Darkthorn’s Blog

learning – the acquisition of new information or knowledge

memory – the retention and accessing of learned information

classes of memory

• • short term – phonological loop

    • • • • visuospatial sketchpad

• • long term – declarative (facts, places, events)

    • • • • perceptual

          • nondeclaritive (subconscious)

• • • relies on physical changes in neuronal circuits

    • reinforcement of particular synaptic pathways

    • changes in membrane receptors

    • hippocampal/medial temporal cortex involved in formation of long-term memories and the storage of recently formed long term memories

    • this may require the formation of new neurons

    • long term declarative memories are stored as synaptic circuits in the cerebral cortex

    • not all long term memories are declarative, as they can form without conscious acknowledgement

neuronal activity

• inferior temporal cortex important for facial recognition

• cells respond differently between different stimuli on training

Amnesias

• retrograde – previous memories removed after trauma

• anterograde – no memory after trauma

perceptual learning – practice in sensory tasks allows the person to perform finer discriminations, stored in primary sensory areas

visuomotor learning – compensating for visual disturbances (within cerebellum)

fear conditioning – amygdala coordinates behavioral, emotional and autonomic responses to sensory stimuli, learning association relies on this circuit