Deck 12: Learning and Memory

Question 1

How far back in a person's lifetime the retrograde extends depends on ______.

A) the extent of the damage, but not which specific structures are damaged
B) which specific structures are damaged, but not the extent of the damage
C) the overall health of the individual before the brain damage occurs
D) both the extent of the damage and which specific structures are damaged

Answer 1

both the extent of the damage and which specific structures are damaged

Question 2

What happens to a memory if it is not consolidated?

A) It is stored in long-term memory.
B) It does become a permanent memory.
C) It is more easily retrieved from memory store.
D) It will become distorted.

Answer 2

It does become a permanent memory.

Question 3

Studies that have used rats that were trained in the water memory task have identified the ______ as involved in consolidation.

A) amygdala
B) hippocampus
C) hippocampal formation
D) cingulate gyrus

Answer 3

hippocampus

Question 4

Animals given a drug that blocks the neurotransmitter ______ were not able to remember the location of a hidden platform in the water memory task.

A) acetylcholine
B) glutamate
C) serotonin
D) dopamine

Question 5

Which memory system provides a temporary "register" for information while it is being used?

A) Working memory
B) Utility memory
C) Sample memory
D) Long term memory

Question 6

Research concludes that the hippocampus plays a time-limited role in ______.

A) consolidation and integration
B) retrieval and convergence
C) integration and convergence
D) consolidation and retrieval

Question 7

The prefrontal area is most likely involved in ______, while the hippocampus responds during ______.

A) consolidation of memories; efforts to retrieve memories
B) efforts to retrieve memories; successful retrieval of memories
C) working memory; efforts to retrieve memory
D) cognitive activities not involving memory; working memory

Question 8

Blocking receptors for this neurotransmitter shortly after learning has taken place impairs consolidation and memory.

A) serotonin
B) acetylcholine
C) dopamine
D) norepinephrine

Question 9

What type of effect on memory occurs when dopamine levels are increased in the nervous system?

A) It slows down memory abilities.
B) It improves memory abilities.
C) It blocks memory abilities.
D) It has no effect on memory abilities.

Question 10

Increasing dopamine activity has been shown to be effective ______.

A) both before and after a learning experience
B) only before a learning experience
C) only during a learning experience
D) only after a learning experience

Question 11

Dopamine affects consolidation by ______.

A) initiating the synthesis of proteins that are necessary for consolidation to occur
B) preventing the synthesis of proteins that are necessary for consolidation to occur
C) initiating the synthesis of enzymes to prevent consolidation from occurring
D) preventing the synthesis of enzymes, thus increasing the process of consolidation

Question 12

Dopaminergic neurons activate when the value of a reward that occurs ______.

A) is expected
B) is less than expected
C) is more than expected
D) is more frequent than not

Question 13

In one study, rats with a severed connection between the hippocampus and cortex showed impaired performance in a learning task ______.

A) during training
B) 24 hours after training
C) 4 weeks after training
D) during and after training

Question 14

Theo was tested for changes in brain activity as he recalled events from his past, and his doctors found that the older the memory that he recalled, the less the activity in the ______.

A) hippocampus
B) parietal lobes
C) prefrontal lobes
D) temporal lobes

Question 15

Hippocampus is to brain as ______.

A) hard drive is to computer
B) display is to smart phone
C) RAM is to computer
D) SD card is to tablet

Question 16

Near which of the following brain areas is memory for language stored?

A) Wernicke's area
B) angular gyrus
C) Broca's area
D) prefrontal cortex

Question 17

Identifying the color of an object requires memories stored in which of the following lobes?

A) occipital lobes
B) temporal lobes
C) parietal lobes
D) frontal lobes

Question 18

Which two areas of the brain are activated when we identify pictures of tools from memory?

A) hand motor area and right temporal lobe
B) hand motor area and left temporal lobe
C) left frontal lobe and right temporal lobe
D) hand motor area and right frontal lobe

Question 19

______, first found in the rodent hippocampus, have been shown to increase their firing rates when an individual is in a specific ______ in an environment.

A) "hungry" cells; food-related site
B) ego cells; motivationally relevant place
C) place cells; spatial location
D) pain cells; negatively associated setting

Question 20

Despite his amnesia, H.M. demonstrated that he still had ______.

