Learning & Memory
Term that describes memory loss after TBI where newer memories are affected more than older ones.
Whats is Temporal gradient
Retrograde amnesia (loss of memories before an event) shows a temporal gradient, meaning recent memories are lost first while older ones are more stable. This is because older memories have already been consolidated into the cortex, while newer ones still depend on the hippocampus
Emotional learning linking stimuli and responses depends on these two structures.
What is the Amygdala–cerebellum
The amygdala assigns emotional significance to stimuli, while the cerebellum coordinates conditioned motor responses like the startle or eye-blink reflex
These are the smallest sound units that can change the meaning of a word.
What are phonemes?
Phonemes are the basic building blocks of spoken language.
/c/ /a/ /t/
This system attaches emotional meaning to experiences and memories.
What is the limbic system?
The limbic system links feelings to events and shapes emotional memory.
This type of memory allows us to navigate from one place to another using spatial layouts.
What is topographic memory?
It stores the layout of environments.
Recalling a memory can change it through this process.
What is Reconsolidation
Every time we retrieve a memory, it temporarily becomes unstable and can be updated or changed before being stored again, a process known as reconsolidation
Amnesic patients who invent false memories show this symptom.
What is Confabulation?
Confabulation occurs when frontal or hippocampal dysfunction leads the brain to “fill in the gaps” in memory with plausible but false information
This vocal pattern of rhythm and intonation helps listeners understand meaning beyond the words themselves.
What is prosody?
Prosody shapes emotional tone and emphasis.
This brain structure connects emotional processing to sensory input and the hypothalamus.
What is the amygdala?
The amygdala detects emotional significance and triggers responses.
The mental map of areas beyond your arm’s reach is called a representation of this type of space.
What is distal space?
It refers to space far from the body.
Explicit memory depends more on this type of processing.
What is Top-down processing
Explicit memory (facts, events) requires conscious, top-down processing involving deliberate attention and organization, while implicit memory is automatic and bottom-up
This neurotransmitter is lost in Alzheimer’s disease.
What is Acetylcholine
Alzheimer’s involves degeneration of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain, disrupting attention and memory circuits
Linguists use this term for the rule system that governs how words are arranged in sentences.
What is syntax?
Syntax provides structure so sentences make sense.
This type of processing allows us to use information outside awareness to guide decisions.
What is unconscious inference?
Unconscious inference is hidden processing influences judgments without conscious awareness.
A person who cannot identify specific landmarks but can still classify the type of object shows this condition.
What is landmark agnosia?
They lose landmark recognition but not object category knowledge.
Amnesia most often disrupts this type of memory.
What is Declarative Memory
Amnesia typically disrupts explicit or declarative memory (facts and events), while implicit memory (skills, conditioning) often remains intact
The brain’s highest-level organizer of behavior.
What is Consciousness
Consciousness integrates perception, attention, memory, and planning, allowing flexible, goal-directed behavior in complex environments
These four underlying abilities support language and include 4 categories that let us form concepts, imitate sounds, order ideas, and understand others.
What is categorization, mimicry, sequencing behavior, and theory of mind.
This network in the right hemisphere supports a person's awareness of themselves.
What is the right frontoparietal network?
It contributes to self reflection and body awareness.
Damage to the right parietal cortex can impair the ability to interpret these depth signals formed by incomplete contour cues.
What are illusory contours?
These contours imply depth even when not fully drawn.
This structure is central to implicit memory and habit learning.
What is the Basal ganglia
The basal ganglia, connected with the motor cortex and substantia nigra, underlie procedural learning and habit formation, the core of implicit memory
Chronic stress alters the prefrontal cortex in many disorders, except this one.
What is Seizures
Stress-induced neural remodeling of the prefrontal cortex is linked to depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia, not seizure conditions
This language task activates both the frontal and temporal cortices during imaging studies.
What is verb generation?
Verb retrieval engages a distributed network instead of one area.
London taxi drivers show increased activation in this brain region when describing spatial routes.
What is the right hippocampus?
This region supports navigation and route memory.