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8687 results in Cognition

Page 194 of 435

  • 3 - Brain Regions Associated with Long-Term Memory

  • Scott D. Slotnick, Boston College, Massachusetts
  • Book:
    Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
    Published online:
    28 May 2018
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 46-70

  • Summary

    Learning Objectives

  • • To identify three brain regions most commonly associated with episodic memory.

  • • To compare the brain regions associated with episodic memory and semantic memory.

  • • To contrast the two models of long-term memory consolidation.

  • • To explain what happens during slow wave sleep that promotes long-term memory consolidation.

  • • To compare the brain regions associated with memory retrieval and memory encoding.

  • • To describe how behavioral performance and hippocampal activity differ between females and males during long-term memory.

  • • To explain one way in which the brains of those with superior memory differ from those with normal memory.

    • This chapter considers the brain regions associated with long-term memory, a type of explicit memory (see Chapter 1). Long-term memory can be broken down into episodic memory and semantic memory. Episodic memory refers to the detailed retrieval of a previous episode, such as when someone remembers a happy moment of his or her life. Semantic memory refers to the retrieval of factual information, such as the definition of a word or the name of the current president. Semantic memories are formed through repeated exposure to information throughout life and lack the details associated with episodic memories. This information is simply known and there is no memory for the previous details of the learning experience. Although episodic memory and semantic memory both refer to conscious forms of retrieval, the degree of detail and subjective experience associated with these types of memory is quite different. It follows that the brain regions associated with episodic memory and semantic memory are also distinct. The first two sections of the chapter (sections 3.1 and 3.2) consider the brain regions associated with episodic memory and semantic memory. Section 3.3 will consider long-term memory consolidation (i.e., the process of creating more permanent memory representations in the brain). In section 3.4, the role of sleep in long-term memory consolidation is examined. Long-term memory consolidation requires the interaction between multiple brain regions in which activity oscillates at specific frequencies. In section 3.5, the brain regions associated with memory encoding will be reviewed.

  • 3 - Cognition and Learning as Constructive Processes: Finding Order in Chaos

  • Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, University of Northern Colorado
  • Book:
    How We Think and Learn
    Published online:
    02 March 2017
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 30-49

  • Summary

    Chapter 3 focuses on the constructive, meaning-making nature of human cognition and learning. It explains how we construct meanings both on our own and in collaboration with other people, sometimes within a very short time period and at other times over the course of many months, years, or generations. The chapter also describes various ways in which we might organize what we learn, including concepts, schemas, scripts, personal theories (which may or may not be in line with scientific explanations), and worldviews. The chapter’s “Being Strategic” section recommends self-reflective evaluation of one’s own perspectives and worldviews, and it offers strategies for teaching new concepts and cognitive tools and for promoting respectful dialogues about complex and controversial topics.

  • 4 - Key Components of the Human Memory System: An Overly Simplistic Yet Useful Model

  • Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, University of Northern Colorado
  • Book:
    How We Think and Learn
    Published online:
    02 March 2017
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 50-71

  • Summary

    Chapter 4 presents a three-component model of human memory; it stresses the fact that this model provides a useful means of summarizing many but not all research findings related to memory. It describes the general nature of the three components (sensory register, working memory, long-term memory) and integrates the roles of attention, in-depth cognitive processing, and executive functions into the model. The chapter also presents concepts that aren’t entirely compatible with a traditional three-component model, including implicit learning (e.g., as a contributing factor to infantile amnesia) and levels of activation. The chapter’s “Being Strategic” section offers recommendations related to getting and maintaining attention, regularly creating connections between “new” and “old” (i.e., previously acquired) information, working within the constraints of working memory’s limited capacity, and focusing classroom assessments on things that students most need to know and be able to do.

  • 5 - Long-Term Memory Failure

  • Scott D. Slotnick, Boston College, Massachusetts
  • Book:
    Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
    Published online:
    28 May 2018
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 88-107

  • Summary

    Learning Objectives

  • • To identify the brain regions associated with typical forgetting.

  • • To understand the experimental paradigms that are used to investigate retrieval-induced forgetting and motivated forgetting.

  • • To describe the interaction between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus during retrieval-induced forgetting and motivated forgetting.

  • • To compare and contrast the brain regions associated with true memory, false memory for related information, and false memory for unrelated information.

