VIII.

LEARNING, MEMORY, AND INTELLIGENCE OUR CHANGING VIEWS OF CONSOLIDATION

A. Learning, Memory, and Memory Loss  EMOTIONALLY significant memories form

B. Memory Structures of the Brain quickly.
C. The Hippocampus and the Striatum  Locus Coeruleus
D. Intelligence  increases release of
norepinephrine
A. LEARNING, MEMORY, AND MEMORY LOSS  Emotion causes release of epinephrine
and cortisol to activate amygdala and
 Life WITHOUT MEMORY means no sense of
hippocampus.
existing across time.  enhances consolidation of recent
 Your memory is ALMOST SYNONYMOUS with experiences
your sense of self.  WORKING MEMORY
LOCALIZED REPRESENTATIONS OF MEMORY  Proposed by Baddeley & Hitch as an
alternative to short-term memory
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING  Emphasis on TEMPORARY storage of
information to actively attend to it and
 Pioneered by Ivan Pavlov work on it for a period of time.
 Pairing two stimuli changes the response to
one of them. WORKING MEMORY
 Conditioned stimulus
 DELAYED RESPONSE TASK
 Unconditioned stimulus
 Unconditioned response  Common test of working memory
 Requires responding to something you
 Conditioned response
heard or saw a short while ago
 Research points to the PREFRONTAL CORTEX
for the storage of this information
 Damage impairs performance
 Manner of impairment can be very
precise
AMNESIA
 Amnesia is simply defines as memory loss
 Different kinds of brain damage = different
types of amnesia
 Two common types related to disorders:
TYPES OF MEMORY 1. KORSAKOFF’S SYNDROME
2. ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
 Hebb (1949) differentiated between two types of
memory. KORSAKOFF’S SYNDROME
SHORT-TERM MEMORY  Brain damage caused by prolonged thiamine
(vitamin B1) deficiency
 memory of events that have JUST occurred.
 Impedes brain’s ability to metabolize
LONG-TERM MEMORY glucose
 Leads to a loss of or shrinkage of
 memory of events from times FURTHER back. neurons in the brain
 Often due to chronic alcoholism
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SHORT- AND LONG-TERM
 Distinctive symptom:
MEMORY
 Confabulation—taking guesses to fill
 Short-term memory has a LIMITED capacity in gaps in memory
 long-term memory does NOT  apathy, confusion, and memory loss
 Short-term memory FADES quickly without
rehearsal ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
 long-term memories PERSIST  Associated with a gradually PROGRESSIVE
 Long-term memories can be STIMULATED with loss of memory, often occurring in old age.
a cue/ hint.  Affects 50%  over 85 ; 5%  65–74
 Short-term memories CANNOT  Early onset seems to be influenced by
 Researchers propose ALL information enters GENES
short term memory.  99% of cases are late onset
 The brain consolidates it into long-  About half of all patients with late onset
term memory. have NO KNOWN relative with the disease
 Later research weakened the distinction  NO drug is currently effective.
between short- and long-term memory
 Not ALL rehearsed short-term memories
become long-term memories.
 TIME needed for consolidation VARIES.
 ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND PROTEINS 8. MEDIODORSAL NUCLEUS
 Alzheimer’s disease is associated with an  large nucleus in the THALAMUS
accumulation and clumping of the following  believed to play a role in ACTIVE memory or
brain proteins: WORKING memory
 AMYLOID BETA PROTEIN
 Creates plaques from damaged 9. BASAL FOREBRAIN
axons and dendrites
 Produces widespread atrophy of  believed to play a role in the MNEMONIC
the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, functions of the brain.
and other areas  the MAJOR producer of ACETYLCHOLINE in
 An abnormal form of the TAU PROTEIN the brain.
 Creates tangles
 Part of the INTRACELLULAR C. THE HIPPOCAMPUS AND THE STRIATUM
support system of neurons
 Different areas of the hippocampus are
INFANT AMNESIA ACTIVE during:
 MEMORY FORMATION
 Early childhood amnesia  LATER RECALL
 not a disorder like the previous two  Damage results in amnesia
 Universal experience  much of what we have learned about memory
 we don’t remember much from our first has been from patients with localized brain
few years of life damage.
 Children DO form memories
MEMORY LOSS AFTER DAMAGE TO THE
 the question is why they forget them
HIPPOCAMPUS
 Hypotheses:
 Learning language and complex reasoning  Person called H.M. is a famous case study in
abilities don’t develop until the child is psychology
OLDER
 HIPPOCAMPUS was removed to
 Changes in the hippocampus and growth
of new neurons prevent epileptic seizures
 Afterwards, H.M. had great difficulty forming
B. MEMORY STRUCTURES OF THE BRAIN new long-term memories
 Short-term/working memory remained
1. RHINAL CORTEX intact
 plays a major role in the formation of new  Suggested that the hippocampus is VITAL for
LONG-term EXPLICIT memories for “objects” the formation of new long-term memories.
 H.M.’s short-term or working memory remained
2. HIPPOCAMPUS intact.
 Was able to remember a number after 15
 involved in the consolidation of long-term minutes without distraction
memories for SPATIAL LOCATIONS and  When distracted, memory was GONE in
formation of EPISODIC memories seconds.

