The Learning and Memory

ConnectionKimberly Kocak, Pamela Foglesong, Brianna Duda, Lizette

Villavicencio, Maisha Wade

PSY/340

June 8, 2015

Dr. Purvi Patel

Memory and Learning

Memory and learning perform a complicated dance involving multiple areas of the brain. Memory and Learning can be affected by numerous events from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), disease and stress, just to name a few. Memory is implicit for learning but we have many different kinds of memory and learning. We have implicit memory, explicit memory, procedural memory, episodic memory, long-term and short-term, sensory, sematic and working memories. Each play a role in how we learn and interact with the world and view our past, present and future. In this presentation we will explore some of the interactions between memory and learning, look at a few case studies and talk about types of treatments that are available, depending on the area and extent of damage to certain parts of the brain.

Neuroanatomy of Learning and Memory

• How do we learn?

• Amygdala: An almond shaped mass of nuclei that is associated with emotions, aggression, and memory. The amygdala receives input about stimuli associated by learning with primary reinforcers.

• Hippocampus: The hippocampus is useful in learning a certain amount of information. According to Rolls (2000), “the hippocampus does appear to be necessary to learn certain types of information, which have been characterized as declarative, or knowing that, as contrasted or procedural, or knowing how, which is pared in amnesia.”

Neuroanatomy of Learning and Memory

• How do we remember?

• The limbic system is important in the role of learning and memory. The two major parts of the limbic system responsible for memory include: amygdala and hippocampus.

• “Small to moderate amounts of cortisol activate the amygdala and hippocampus, where they enhance the storage and consolidation of recent experiences” (Kalat, 2013). Cortisol is an important part of storing memories.

Neural Processes Related to Learning and Memory

• The brain is made up of about 100 billion neurons, which receive and transmit information to other neurons, in which neurons receive and transmit information through the help of axons and synapses.

• Knowledge is passed from one neuron to another by axons that travel along synapses, which is then stored in short- term memory. “Researchers proposed that all information initially entered a short-term storage, where it stayed until the brain had time to consolidate it into long-term memory”(Kalat, 2013).

A Functional Perspective: Learning and Memory

Acquiring Skills and Knowledge

• Learning can be permanent and come about in many ways.

• Requires many types of stimuli and may or may not help form memories.

Recollection of Acquisitions• Memory cannot occur without

learning

• Can be formed over a long or short period of time and recalled in various forms

Emotional memories are often the strongest, regardless of positive or negative. (Wesson, 2012). One may listen without remembering, and one may remember without recalling how they originally learned that information. Learning and memory correlate functionally because without the ability to hold memories, learning would be impossible. In addition, without the ability to learn, there

would be no memories to recall.

Memory and Learning are Interdependent

People with memory loss (amnesia) still have learning abilities through a type of memory called Procedural Memory, the ability to develop motor skills. Having motor skills allows you to learn new things. (Kalat, 2013)

Examples of Procedural Memory: Riding a bike Using a fork Putting on shoes

The examples described all end with a person learning how to master the task.

“Performance improves in normal individuals for several days (circles). H.M. also improved (boxes), indicating that his ability to learn this type of procedural nondeclarative memory was intact, despite the fact that he was unable to form declarative memories of the task. That is, every day, he had no memory of the tester or testing situation and required new instructions as to what the rules were.”(Lombroso,2008)

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Any damage to the hippocampus can affect the memory

depending on the extent of the damage or if it is removed

the results can be memory loss which can also affect the

learning abilities of the person.

Learning

Learning is associated with different types of Memory

Paired-associate Learning – requires learning associations between previously

unrelated pairings of stimuli is thought to engage declarative memory.

(Poldrack, 2001) Declarative memory is also known as Procedural

memory.

Fear Conditioning Learning is similar to classical conditioning but the reward is not pleasant but it’s rather painful. This type of learning is

associated with nondeclarative memory. (Lombroso, 2008)

Feed-back based learning in this type of learning the person is given a task but

the researcher gives clues to cue the person to respond. (Poldrack, 2001) This type of learning is associated with declarative memory. Delayed matching-to-sample task or nonmatching- in this

type of learning the subject is presented with a choice to pick the correct answer and on the nonmatching the subject needs to identify the opposite. Both are associated with declarative memory. (Kalat,2013)

PTSD Effects on Memory Case Study

Addiction: Relating Learning and

Memory to the Process of Powerlessness

What happens when we remember too much or too powerfully?

In recent years, researchers and mental health professionals have worked to understand and treat the

causes of addiction. There is a new view on the process of addiction, which is strongly based in how people learn

and retain memories. The American Journal of Psychology suggests that there is a, “…compelling case for a “pathological learning” model of addiction that is

consistent with long-standing observations about the behavior of addicted people.” (Hyman, 2005).

Addiction: The Reward System

Drugs, alcohol, gambling, and feelings of sexual satisfaction may not all seem like rewards, but the humans natural desire to seek out what makes us feel “good”, says that they can be. Addictive drugs and other substances can mimic satisfaction similar to other positive

and natural rewards in intended natural life.