  • • To determine one way in which flashbulb memories exemplify memory failure.

    • The previous two chapters focused on the brain mechanisms underlying successful long-term memory. The flip side of memory success is memory failure, and these processes are intimately linked. As will be discussed in more detail within this chapter, understanding memory failure furthers our understanding of memory success. Memory failure can be broadly classified into forgetting and memory distortion. Everyone is experienced with forgetting and, even though we are almost never aware of it, memory distortion. This chapter begins by reviewing the brain regions associated with typical forgetting, which can be attributed to a lack of attention during encoding (section 5.1). In section 5.2, the brain mechanisms underlying retrieval-induced forgetting are considered, which is when retrieval of one item (e.g., the word ‘banana’) has an inhibitory effect on related items (e.g., the word ‘orange’) and increases the rate of forgetting for these items. The brain regions associated with a related process called motivated forgetting, an increase in the rate of forgetting for items that one intentionally tries to forget, is then considered. In the next two sections of the chapter, 5.3 and 5.4, two types of memory distortion are considered: false memories (i.e., memories for information that did not occur) and flashbulb memories (i.e., seemingly picture-like memories for very surprising and consequential events). It has been argued that long-term memory failure reflects an adaptive memory system that works well (Schacter, 1999; Schacter, Guerin & St. Jacques, 2011).

  • 2 - The Human Brain: The Hardware of Our Thinking and Learning

  • Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, University of Northern Colorado
  • Book:
    How We Think and Learn
    Published online:
    02 March 2017
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 11-29

  • Summary

    Chapter 2 describes the neurological underpinnings of human cognition and learning, including the roles of neurons, synapses, neurotransmitters, neurogenesis, glial cells (especially astrocytes), and consolidation. The chapter also describes key brain structures and stresses the fact that the left and right hemispheres work in close collaboration in almost any mental task (i.e., there is virtually no such thing as exclusively “left-brain” or “right-brain” thinking in a normal human brain). The brain’s development is traced from the prenatal period through adulthood, with discussions of synaptogenesis, synaptic pruning, myelination, the adolescent brain, and lifelong plasticity. The chapter’s “Being Strategic” section offers strategies for brain health for both oneself and others (e.g., a physical exercise, plenty of sleep, and a reasonable amount of intellectual stimulation).

  • 8 - Conceptual Change: Revising Our Understandings When Revisions Are Called For

  • Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, University of Northern Colorado
  • Book:
    How We Think and Learn
    Published online:
    02 March 2017
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 130-144

  • Summary

    Chapter 8 focuses on conceptual change as an essential component in knowledge acquisition and intellectual growth. It presents examples of the many misconceptions children and adults may have about their world (e.g., that summer is hotter than winter because the Earth is closer to the sun during summer), as well as common misconceptions about human nature (e.g., that a person’s intelligence level is biologically built in and thus relatively permanent). The chapter describes both common obstacles to conceptual change (e.g., confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, social and cultural influences) and factors that can sometimes spur conceptual change (e.g., meaningful learning, disequilibrium/cognitive dissonance). The chapter’s “Being Strategic” section offers several strategies for encouraging conceptual change in both oneself and others (e.g., intentionally seeking out conflicting perspectives, gaining a better understanding the nature of scientific theories and research methodologies, pre-assessment of students’ current understandings about a topic, and asking students to apply newly learned scientific explanations to real-world examples).

  • 6 - Remembering, Forgetting, and Misremembering: Why Long-Term Memory Isn’t Always Dependable

  • Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, University of Northern Colorado
  • Book:
    How We Think and Learn
    Published online:
    02 March 2017
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 96-115

  • Summary

    Relying primarily on the concept of activation, Chapter 6 describes the nature of retrieval in long-term memory, comparing it to the experience of looking for something in a very large, dark room with only a small flashlight. The chapter also presents several possible explanations of why we often forget or misremember the things we’ve learned and argues that in most circumstances forgetting is actually beneficial for our cognitive functioning. The chapter’s “Being Strategic” section recommends several strategies for minimizing retrieval problems (e.g., creating external retrieval cues, brainstorming, giving challenging problems time to “incubate”).

  • 6 - Working Memory

  • Scott D. Slotnick, Boston College, Massachusetts
  • Book:
    Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
    Published online:
    28 May 2018
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 108-128

  • Summary

    Learning Objectives

  • • To identify the brain regions that are thought to store the contents of working memory.