3. AMYGDALA TWO TYPES OF AMNESIA

 plays a specific role in memory for the 1. ANTEROGRADE AMNESIA

EMOTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE of experiences
 loss of ability to form NEW memory after the
4. INFEROTEMPORAL CORTEX brain damage

 Believed to store memories of VISUAL images 2. RETROGRADE AMNESIA

 Can cause AGNOSIA if damage
 loss of memory of events PRIOR to the
5. CEREBELLUM occurrence of the brain damage

 store the memories of LEARNED  H.M. showed BOTH types of amnesia after the
SENSORIMOTOR tasks surgery.
 Also involved in MOTOR learning
IMPAIRED STORAGE OF LONG-TERM MEMORY
6. STRIATUM
H.M.’S MEMORY IMPAIRMENTS:
 associated with the acquisition of HABITS and
SKILLS  NOT being able to state the correct date or his
 Also the main neuronal cell nucleus linked to current age
PROCEDURAL memory  Read the same magazine repeatedly WITHOUT
losing interest
7. PREFRONTAL CORTEX  Could recall only a FEW fragments of events in
the recent past
 involved in the RETRIEVAL of SEMANTIC and
 Did NOT recognize himself in a photo
EPISODIC memories from long-term storage.
 But did recognize himself in a mirror
SEMANTIC MEMORY NORMAL PATTERN OF AMNESIA PATIENTS
 Memories of FACTUAL information  Patient H.M. showed this pattern (as do many
 KNOWLEDGE learned over many interactions other amnesia patients):
 Takes EFFORT  Normal working memory UNLESS
 H.M. was able to form a few weak semantic distracted
memories  Severe ANTEROGRADE amnesia for
DECLARATIVE memory
EPISODIC MEMORY  Severe LOSS of EPISODIC memories
 BETTER IMPLICIT than explicit memory
 Memories of PERSONAL EVENTS  NEARLY intact PROCEDURAL memory
 Memory for specific events that you have
EXPERIENCED HIPPOCAMPUS VS. STRIATUM
 Just happen—NO EFFORT
 H.M. could NOT describe any event  Results suggest a division of labor between the
since his surgery striatum and other brain areas that include the
 H.M. had severely impaired episodic hippocampus and cerebral cortex
memory  However, most tasks activate BOTH systems.
 Hippocampal learning at the beginning of a
TWO TYPES OF LONG-TERM MEMORY task
 once the task becomes “habitual” or
1. EXPLICIT “automatic,” more emphasis on
 CONSCIOUS awareness STRIATUM
2. IMPLICIT
 UNCONSCIOUS awareness BRAIN AREAS FOR TWO TYPES OF LEARNING

BETTER IMPLICIT THAN EXPLICIT MEMORY A. HIPPOCAMPUS

 MEMORY LOSS impacts a person’s ability to  Speed of learning:

imagine the future  Can learn in a single trial
 Type of behaviour:
1. EXPLICIT MEMORY  FLEXIBLE responses
 Based on what type of feedback:
 Deliberate recall of information that one  Sometimes CONNECTS information over a
recognizes as a memory. delay
 Also known as DECLARATIVE MEMORY  Explicit or implicit learning:
 information you consciously work to  EXPLICIT
 What happens after damage:
remember
 Impaired DECLARATIVE memory,
2. IMPLICIT MEMORY especially — EPISODIC memory

B. STRIATUM
 Information remembered unconsciously and
effortlessly  Speed of learning:
 The influence of experience on behavior even  Learns gradually over MANY trials
if one does NOT recognize that influence.  Type of behaviour:
 Another patient, not H.M., was tested  HABITS
with three nurses:  Based on what type of feedback:
 one friendly, one neutral, one  requires PROMPT FEEDBACK
stern.  Explicit or implicit learning
 IMPLICIT
 He preferred the friendly nurse and
 What happens after damage:
avoided the stern nurse, but couldn’t  Impaired learning of SKILLS and HABITS
state why.
OTHER BRAIN AREAS AND MEMORY