A) declarative memory
B) nondeclarative memory
C) episodic memory
D) semantic memory

Question 21

Your grandmother unfortunately had a stroke over the weekend. You take her to the doctor, and the doctor says to expect some declarative memory loss. What will your grandmother have problems with?

A) movement memory
B) memory for facts
C) skills memory
D) motor memory

Question 22

Your grandmother unfortunately had a stroke over the weekend. You take her to the doctor, and the doctor says that despite some memory loss, her nondeclarative memory will be fine. With what form of memory will your grandmother likely NOT have any deficits?

A) picture memory
B) memory for facts
C) memory for skills
D) memory for events

Question 23

In the movie Groundhog Day, the character played by Bill Murray experiences the same day over and over again. One of the activities he practices each day is playing the piano. By the end of the movie, he is able to play piano expertly. Someone with anterograde amnesia could do the same, but unlike Bill Murray's character, they would not remember ever practicing. This is because ______ memory is gone, but ______ memory remains intact following hippocampal damage.

A) declarative; nondeclarative
B) nondeclarative; declarative
C) functional; abstract
D) abstract; functional

Question 24

Damage to the striatum in rats disrupts ______.

A) declarative memory
B) nondeclarative memory
C) both declarative and nondeclarative memory
D) neither declarative or nondeclarative memory

Question 25

The RAM on a computer serves to hold information temporarily while it is being use, but the information itself is stored elsewhere on the computer. In this way, RAM is very similar to what type of memory?

A) declarative memory
B) nondeclarative memory
C) short-term memory
D) working memory

Question 26

What do you think is meant by "plasticity" in the brain?

A) structural changes in the connection between neurons
B) the capacity to store more information in memory at a time
C) the rate of firing of the presynaptic neuron
D) the rate of firing of the postsynaptic neuron

Question 27

What is suggested to be the purpose of LTD?

A) to clear old memories
B) to transfer new memories into longer memory storage
C) to prevent new memories from occurring
D) to keep new memories in short-term storage until no longer needed

Question 28

When studying how LTP works in the hippocampus, what is the main neurotransmitter that is involved in the process?

A) dopamine
B) acetylcholine
C) glutamate
D) GABA

Question 29

About 45 to 60 minutes after LTP, all of the following occur among dendritic spines EXCEPT ______.

A) partial bridging of the cleft
B) appearance of more AMPA receptors that are transported from the dendrites
C) enlargement or splitting to become separate spines
D) pruning of those that were not used in the process

Question 30

Which of the following statements about the advantages of new neurons is FALSE?

A) They are more active than mature neurons.
B) They are less vulnerable to be pruned away.
C) They have a lower threshold for LTP induction.
D) They are better at making fine discriminations.

Question 31

A nap during the day that lasts around ______ is enough for consolidation and improved performance on a task to occur.

A) 30 minutes
B) 60 minutes
C) 90 minutes
D) 2 hours

Question 32

Which of the following is not one of the ways in which a memory remains stable yet malleable?

A) unlearning
B) forgetting
C) reconsolidation
D) extinction

Question 33

Classical conditioning usually involves pairing a stimulus with a response, such as a bell paired with food in the mouth inducing salivation. If the bell is later rung but no food is put in the mouth, salivation will eventually not be elicited by the bell. This loss of conditioning is called ______.

A) forgetting
B) extinction
C) reconsolidation
D) unlearning

Question 34

The process of extinction involves ______.

A) forgetting
B) new learning
C) unlearning
D) pruning

Question 35

Which of the following is not one of the reasons why the brain removes some of the synapses after a while?

A) The information is useless.
B) The information is not used often enough.
C) There isn't enough saturation of synapses.
D) The synapses have not made connections with other stored memories.

Question 36

A gene involved in forgetting is ______, whose protein ______ causes memory to decay.

A) Drac1; Rac
B) Darc1; PP1
C) Rac; Drac1
D) PP1; Rac

Question 37

Continued training/practice has the benefit of ______.

A) increasing Rac
B) suppressing PP1
C) suppressing Rac
D) increasing Drac1

Question 38

For memory to be an efficient cognitive ability, there needs to be ______.

A) a balance between remembering and forgetting
B) slightly more remembering than forgetting
C) significantly more remembering than forgetting
D) remembering, but no forgetting

Question 39

Every time a memory is reconsolidated, it becomes ______.

