1. Unit 2: Memory (Cognition)
WHS AP Psychology
Unit 2: Memory (Cognition)
Essential Task 2-3:
Describe the physiological systems of memory with specific attention to long-term potentiation and the brain regions where memories are stored.
Logo Green is R=8 G=138 B= Blue is R= 0 G=110 B=184
Border Grey is R=74 G=69 B=64

2. Information Processing Model
Attention
All the rest
External Stimuli
Sensory Registers
gone
Short Term Memory
Long Term
Memory
Retrieval
1. Encoding
3. Retrieval
2. Storage
Information Processing Model

3. Essential Task 2-: Physiology of Memory Process:
Outline
Physiology of Memory
Process:
long-term potentiation
Stress hormones
Where: Brain Structures
Hippocampus
Where the memories are processed

4. How are the Memories Stored? Synaptic Changes
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) A long-lasting change in the structure or function of a synapse that increase the efficiency of neural transmission.
Both Photos: From N. Toni et al., Nature, 402, Nov Courtesy of Dominique Muller

5. Stress Hormones & Memory
Heightened emotions (stress-related or otherwise) make for stronger memories.
Hormones such as Epinephrine act on brain centers in the brain
Extreme stress undermines learning and later recall
How does this apply to an exam?
OBJECTIVE 12| Discuss some ways stress hormones can affect memory.

6. Brain structures Hippocampus: turns STM into LTM
The hippocampus (named after its resemblance to the seahorse, from the Greek hippos meaning "horse" and kampos meaning "sea monster")

7. Where Are Memories Stored?

8. Biological Forgetting Factors
Damage to the Hippocampus
Difficulty forming new memories
Diminished in Alzheimer’s patients
Neurotransmitters play a role
Acetylcholine
Alzheimer’s patients show low levels of this
Decay theory
Memories deteriorate because of the passage of time
Distractor Studies – information fades from STM