Hippo + Campus = Hippocampus

(this image is from here!)

    The hippocampus is an area of the brain that is for storing and retrieving memories, or it's a way of learning to recall.  The hippocampus sends to the cortex and other areas to fire areas for the "episode" to become real.  Short-term memory is when you are trying to remember or recall something and an hour later the thought doesn't come to you.  Sometimes the memory is consolidated into long-term memory, such as remembering a phone number, or where you parked your car. (Consolidation is when short-term memories are encoded into long-term memories.)It is not a structural change in the brain. In order for short-term memory to turn into long-term memory there needs to be structural changes in the brain need to occur.
   One of the famous cases of damage to the hippocampus is Patient H.M. He had been in an accident, and the doctors decided that the best thing to do was to remove his hippocampus. As long as he was able to keep his short-term memory active, as in working memory, he was able to remember things. When he would get distracted, H.M. would forget what he was trying to remember for the doctor, and would even forget the question.
   Before his hippocampus was removed, his memory was like anyone else's, but after his surgery he had trouble with his short-term memory. Afterwards, he was still able to recall any memories that he had from his childhood. This told researchers that the hippocampus was not necessary for retrieval of memories from the past. However, H.M. had trouble retrieving memories from several years prior to his surgery.  The reason for this is because this process of consolidation doesn't occur all at once. It happens over the course of time; takes years, months, and so on.
     H.M.'s immediate short-term memory was intact, or at least for a little while.  He was capable of having a conversation with someone, but if he talked to that person for too long, then he would forget.  He would be able to read the same book and magazine over and over again. If a nurse that H.M. met left the room, then came back, H.M. would reintroduce himself to the nurse as though he had no idea of who she was. He would constantly ask where he was and other similar questions.
     Even though he wasn't able to make any new memories, he had the potential to learn new skills. One of them being a finger maze, which consisted of H.M. tracing a maze with his finger, and as he kept doing it, he would get better at it each day and each time that he tried. Even though he was getting better, he was not able to remember that he was actually getting better; this is an example of rehearsal of skills, or practicing your procedural memory.
      A great example of short-term memory loss is the movie "Momento". The character in this movie has the same sort of problems where he is unable to recall things for more than several moments. He also constantly asks if he has talked to a particular person before and other similar scenarios. The film is entertaining and gives the film watcher the ability to get an insight into this deficiency.
     Thank you for reading this post on Hippocampus with a focus on H.M. Hope you enjoyed this post and today's Psych Knowledge. Thanks!

Memory, oh sweet memory!

   
    There are various types of memories that psychologists refer to and they are episodic, explicit, implicit, semantic, short-term, long-term, sensory, declarative, and procedural memory.

    Usually memory can be simply divided into long-term and short-term memory, but sensory memory can be grouped along with these types of memories. Sensory memory lasts less than a second and is based on touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. Short-term memory, or working memory, lasts about a minute or so. Long-term memory is something that is stored within the brain throughout your life. With long-term memory that are various types of memories that help you throughout your life.

    Long-term memory can be broken into Declarative, or explicit, Memory and Procedural, or implicit Memory.  Declarative Memory is made of events and facts, things that are certain and can be recalled consciously. This type of memory is called Explicit because the information has been stored and it can be recalled explicitly. Declarative Memory can still be divided into episodic and semantic memory, which I will speak about a little later.  Procedural Memory is unconscious and it is consists of skills that are a "to do" task or motor functions.  A familiar is example is riding a bike; once you have learned the skills you don't have to think about what you need to do. This type of memory works with skills that have been mastered and are procedures. Procedural Memory can be called Implicit Memory when a past experience influences a certain task without consciously being aware of the past experiences.

    Episodic Memory and Semantic Memory are part of Declarative Memory. Episodic Memory is memory of specific events and experiences. It can be thought of as autobiographical memory because it is knowledge of your own life and the things that happened to you.Semantic Memory is more worldly and focuses on events, facts, and knowledge of the world that is around us. It is knowledge of a specific event or place without having experience of that specific place. 

     Those are the basics of the types of memories that psychologists have broken down.  Not only is there short-term and long-term memory, but also sensory memory. And within long-term memory, our memories can be broken down into unconscious and conscious memory. I think memory is an amazing thing because without it we would have a hard time functioning in our lives, especially with school. Hope you enjoyed the Psych Knowledge for today, and feel free to ask any questions, comments, or even suggestions for a topic. Thanks for reading!

 

 

Human Memory Information

(This information and picture are from the link provided above...)

I love you Basal Ganglia!

The basal ganglia is a set of forebrain structures within the lateral hypothalamus, which includes the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus palidus. The connection or function that is most obvious is within the frontal areas of the cortex, which is responsible for planning planning things in a particular order, and certain aspects of memory and emotional expression. When the basal ganglia has deteriorated, which occurs in cases of Parkinson's or Huntington's disease, the most visible sign is impaired movement. However there are also signs of depression, deficiencies with memory, reasoning, as well as attention.

This image is from: http://neuralmodel.net/library/brain/basal_ganglia.htm

The basal ganglia also plays a role in language, especially those who are bilingual. How do individuals who speak two, or more, languages manage to keep each language separate? The answer is our dear friend basal ganglia.  The language receptors are stored in different areas of the brain, and for those who are efficient with language are able to juggle the different languages. Those individuals who learned two or more languages in early childhood had language areas in the temporal and frontal cortex become "thicker" than average. With those who are better at one language versus the other, the second or weaker language takes more of an effort and therefore activates the language areas stronger than the other language does. The shift from one language to another activates the frontal cortex, and basal ganglia.

Memory tasks that require a procedure, known as procedural memory(motor skills and habits), are linked with the basal ganglia. Another type of memory, declarative, is linked with the hippocampus, has to do with the ability to put things into words. The basal ganglia is also linked to sleep disorders, Schizophrenia, Parkinson's Disease, movement, and of  what is described above. There is more that can be said, but let's just say this is a condensed version of what information there is out there.

If you have any questions, or would like some more information, please feel free to ask or leave any comments/questions/concerns. Thank you for reading Psych Knowledge!

For more information on basal ganglia, click on the link below to listen to a podcast of what happens when the basal ganglia "short circuits"....(This podcast does not belong to me, and is the rights of Radiolab and WNYC.) Enjoy!

Damn It, Basal Ganglia!

Intro of Psych Knowledge and the Lobes of the Brain

Hello everyone!
     This blog will be written about my knowledge of Psychology. The reason for choosing this particular topic is because it is something that I am familiar with and it is something that I am studying. There has been so much research done to prove a particular finding, but there is a vast ocean of  knowledge that has not been found out. Psychologists are familiar with the lobes of the brain and the basic functions that that each part does, but the details of every single one of those parts is still unknown. So let's start with something easy, like the four lobes of the brain.
     The four parts of the brain are the Frontal Lobe, Parietal Lobe, Occipital Lobe, and Temporal Lobe. The Frontal Lobe is located right above your eyes and is responsible for the planning of movements, some aspects of memory and the inhibition of inappropriate behaviors. The Parietal Lobe is located behind the Frontal Lobe. It is responsible for integrating sensory information from different parts of the body, the notions of numbers and their function, manipulation of objects, and there are some aspects of vision.  The Occipital Lobe is located in the back of the brain and is responsible for vision processing and can be linked to the origination of  dreams. The fourth lobe is called the Temporal Lobe and is located where the temples are, which is below the Frontal and Parietal Lobe. Its function is auditory perception, advanced visual processing, and is a key to the formation of long-term memory.
      That is just some basics about the brain and what the functions of the four lobes of the brain. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Hope you enjoyed the Psych Knowledge!