A) potentiated
B) rehearsed
C) confirmed
D) vulnerable

Question 40

All of the following are suggested advantages of reconsolidation EXCEPT ______.

A) the opportunity to refine a memory
B) the ability to correct errors in a memory
C) the ability to confirm one's emotional response to a situation or person
D) the opportunity to treat certain psychological disorders therapeutically

Question 41

Reconsolidation during the vulnerable period of retrieval can cause a memory to ______.

A) weaken
B) disappear
C) strengthen
D) become erroneously distorted

Question 42

What causes recovery of false childhood memories to occur?

A) extinction
B) forgetting
C) reconsolidation
D) unlearning

Question 43

All of the following are possible ways for learning to become compromised EXCEPT ______.

A) damage to brain structures
B) aging
C) long-term potentiation
D) brain disorders

Question 44

In observing the relationship between normal aging and memory, which of the following may most likely be affected?

A) retrieval of old memories
B) working memory
C) consolidation of new memories
D) all of the above

Question 45

Which of the following areas of the brain has, more often than not, shown cell loss associated with aging?

A) occipital lobe
B) temporal lobe
C) frontal lobe
D) parietal lobe

Question 46

One study found that the ______ of one of the genes located in the dentate gyrus is implicated in memory impairment.

A) presence
B) absence
C) upregulation
D) downregulation

Question 47

Young mice engineered to produce ______ amounts of the protein RbAp48 showed ______ in memory ability.

A) increased; no change in performance
B) decreased; enhanced performance
C) increased; impairment
D) decreased; impairment

Question 48

In a rodent model of memory and aging, older rats with enhanced PP1 inhibitor gene showed ______ 4 weeks after training.

A) no improvement in performance
B) robust performance
C) gradual increase in performance
D) sudden decrease in performance

Question 49

Which of the following environmental factors has not been shown to reduce age-related changes in the brain?

A) enriched environments
B) delayed retirement
C) physical exercise
D) restricted calorie intake

Question 50

One subcortical area that undergoes substantial neuron loss during aging is the ______.

A) medulla
B) pons
C) thalamus
D) basal forebrain region

Question 51

Foods containing flavonoids have been associated with which of the following?

A) declines in episodic memory
B) faster overall cognitive declines
C) improvement in language
D) improvement in nonepisodic memory

Question 52

At least in animal studies, flavonoids have been shown to ______.

A) inhibit cellular learning mechanisms
B) enhance LTP
C) enhance LTD
D) inhibit neurogenesis in the hippocampus

Question 53

With the Synapse Project, improvement in episodic memory was observed among the elderly who spent at least ______ cognitively engaged.

A) 2 hours per week for 2 months
B) 10 hours per week for 3 months
C) 16 hours per week for 3 months
D) 20 hours per week for 1 month

Question 54

Substantial loss of memory and other cognitive abilities is defined as ______.

A) amnesia
B) prosopagnosia
C) dementia
D) agnosia

Question 55

How many individuals under 65 years of age, on average, are afflicted with Alzheimer's disease in the United States?

A) 400,000
B) 300,000
C) 200,000
D) 100,000

Question 56

Which of the following statements regarding Alzheimer's disease is FALSE?

A) It is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States.
B) It can lead to behavioral problems, such as aggression.
C) The individual usually does not have trouble remembering what happened the day before.
D) The individual often repeats the same questions during a conversation.

Question 57

The main component of beta amyloid plaques is ______, which is particularly ______.

A) A?42; sticky
B) tau; slippery
C) A?40; toxic
D) beta; sharp

Question 58

At which part(s) of the neuron do the clumps of beta amyloid cluster?

A) dendrites
B) cell body
C) axon
D) axon terminals

Question 59

At which part(s) of the neuron do the clumps of beta amyloid cluster?

A) where signals are received
B) where signals are processed
C) where action potentials occur
D) where neurotransmitters are released

Question 60

Neurofibrillary tangles are associated with ______.

A) death of brain cells
B) inhibition of neurotransmitter release
C) decreased action potentials
D) decreases in receptor sensitivity

Question 61

Which of the following shows the correct sequence of brain areas through which plaques and tangles progress?

