NRSC 4032 Chapter 9

What is the consolidation period?

the time it takes to increase the resistance of a newly formed memory to disruption

The existence of a memory trace is inferred when the ______ influences behavior.

training experience

List 3 differences between a short-term memory trace and a long-term memory trace.

1. duration 2. state 3. vulnerability to disruption / decay rate

Describe 3 methods for influencing brain function:

1. experimentally damaging a particular region of the brain 2. injecting drugs into the brain that are designed to influence some aspect of neural function 3. genetic engineering to increase or decrease the expression of a potential memory molecule

What is a time-limited retrograde amnesia?

A failure to remember an experience that happened just prior to the occurrence of the disrupting event, yet maintaining memories of older experiences.

Explain why genetic engineering is believed to be more precise than applying drugs in manipulating the molecules involved in memory.

Drugs are said to be "dirty" meaning they are not highly selective to the intended target, and it is hard to control for the spread of the drug to other regions. By using biotechnology to directly influence the genome, it is possible to modify or delete the gene for a particular protein or to transfer new genes into the genome.

T/F Amnesia is always due to a storage failure.

F

T/F If damage to a particular brain region impairs test performance, we can assume that region contains memory neurons.

F

T/F LTP is memory.

F

T/F Long-term memories are more vulnerable to disruption than short-term memories.

F

T/F Viral vectors are not part of the optogenetics methodology.

F

How is the visible platform task used to evaluate results observed in the place learning task?

If a treatment has no effect on performance on the visible platform task, then one would be more confident about concluding that the treatment influenced some aspect of memory. This is because the task makes no demand on spatial memory of the platform location.

What is the difference between amnesia due to retrieval failure versus storage failure?

Memories can be recovered if the amnesia is a retrieval failure but not if it is a storage failure.

______ allows scientists to control one type of cell without altering other types.

Optogenetics

T/F Activation of Channelrhodopsin by blue light will allow sodium to enter the channel.

T

T/F Activation of channelrhodopsin by blue light will allow sodium to enter the channel.

T

T/F An advantage of the inhibitory avoidance task is that only one trial is needed to produce a behavioral change.

T

T/F Damage to a particular brain region X, impaired performance on a memory test. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that X is a memory storage region.

T

T/F If amnesia is due to a retrieval failure it can be recovered.

T

T/F If the experimenter wants to study a drug that might interfere with memory, then the floor effect would be a problem to avoid.

T

T/F Limited retrograde amnesia produced by a concussion likely affects only memories in the active state.

T

T/F On a probe test in the Morris water test, the hidden platform is removed.

T

T/F Short term memories decay more rapidly than long term memories.

T

T/F Studies of LTP provide a foundation for uncovering memory molecules.

T

T/F The DREADD methodology takes more time to activate or inhibit neurons than optogenetics.

T

Explain the floor effect.

When a treatment is hypothesized to impair the memory processes that produce avoidance behavior, but the performance measure was too low to be further reduced by the drug.

What is the function of channelrhodopsin and halorhodopsins?

When activated by blue light, channelrhodopsins (channel proteins) could be stimulated to open and close with millisecond precision and conduct positive ions with the result of depolarizing the neuron. Halorhodopsins, when stimulated with green light, conduct negatively charged chloride ions and thereby hyperpolarize the neuron.

Which of the following is a feature of the place learning task? a. the platform remains in the same location in each trial b. the platform is visible to the rodent c. the rodent is always released from the same location inside the pool

a

Which of the following is true? a. behavior is the window to memory b. behavioral tests are perfect indicators of memory c. many component systems contribute to behaviors used to test memory retrieval d. emotional processes can interfere with memory retrieval

a, c & d

Which of the following statements about memory and the mind is true? a. an LTP inducing stimulus produces a memory b. memories result from behavioral experiences c. behavior is the window to the mind d. memories are directly observable

b & c

Why is test behavior considered the window to the memory trace?

because without a measurable behavioral test response, there would be no evidence that the training phase produced a memory trace

When the response measure is at its maximum, researches should be wary of the ______.

ceiling effect

In inhibitory avoidance conditioning, it is assumed that the strength of the memory trace is reflected in the ______.

response latency

Forgetting the location of a book or a coffee cup, only to remember it later is an example of:

retrieval failure

Amnesia for events experienced prior to the blow to the head that caused it is an example of:

retrograde amnesia

T/F Activation of Channelrhodopsin by green light will allow sodium to enter the channel.

F, it's blue light

T/F In the object in context task, animals memory is demonstrated if the animal explores the object that was present in the training context.

F, the animal explores the object that wasn't present in the training context

Which of the following statements about inhibitory avoidance conditioning is true? a. longer late does reflect a stronger memory trace b. the dependent variable is crossover latency c. as shock intensity increases, so does response latency

all of the above

Which of the following is true? a. DREADDS but not optogenetic methods depend on viral vector delivery systems b. both DREADDs and optogenetic methods depend on viral vector systems c. viral vector systems deliver genetic material d. when activated by light channelrhodopsins the neuron hyperpolarizes

b & c

Which of the following are true about inhibitory avoidance conditioning and fear conditioning? a. both are measures of aversive learning b. crossover latency is the dependent variable in both tasks c. freezing is the dependent variable in both tasks d. only one trial is needed to produce the memory

a & d

Which of the following statements about memory is false? a. short-term memory traces are in the inactive state and are easy to disrupt b. long-term memories are in the inactive state and are hard to disrupt c. time limited retrograde amnesia is more likely to affect short term memory d. time limited retrograde amnesia is more likely to affect long term memory

a & d