INTACT PROCEDURAL MEMORY  Most of the brain contributes to memory

PROCEDURAL MEMORY AMYGDALA

 Development of MOTOR SKILLS and HABITS  associated with FEAR learning

 Special kind of IMPLICIT memory PARIETAL LOBE
 Examples of amnesia patients with intact
procedural memory:  associated with piecing information together
 H.M. learned to read words written
ANTERIOR TEMPORAL COMPLEX
backward (as in a mirror)
 K.C. learned to use Dewey decimal  DAMAGE to the anterior temporal complex results
system to sort books and is employed in loss of semantic memory
part-time at a library  SEMANTIC DEMENTIA

PREFRONTAL CORTEX

 involved in learned behavior and decision-making

 IMPROVING MEMORY TOTAL NUMBER OF NEURONS
A. DRUGS  Humans win!
 Total number of neurons may be a reasonable
 Understanding the mechanisms of changes correlate of intelligence
that impact LTP may lead to drugs that  Whales and elephants have larger brains
improve memory than humans, their neurons are larger
 CAFFEINE, RITALIN, MODAFINIL and more spread out.
 enhance learning by increasing arousal  Marmosets have a greater brain- to-body
 Some herbs have doubtful effects. ratio than humans, but their bodies are
 Ginkgo biloba smaller, and therefore their brains and
 Bacopa monnieri neuron number are smaller.
B. GENE EXPRESSION AND BEHAVIORAL METHODS THREE WAYS OF COMPARING BRAINS ACROSS
SPECIES
 Altering gene expression in mice
 Slight benefits to certain types of memory  Humans do not have the largest brain mass or
 Improvements come with a cost: the largest brain-to-body ratio, but we do have
generally impair a different type of the largest number of brain neurons.
memory
 Example: NMDA receptors—aster HUMAN DATA
learning but chronic pain
 Moderate correlation between brain size and
 BEHAVIORAL methods best way to improve
IQ
memory
 Intelligence correlates with surface area of the
 Study, rehearse, test yourself, get cerebral cortex in the frontal and parietal lobes
good sleep, and reduce stress. as well as with the caudate nucleus
V. INTELLIGENCE  Intelligence correlates with WHITE matter
 BOTH neurons and the connections
 Intelligence includes LEARNING, MEMORY, among neurons are important
REASONING, and PROBLEM SOLVING.
 a difficult concept to define LIMITATIONS WITH THE HUMAN DATA
 Charles Spearman’s (1904) report  Men have LARGER brains but EQUAL IQS
 All measures of cognitive performance  Overall, males and females have equal
CORRELATE POSITIVELY with one intelligence
another.  Hypotheses:
 Factor of general intelligence = g
 Women have MORE and DEEPER sulci
 General INTELLIGENCE similar to on the cortex- surface area almost equal
general ATHLETIC ability to men
 Some people are GOOD at ONE skill  Male and female brains organized
and others different skills DIFFERENTLY possibly as an
evolutionary mechanism to keep
intelligence the same despite the
BRAIN SIZE AND INTELLIGENCE relative size
 The correlation is not high enough to justify
 Bigger brain does NOT mean “smarter” using brain measurements to make any
 All mammalian brains have the same decisions about an individual
organization but they differ greatly in size.
 Within a family (e.g., rodents), larger species, GENETICS AND INTELLIGENCE
which have proportionately larger brains, learn
faster and retain their learning better than  Genetics play a role
smaller species.  Monozygotic twins resemble more alike
 This is not true if you compare species (e.g., than dizygotic twins on tests of overall
human vs. whale) intelligence, specific cognitive abilities, and
brain volume
BODY TO BRAIN RATIO  Resemble each other even when reared
in separate homes
 The species humans regard as most
 Heritability INCREASES as people grow older
intelligent—ourselves—have larger brains in
 Adopted children start more similar to
proportion to body size than do species we
adoptive parents but gradually become
consider less impressive, such as frogs. more like biological parents
 Doesn’t make sense for certain species, for  Heritability of intellectual performance is LOWER for
example, Chihuahuas, squirrel monkeys, and people raised in impoverished conditions and
marmosets who attended lower-quality schools
 Human obesity is reducing our ratio!  Overall:
 So neither total brain mass nor brain- to-body  Significant heritability
ratio puts humans in first place.  contributions from many genes
 but NO common gene with a MAJOR
effect