypothalamus
3. Dorsal medial nucleus

Initiating and monitoring the conscious retrieval of episodic memories

Korsakoff's syndrome

Degeneration of the medial nuclie of thalamus + mammillary bodies

Anterograde and retrograde amnesia, with preserved non/declarative procedural memories

1. nucleus basalis of Meynert
2. medial septal nucleus
3. nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca
4. substantia innominata

It is a subcortical part of the telencephalon, which surrounds the inferior tip of the frontal horn.

the limbic structures

the basal forebrain constellation

its location

the fibers that traverse the area

the mediotemporal area

The Papez Circuit

consolidating information in memory

Info from the cortex and higher cortical association areas enters through the cingulate gyrus to the Papez circuit

can disrupt memory in a manner similar to direct removal of the hippocampus

cingulate gyrus --> hippocampus/subiculum --> (fornix) --> mammillary bodies --> anterior nucleus --> cingulate gyrus

"habit memory" "procedural memory" "implicit memory"

different abilities, mutually exclusive

Influence of: prior experience, without: conscious awareness

performance, verbalization

A single lesion does not erase all nondeclarative memory.

the subcortical basal ganglia link

mixed.

They improve with practice on perceptual motor tasks (without conscious awareness). But, not on complex, non-declarative learning tasks.

Identification of target stimuli when presented with other nontarget stimuli. Requires encoding phonetic or semantic declarative information.

visual features of content presented

implicit learning

they perform as well as healthy controls, even though they have no memory for the consonant strings used during training

classic or associative learning

simple stimulus-response associations

ex: if a dr. pricked their finger the first time, they will withdraw from a handshake the second time they see them (even though they don't remember)

cerebellum, basal ganglia, and motor strip

cortical and subcortical

Huntington's patients perform better than Korsakoff's and Alzheimer's patients.

they perform the same

subcortical dementia

caudate of basal ganglia

the role of the basal ganglia in implicit memory

phonological (acoustic code)

semantic coding or associative meaning value of information

Patients with amnesia and severe LTM deficits often show intact STM. Other patients with specific STM impairments have preserved LTM.

TRUE

left posterior temporal lesion

1. different anatomical structures across the memory systems
2. models of verbal STM and LTM are separate or parallel systems

Distinct system encompassing some capacity limitations of STM but also a dynamic system influencing aspects of attention and executive functioning

some form of mental manipulation or transformation

attentional and inhibitory control

1. Central Executive
2. Visuospatial sketch-pad
3. Episodic buffer
4. Phonological loop
5. Visual semantics
6. Episodic long-term memory
7. Language

an attention-controlling system, which supervises and coordinates slave systems
-involves focusing, shifting, and dividing attention and interfacing with LTM

1. Articulatory phonological loop
2. Visuospatial sketch-pad

storing speech-based information; important in the acquisition of language

---depends on language-based left hemisphere processes

manipulating visual and spatial images

--associated with the right hemisphere

1. a temporary and limited capacity storage system
2. holds and integrates information of different modalities (e.g., visual and auditory)
3. controlled by the central executive through conscious awareness

the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex holds info "on line" while processed

Prefrontal cortex activates during the WM tasks. Specifically:
- ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activates when dynamic (strategic) retrieval of info from posterior brain regions is required
-mid-dorsolateral frontal cortex activates when info is to be maintained on line for purposes of monitoring and manipulation
-these, together, show higher order processes involved in planning and organization of behavior

1. Prospective memory (memory for future intention)
2. Temporal memory (memory for info in time order)
3. Source memory (memory for context)

dealing with the flood of information that the nervous system cannot treat equally

1. general level of alertness or vigilance
2. general state of arousal
3. orientation v. habituation to stimuli
4. ability to focus, divide, or sustain mental effort
5. ability to target processing within a specific sensory area (auditory attention, visual attention, etc.)
6. measure of capacity

true.

regulates level of cortical activation or arousal, sets general cortical tone, may send preparatory signal to cortex to alert it to receive stimuli

sustained attention

thalamus, basal ganglia, superior and inferior colliculi

the thalamus

the thalamus

reflexive movement of the eyes and head when orienting to visual stimuli

shifting or switching sets, orienting to stimuli

the ability to respond and pick out important elements or "figure" of attention from "ground"
-implies effortful processing and concentration

switching back and forth while mentally holding a place to return to the other activity

partialing out attentional resources at the same time, rather than switching back and forth

the ability to maintain an effortful response over time; persist and sustain a level of vigilance

1. focused attention
2. alternating attention
3. divided attention
4. sustained attention
5. automatic processing
6. controlled processing

when it involves tasks performed automatically without conscious thought; minimal demands on attentional resources; other tasks can be performed concurrently

execution of mental operations in linear or serial manner with significant allocation of attentional resources; parallel processing of additional tasks is generally not possible

1. multiple sclerosis
2. Alzheimer's disease
3. Parkinson's disease

1. hypoglycemic encephalopathy
2. hyperthyroidism

1. depression
2. mania
3. schizophrenia
4. ADHD

false.

unilateral neglect

1. Mesulam's Model of Spatial Attention
2. Posner's Anterior and Posterior Attention Model
3. Mirsky's Elements of Attention Model