  • • To describe how information is coded in early sensory regions during visual working memory.

  • • To list three shortcomings of the evidence or analysis techniques that have been used to associate working memory and the hippocampus.

  • • To compare and contrast the brain activity frequency bands associated with working memory and long-term memory.

  • • To understand what types of changes take place in the brain after extensive training on working memory tasks.

    • Working memory refers to actively holding information in mind during a relatively short period of time, typically seconds (see Chapter 1). Like most long-term memory paradigms, working memory paradigms consist of a study phase, a delay period, and a test phase. During working memory paradigms, information is actively kept in mind during the delay period. Working memory is an explicit process as its contents dominate conscious experience. Working memory has been associated with activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the parietal cortex, and sensory processing regions. Thus, the regions associated with working memory are similar to those associated with long-term memory (see Chapter 3), with the notable absence of medial temporal lobe regions such as the hippocampus. Section 6.1 of this chapter details the brain regions that store the contents of working memory during the delay period. It has long been thought that the contents of working memory are stored in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, but more recent evidence indicates that storage also takes place in early sensory cortical regions such as V1. In section 6.2, the evidence is evaluated that claims to link working memory with the hippocampus. In section 6.3, brain activity associated with working memory that oscillates at particular frequencies is considered, which includes alpha activity and gamma activity. This also mirrors the findings of long-term memory (see Chapter 4), except for the lack of working memory theta activity. Finally, in section 6.4, changes in brain activity are highlighted that have been linked to training-related increases in working memory capacity. These findings suggest that extensive training (e.g., multiple times a week for many weeks) on working memory tasks can produce long-term improvements in behavioral performance, change the way the brain functions for a period well beyond the time of training, and perhaps even increase intelligence.

  • 9 - Explicit Memory and Disease

  • Scott D. Slotnick, Boston College, Massachusetts
  • Book:
    Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
    Published online:
    28 May 2018
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 171-195

  • Summary

    Learning Objectives

  • • To describe the changes in brain anatomy and fMRI activity in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

  • • To identify the regions of the brain that atrophy in patients with early Alzheimer's disease and learn the proteins that are accumulated in these regions.

  • • To compare the behavioral performance and fMRI activations of mild traumatic brain injury patients and healthy control participants during working memory tasks.

  • • To understand how surgery on medial temporal lobe epilepsy patients has revealed associations between the left medial temporal lobe and the right medial temporal lobe and verbal long-term memory and visual long-term memory.

  • • To specify the location of the hippocampal lesion that causes transient global amnesia.

    • The previous chapters of this book have focused on the neural basis of memory in healthy adults. This chapter discusses five neurological diseases that affect the brain regions associated with explicit memory. Section 9.1 discusses patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. These patients have long-term memory deficits due to atrophy of medial temporal lobe regions including the hippocampus. Within a few years of being diagnosed with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, about half of these individuals are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the topic of section 9.2. Patients with early Alzheimer's disease have more severe impairment of long-term memory and atrophy of the medial temporal lobe and the parietal lobe, two regions that have been associated with long-term memory (see Chapter 3). Alzheimer's disease patients also have abnormally high levels of proteins in the medial temporal lobe and the parietal lobe, which is thought to further disrupt processing in these regions. Section 9.3 focuses on patients with mild traumatic brain injury, who typically perform normally on working memory tasks but have increased fMRI activity within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex, relative to healthy control participants. It is generally believed that such increases in fMRI activity reflect compensation, where these regions are recruited to perform normally on the task.

  • 1 - Types of Memory and Brain Regions of Interest

  • Scott D. Slotnick, Boston College, Massachusetts
  • Book:
    Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
    Published online:
    28 May 2018
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 1-23

  • Summary

    Learning Objectives

  • • To understand each of the memory types.

  • • To list the brain regions that have been associated with memory.

  • • To describe the effects of removing the medial temporal lobes.

  • • To pinpoint the visual sensory regions in the brain.

  • • To identify the control regions in the brain.

