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Memory Disorders

Memory Disorders. Psychology 3717. Introduction. The strange case of Charles D’Sousa Or is it Philip Cutajar? Rare type of disorder Some stuff clearly spared. Introduction. Results with amnesiacs has lead to many discoveries about memory Episodic vs. semantic memory

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Memory Disorders

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  1. Memory Disorders Psychology 3717

  2. Introduction • The strange case of Charles D’Sousa • Or is it Philip Cutajar? • Rare type of disorder • Some stuff clearly spared

  3. Introduction • Results with amnesiacs has lead to many discoveries about memory • Episodic vs. semantic memory • Procedural vs. declarative memory • Implicit vs. explicit memory • Phonological loop vs. visuo spatial sketchpad

  4. problems • Taxonomy • Individual differences • Interpretation • Application • Mostly comes down to a lack of control, which of course is inevitable

  5. Case studies • We pretty much have to rely on these • They are, thankfully, rare • Usually some sort of accident or a stroke

  6. Case SP • Stroke patient • Both Medial temporal lobes, left Hp and lots of surrounding area, but not the amygdala • Had trouble naming objects • Anterograde and retrograde amnesia • Similar to KC

  7. Clive Wearing • Case of encephalitis • Pervasive amnesia • Both semantic and episodic impairment • Temporal lobe dilation • Hp destroyed

  8. Performance Patterns • Retrograde amnesia • Losing past memories • Anterograde amnesia • No new memories • Spared function • Often implicit tasks, such as priming or ability to learn a new skill

  9. Typically spared • Working Memory • Semantic memory • Even KC could learn new stuff • Declarative information using Tulving’s method • Restrict errors

  10. Why? • Difficulties in interference, retrieval and encoding • Consolidation • Tends to come down to something to do with HP • Context or sending item off for processing or some such thing

  11. Semantic memory problems • What is a cat? • Temporal lobe problems • Oddly enough, episodic memory often intact in these rare cases

  12. Working Memory Problems • There are cases of people with intact phonological loops and visuo spatial sketchpads that are pretty much toast • And vice versa

  13. Alzheimer’s • More than half of all dementia is from AD • 2 times more women than men • Could be because women live longer though • dementia and brain stuff • Neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques

  14. AD • MASSIVE cell death • In essence, you get like lesions everywhere • ‘cortical’ dementia, but you get these lesions, holes really, everywhere

  15. Neurotransmitters affected • ACh is important in memory, especially in HP • The ACh system is severely damaged in AD • Indeed it is almost targeted • Other systems too though

  16. Memory effects • Episodic effects • Eventually semantic effects • Retrieval cues don’t help • Information was not even encoded • Nondeclarative stuff, skills etc, are the last to go

  17. Treatment • Most drugs target the cholinergic system • This disease not only affects the victim, but also his/her family • NGF is promising • Treatments will come, but, reversal, I dunno • Respite care is key for the family

  18. Conclusions • Frankly there is not a great deal of hope for most amnesiacs • That said, neuroscience is moving pretty fast • Has helped us understand normal function

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