An addict may say to themselves:

• Learned Behaviors: “If I use this drug, drink this alcohol, or gamble this money, I will feel good for a matter of time.”

• The Memories Involvement: “When I took these drugs, drank that alcohol, and gambled that money, it made me feel good for a matter of time.”

The rewarding properties of these substances and behaviors depend on their ability to increase dopamine. It is in this process that we find that the brain remembers and learns

that if we follow through with an act, that we can feel this desired sensation. (Hyman, 2005).

Case Studies on Addiction and Recovery“I just wanted the memories to go away…” – Recovering Addict (ADS, 2014).

Most case studies of this nature rely on the

observation of the researcher and the personal revelations of the addict.

In a recent study Terry Robinson and Kent Berridge state their, “…critical analysis of the major theoretical explanations of how drug-induced alterations in psychological

function might cause a transition into addiction…(including) the traditional hedonic

view that drug pleasure and subsequent unpleasant withdrawal symptoms are the

chief cause of addiction.”

(Terry and Berridge, 2003).

Treatment Options

• Addicts who wish to begin recovery are mostly successful in programs such as twelve-step self-help groups. (Moos and Timko, 2008).

• Twelve-Step recovery groups require a change in thought processes and taking responsibility for ones actions. It is in this way that the addict can learn a new way of life.

• An addict who also undergoes psychiatric therapy while in recovery groups is less likely to relapse.

• Anonymous support groups have been proven to help addicts move past their destructive, learned behaviors and into a better way of life.

PTSD Effects on Memory Case Study

Subject• 55 Year old Male• 4 month history of depressed mood• 2 prominent intrusive thoughts daily

Effects• Memory intrusion and lack of concentration• Social and Occupational functioning• Depressed mood• Working memory disruptions

Assessment and TreatmentPTSD Effects on Memory Case Study

Assessment• Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV• Self-report questionnaire• Conducted by a clinical psychologist

Diagnosis• MDE (Major Depressive

Episode)• With anxiety/stress related

issues• Manifesting with

memory and functional obstruction

• Creating PTSD (post traumatic disorder) from the life experience

Treatment-IE (Imaginal Exposure)• 90 minute sessions 2x weekly

appointments to re-enact the events with the therapist

• Daily home re-enactment of the eventsOutcome – 6 months• No longer had MDE

symptoms• Anxiety reduced

significantly• Thoughts were no longer

intrusive• Thoughts no long negatively

effecting social or occupational functioning

Conclusion

We’ve explored several case studies and learned how memory and learning are irreversibly linked. We’ve discussed different areas of the brain that contribute to memory, memory loss, permanent injury and alternative treatments to overcome loss. The one thing we know for sure is that very specific areas of the brain effect very specific parts of our memory. We do not lose our memory completely, we lose portions of our memory and therefore ourselves, our history and our futures.

There is always hope. We are learning each day through modern technology how to identify the areas affected and come up with new and creative ways to overcome or workaround the challenges of memory loss. We are also starting to understand how we learn.

How we learn affects how we educate, rear our children, train individuals for new jobs and retain our cognitive abilities as we age. The impact and implications of memory and learning are at the core of how we evolve as a species.

References

ADS, Case Studies. (2014, August 11). Retrieved June 5, 2015, from http://www.ads-uk.org/caseList.php

Hyman, S. (n.d.). Addiction: A Disease of Learning and Memory. Retrieved June 5, 2015, from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.8.1414

Kalat, James. W. (2013). biological Psychology (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning

Lombroso, P. J. (2008, November). Learning and Memory, Part I: Brain Regions Involved in Two Types of Learning and Memory. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(11), 1228-1232. doi:10.1097/CHI.0b013e318186e638

Moos, R., & Timko, C. (2008). Outcome research on twelve-step and other self-help programs. In M. Galanter, & H. O. Kleber (Eds.), Textbook of substance abuse treatment (4th ed. pp. 511-521). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Poldrack, R. A., Clark, J., Pare-Blagoev, E., Shohamy, D., & al, e. (2001). Interactive memory systems in the human brain. Nature, 414(6863), 546-50. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35107080

Robinson, T. E., & Berridge, K. C. (2003). Addiction. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 25-53. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/205819384?accountid=458

Veltmeyer M, McFarlane A, Bryant R, Mayo T, Gordon E, Clark C. Integrative assessment of brain function in PTSD: brain stability and working memory. Journal Of Integrative Neuroscience [serial online]. March 2006;5(1):123-138. Available from: MEDLINE Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed June 4, 2015.

Wesson, K. (2012, March 1). LEARNING & MEMORY: How Do We Remember and Why Do We Often Forget? Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://brainworldmagazine.com/learning-memory-how-do-we-remember-and-why-do-we-often-forget/

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/03/12/stress-affects-learning-and-memory/2031.html/ Image/Introductionhttp://www.gracepointwellness.org/109-post-traumatic-stress-disorder/article/27967-memory-reconsolidation-and-treatment-for-post-traumatic-stress-ptsd/ Image/PTSD Case Study