Brain Plasticity Exam 2: Chapter 9

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

1) Duration 2) State 3) Vulnerability to disruption/decay

SA List three methods for influencing brain function.

1) Experimentally damaging a region of the brain 2) Injecting drugs 3) Genetic engineering

SA List two dependent variables in the water-escape task.

1) escape latency 2) path length 3) percent time spent in the target quadrant on a probe trial

SA What is the function of channelrhodopsin?

Channelrhodopsin is a light-activated ion channel. When activated by a blue light, they can open and close with millisecond precision and thus excite neurons by depolarizing them.

SA What is the dependent variable in inhibitory avoidance conditioning?

Crossover latency

T/F LTP is memory.

False

T/F Behavior is the product of many subcomponent systems.

True

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

True

MC Which of the following statements about memories is true? a) Newly established memories are more resistant to disruption than older memories b) Old memories have a shorter decay time than new memories c) Old memories are more resistant to disruption than new memories d) Both a and c e) all of the above are true

c) Old memories are more resistant to disruption than new memories

MC Which of the following statements about inhibitory avoidance conditioning is true? a) Longer latencies reflect a stronger memory trace b) Crossover latency is the dependent variable c) As shock intensity increases, so does response latency d) both a and c e) all of the above are true

e) all of the above are true

FITB In inhibitory avoidance conditioning, it is assumed that the strength of a memory is measured by _____________.

response latency

FITB Forgetting the location of a book or coffee cup only to remember it later is an example of ____________ failure.

retrieval

FITB The ________ is often used as a control task to evaluate alternative interpretation of the effect of brain manipulation on performance in the place-learning task.

visible platform task

SA What is 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.

T/F The concept of consolidation is supported by the fact that old events are more vulnerable to disruption than new events.

False

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

Optogenetics

T/F Memories in the active state are more vulnerable to disruption than memories in the inactive state.

True

T/F Memories in the active state decay more rapidly than memories in the inactive state.

True

SA What are the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response in fear conditioning?

US=electric shock CS=auditory stimulus CR=freezing

SA 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.

SA Explain the ceiling effect.

When a treatment is hypothesized to improve memory processes, but the performance measure is too high to be further increased by the drug.

MC 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 d) both a and b e) all of the above

a) the platform remains in the same location in each trial

FITB When investigating a drug or some other manipulation that is hypothesized to strengthen a memory trace, researcher should use lower intensity shock to avoid the _______________.

ceiling effect

FITB When the response measured is at its maximum, the researcher should be wary of the ______________.

ceiling effect

MC Which of the following statements about opsins is true? a) Channelrhodopsin can excite neurons by depolarizing them b) Channelrhodopsin can inhibit neurons by hyperpolarizing them c) Halorhodopsin can inhibit neurons by hyperpolarizing them d) Halorhodopsin can excite neurons by depolarizing them e) Both a and c

d) Halorhodopsin can excite neurons by depolarizing them

FITB The ECS methodology did not advance our understanding of memory because it was already known that brain trauma can ____________.

disrupt new memories

MC 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 memory traces 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 e) Both a and d

e) both a and d

FITB The hippocampus is targeted because it is critical for ________ and the _______ is targeted because it is critically involved in the storage of emotional memories.

episodic memory amygdala

FITB In fear conditioning, shocked rats display more ____________ than rats that were not shocked.

freezing

FITB In fear conditioning, the duration of the ________________ is an indicator of the ___________ of the memory.

freezing response strength

FITB The special learning version of the water-escape task was developed to study how animals acquire ____________ of their environment.

map-like representations

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

retrograde amnesia