Long Term Memory
Scott Betournay
What is Long Term
Memory?
• Long term memory is very large!
• It is robust.
• Information can be encoded, stored,
and retrieved.
Initiation of a Long Term
Memory: Sensory Reception
Pathway to Working Memory
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Epinephrine
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Norepinephrine
The Diencephalon is…
Pathway to Working Memory
Pathway to Long Term Memory
Types of Long Term Memory
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Declarative:
memory for facts!
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Procedural:
memory for skills
and procedure
Declarative Memory Is Further
Broken Down:
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Semantic: words, concepts, information
that can be described and applied
Episodic: personal
experiences and
events
Why Mention These Types of
Long Term Memory?
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Different types of memory are encoded
in different ways.
Episodic Memory is stored much easier
than semantic.
Some people have lost the function of a
certain type of Long Term Memory.
Amnesia
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Anterograde: patient is unable to recall
events occurring after the onset of brain
damage
Retrograde: memories are lost from
before the onset of amnesia
Patient H. M. – severed hippocampus
and amygdala caused anterograde
amnesia
Redefining the Procedural
Memory Pathway
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The hippocampus is not needed to
process Procedural Memories.
Long-term procedural memories are
stored in the basal ganglia, cerebellum
and motor cortices
Cellular Mechanisms of Long
Term Memory
Strengthen existing synapses.
Create new synapses.
Grow new neurons
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Strong evidence from primate studies
(Gould et al (1999).
Long Term Potentiation
A Molecular Mechanism for Memory
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Changes in the
structure of neurons
due to increased
use.
Cuses both the pre
and post-synaptic
neuron to become
more efficient.
Long Term Potentiation
References
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Barsalou L. Cognitive Psychology. Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, NJ. 1992
Beatty J. The Human Brain. Sage Publications, Inc.
2001
http://www.humboldt.edu/~morgan/skil_s01.htm
http://www.ipd.hk-r.se/bai/iea329/CognitivTheory/sld002.htm
http://psych.fullerton.edu/swillis/ltp.html
http://undergrad.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/kin356/ltm/ltm.htm
Jensen E. Brain Based Learning. The Brain Store. San
Diego CA. 2000
Kandel E et al. Essentials of Neural Science and
Behavior. Appleton & Lange, CT. 1995
References
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Marieb E. N. Human Anatomy and Physiology. Benjamin
Cummings. 2001
Tulving E, Craik F ed. The Oxford Handbook of Memory.
Markowitsch H. “Neuroanatomy of Memory” Oxford
University Press 2000
Sharp P. Brain Mechanisms of Perception and Memory.
“The Role of the Hippocampus in Learning and Memory”
Oxford University Press, New York. 1993
Wolfe P. Brain Matters. Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development. Alexandria, VA. 2001
How do we encode information
into Long Term Memory?
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The more we process information, the better
it is remembered.
The longer we are exposed to information,
the better we remember it.
The more we rehearse a piece of information,
the higher its probability of being
remembered
Rehearsal
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Elaborative rehearsal: processing and
mental energy devoted to rehearsing
information.
Maintenance rehearsal: devoting just
enough mental resource to keep
information from being lost
Elaboration
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The way in which we process stimuli
influences our ability to encode.
Intention, in and of itself does not help
us learn.
Depth of processing, or thinking about
what we learn, improves our ability to
encode information.
Generation of Information
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We remember best the information that
we generate ourselves. (could give
example here)…
Imagery
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If we can visualize and picture a
concept, then we are likely to
remember it better. (This is why
abstract concepts are difficult to
remember)…
Organization
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Memory for information improves when
we have knowledge to organize it
Hierarchical organization is particularly
useful for remembering large amounts
of information.
How is Memory Studied?
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Human patients with brain structural
abnormalities
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Disease
Injuries
Animal models to study causation
MRI, CAT, PET scans