A) limbic area, medial cortex, neocortex
B) medial cortex, limbic area, neocortex
C) neocortex, medial cortex, limbic area
D) neocortex, limbic area, medial cortex

Question 62

Plaques and tangles move through the brain in ______ stages.

A) predictable
B) unpredictable
C) random
D) brief

Question 63

Why are laboratory models of Alzheimer's finding difficulty replicating the disease completely?

A) Amyloid plaques can be produced, but not neurofibrillary tangles.
B) Neurofibrillary tangles can be produced, but not amyloid plaques.
C) Plaques and tangles can be produced, but not amyloid and tau.
D) Amyloid plaques can be produced, amyloid and tau.

Question 64

When researchers in Massachusetts developed a 3-D gel to grow cultures that more completely replicated Alzheimer's pathology, they discovered that ______.

A) the neurofibrillary tangles serve as a precursor to the plaque formation
B) the plaque formation serves as a precursor to the neurofibrillary tangles
C) accumulations of tau serve as a precursor to accumulations of amyloid
D) accumulations of both tau and amyloid are independent of each other

Question 65

When Alzheimer's disease attacks the frontal lobes, ______.

A) it destroys procedural memory
B) it partly explains the early memory loss
C) it explains the decrease in attention shown by patients
D) it explains the visual deficits experienced by some patients

Question 66

When Alzheimer's disease destroys the communication between V1 and its association areas, ______.

A) it destroys procedural memory
B) it partly explains the early memory loss
C) it explains the decrease in motor abilities shown by patients
D) it explains the visual deficits experienced by some patients

Question 67

The number of amyloid deposits in the brain is ______ related to the degree of cognitive impairment seen among Alzheimer's patients.

A) significantly
B) not
C) moderately
D) very seldom

Question 68

What percentage of elderly population show plaques in their brain but do not suffer from any type of dementia?

A) 0%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 75%

Question 69

Which form of amyloid is associated with Alzheimer's and memory failure?

A) water-resistant amyloid
B) fat-resistant amyloid
C) insoluble amyloid
D) soluble amyloid

Question 70

Increasing the levels of the protein, KIBRA, ______ the effects of acetylated tau. This process ______ connections for learning.

A) reverses; strengthens
B) enhances; weakens
C) reverses; weakens
D) enhances; strengthens

Question 71

Individuals with Down syndrome are likely to develop Alzheimer's disease if they live to the age of ______.

A) 40
B) 50
C) 60
D) 65

Question 72

When researchers studied the extra chromosome 21, which is a hallmark of Down syndrome, on which gene did they find mutations?

A) the APP gene
B) the APA gene
C) the PPA gene
D) the PAP gene

Question 73

While chromosomal loci associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease have been identified, the genes at those loci have not. However, genes in close proximity to the loci are related to all of the following EXCEPT ______.

A) plaque pathways
B) inflammatory processes
C) cell migration
D) circuit pruning

Question 74

All of the following are environmental risks when it comes to epigenetic changes linked to Alzheimer's EXCEPT ______.

A) pesticides and fertilizers
B) vitamin D deficiency
C) herbicides and insecticides
D) secondhand smoke

Question 75

All of the following are health risks when it comes to epigenetic changes linked to Alzheimer's EXCEPT ______.

A) a sedentary lifestyle
B) vitamin D deficiency
C) diabetes
D) secondhand smoke

Question 76

Recent studies have a strong link between traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's-like brain pathology and dementia among the following individuals EXCEPT ______.

A) boxers
B) football players
C) combat soldiers
D) soccer players

Question 77

Which of the following environmental factors triggers activity in beta amyloids and increases the occurrence of Alzheimer's 5- to 10-fold?

A) bacterial infections
B) traumatic brain injury
C) secondhand smoke
D) stress

Question 78

According to projected estimates, the cost of caring for Alzheimer's and other dementia patients in the U.S. will be ______.

A) $259 billion
B) $249 billion
C) $259 million
D) $249 million

Question 79

Based on a projected six-fold increase by the year 2050 in the number of people over 85, it is predicted that the rate of Alzheimer's will almost ______

A) double
B) triple
C) quadruple
D) quintuple

Question 80

Recently, several studies have shown a(n) ______ risk for Alzheimer's among the ______ nations.

A) declining; wealthiest
B) increasing; wealthiest
C) declining; poorest
D) increasing; poorest