Learning,

Memory, and
Amnesia
How Your Brain Stores Information

Learning - deals with how experience

changes the brain
Memory - deals with how these
changes are stored and subsequently
reactivated
Amnesia - any pathological loss of
memory

Amnesic Effects of
Bilateral Temporal
Lobectomy

Lobectomy - an operation in which a lobe, or

a major part of one, is removed from the brain
Bilateral medial temporal lobectomy - the
removal of the medial portions of both
temporal lobes, including most of the
hippocampus, amygdala, and adjacent cortex
Retrograde amnesia - loss of memory for
events or information learned before the
amnesia-inducing brain injury
Anterogade amnesia - loss of memory for
events occurring after the amnesia-inducing
brain injury

Amnesic Effects of
Bilateral Medial Temporal
Lobectomy

Memory consolidation - the transfer of

short-term memories to long-term storage
Explicit memories - conscious memories
Implicit memories - memories that are
expressed by improved performance
without conscious recall or recognition
Semantic memories - explicit memories
for general facts or information
Episodic memories - explicit memories
for the particular events or experiences of
one's life

Amnesic Effects of
Bilateral Temporal
Lobectomy

Memory consolidation - the transfer of

short-term memories to long-term storage
Explicit memories - conscious memories
Implicit memories - memories that are
expressed by improved performance
without conscious recall or recognition
Semantic memories - explicit memories
for general facts or information
Episodic memories - explicit memories
for the particular events or experiences of
one's life

Korsakoffs Syndrome,
Alzheimers Disease, and
Concussion
Korsakoff's syndrome - disorder of
memory that is common in people who
have consumed large amounts of alcohol
Alzheimer's disease - the major cause
of dementia in old age, characterized by
neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid plaques,
and neuron loss
Posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) amnesia following a nonpenetrating blow
to the head

Korsakoffs Syndrome,
Alzheimers Disease, and
Concussion
Standard consolidation theory - theory
that memories are temporarily stored in the
hippocampus until they can be transferred to
a more stable cortical storage system
Multiple-trace theory - theory that
memories are encoded in a distributed
fashion throughout the hippocampus and
other brain structures for as long as the
memories exist
Engram - a change in the brain that stores
memory

Where are Memories

Stored?
Prefrontal cortex - the area of frontal
cortex anterior to motor cortex
Hippocampus a structure of the medial
temporal lobes that plays a role in memory
for spatial location
Amygdala - it is one structure that plays a
role in memory for experiences with
emotional significance
Cerebellum - thought to participate in the
storage of memories of learned sensor motor
skills through its various neuroplastic
mechanisms

Where are Memories

Stored?
Striatum - thought to store memories for
consistent relationships between stimuli and
responses
Inferotemporal cortex - the cortex of the
inferior temporal lobe, in which is located an
area of secondary visual cortex that is involved
in object recognition
Basal forebrain a midline area of the
forebrain, which is located just in front of and
above the hypothalamus and is the brains main
source of acetylcholine
Perirhinal cortex the portion of the rhinal