    • Memory enables us to have skills, to communicate with others, to make intelligent decisions, to remember our loved ones, and to know who we are. Although human memory has been studied for over two centuries (Aristotle, 350 BCE), the cognitive neuroscience of memory has only been studied for the last two decades. Section 1.1 of this chapter gives a brief overview of the field of cognitive neuroscience. Cognitive neuroscientists employ techniques that non-invasively track the functioning human brain. Section 1.2 details the fourteen different types of memory. In section 1.3, an overview of human brain anatomy is provided. Commonly known anatomic distinctions such as the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the temporal lobe, and the occipital lobe are reviewed and then more detailed anatomy is discussed. Section 1.4 highlights the importance of the medial temporal lobe in memory, which was discovered in the 1950s when this region was surgically removed from one unfortunate individual. In section 1.5, an overview of brain sensory regions is provided, such as the regions associated with visual perception and auditory perception. When a person remembers detailed information, such as the room they stayed in on their last vacation, the corresponding sensory regions of their brain are reactivated. In section 1.6, the regions of the brain that control memory retrieval are considered, which include part of the frontal cortex, the parietal cortex, and the medial temporal lobe. The final section, 1.7, provides an overview of the organization of this book. This book identifies the brain regions associated with different types of memory and details how activity in these regions changes over time. After the current evidence on the cognitive neuroscience of memory has been reviewed, the final chapter discusses the future of memory research. In the last decade, there have been many advances in understanding the brain mechanisms underlying human memory, but there is much to learn and the next decade promises to be even more exciting.

  • Preface

  • Scott D. Slotnick, Boston College, Massachusetts
  • Book:
    Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory
    Published online:
    28 May 2018
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp xxi-xxii

  • Summary

    The human brain and memory are two of the most complex and fascinating systems in existence. Within the last two decades, the cognitive neuroscience of memory has begun to thrive with the advent of techniques that can non-invasively measure human brain activity with high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution.

    This is the first book to provide a comprehensive treatment of the cognitive neuroscience of memory. It is related to three classes of other books. First, textbooks on cognitive psychology or cognition provide broad overviews of the cognitive psychology of memory and therefore only consider a small fraction of the work on the cognitive neuroscience of memory. Second, textbooks on cognitive neuroscience provide broad overviews of the entire field and also consider only a small fraction of the work on memory. Third, more specialized books on memory focus on the cognitive psychology, the behavioral neuroscience, or the computational modeling of memory rather than the cognitive neuroscience of memory.

    This book highlights temporal processing in the brain. Cognitive neuroscientists predominantly use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify the brain regions associated with a cognitive process. Although fMRI has excellent spatial resolution, this method provides little if any information about the time at which brain regions are active or the way in which different brain regions interact. By emphasizing both spatial and temporal aspects of brain processing, this book provides a complete overview of the cognitive neuroscience of memory and aims to guide the future of memory research.

    Each chapter is written in an accessible style and includes background information and many figures. Debated topics are discussed throughout the text. The most popular view is routinely questioned rather than simply assumed to be correct, as is done in the vast majority of textbooks. In this way, science is depicted as open to question, evolving, and exciting.

    The audience for this book is educated lay people interested in the cognitive neuroscience of memory and undergraduate students, graduate students, and scientists who are interested in a comprehensive up-to-date treatment of this topic. Each chapter includes learning objectives, an introduction, sections on key topics, a summary, review questions, and recommended scientific articles.

  • 9 - Bringing Other Factors into the Picture: How Emotions, Dispositions, and Attributions Affect Thinking and Learning

  • Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, University of Northern Colorado
  • Book:
    How We Think and Learn
    Published online:
    02 March 2017
    Print publication:
    13 February 2017, pp 145-160

  • Summary

    Chapter 9 examines seemingly “noncognitive” factors that impact thinking and learning, while pointing out that these factors actually have cognitive elements. The chapter first describes the phenomenon of hot cognition, in which thoughts are infused with such emotions as joy, sadness, anger, or anxiety. It then discusses certain personality-related dispositions that influence learning (e.g., the need for cognition, the need for closure, effortful control). The existence of people’s supposed “learning styles” is addressed, with the research about such styles being largely discredited. Considerable attention is devoted to attributions, with a focus both on people’s beliefs about the causes of their successes/failures and on people’s varying beliefs about the stability and controllability of human intelligence. The chapter’s “Being Strategic” section includes recommendations related to regulating emotions, keeping anxiety at a productive level, enhancing self-efficacy for learning, and communicating optimistic attributions for future learning and achievements.

Page 194 of 435