In this essay, I will be exploring the hypotheses of the interaction between cognition and physiology in terms of amnesia. I will first define the key terms that are relevant to this essay: cognition is the mental process of acquiring and processing knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and the senses. Cognitive processes include perception, attention, language, memory and thinking. Physiology is the internal, biological mechanisms of living organisms – the way the organism functions. Amnesia can be defined as the inability to learn new information or retrieve information that has already been stored in memory – in short; it is the condition in which people lose their ability to recall information. Amnesia is an example of an interaction between biological and cognitive factors. There are several different causes of amnesia, for example; injuries, drugs (specifically, sedatives), strokes etc. As stated before, there is a biological factor that directly interacts with amnesia. This is because it is caused by the damage in the hippocampi region in the brain. Thus resulting in influencing cognition, especially in the mental process of memory. There were several studies on the interaction between cognition and physiology in relevance to amnesia and how it damages the brain. Varga-Khadem et al did one of the most popular researches to do with amnesia and brain damage. The experiment took place in 1997 and it was done on 2 patients – Beth & Jon – who both suffered bilateral hippocampal damage in early life before developing semantic memories. Both of them still attended school and their academic abilities were in the ‘normal’ range. Varga-Khadem at al tried to prove that episodic and semantic memory is separate and... ... middle of paper ... ...siological cause occurring in the brain and the cognitive process of memory. The theory that there are correlations between brain areas and memory damage to these relevant areas results in memory impairment were proven by the case studies that were explained above (Varga-Khadem et al & Milner and Scoville). We have also gathered that there are two types of amnesia – anterograde and retrograde. Antero meaning ‘new’ is the impairment in ability to recall new information after the onset and retro meaning ‘old’ is the impairment in ability to recall old information before the onset. This was supported by HM who only suffered anterograde amnesia, as he could remember childhood memories but could not remember what happened immediately before the surgery. Therefore, the theory that there is direct interaction between the physiology and cognition has been proven to be true.
(Bauer, 2004) While there is not one specific theory that is considered the true answer as to why people cannot remember events prior to the age of about three, there are several possible theories. The first theory is associated with Piaget’s stages of development theory, specifically the sensorimotor stage which takes place from birth to about two years of age. This theory will be discussed later in the essay but it involves the fact that during this stage, infants gain all information from their senses (i.e. smell, touch, taste, etc.) but in the subsequent stages later in life they receive and retain information using more complex processes. Therefore, the sensory information is overridden and the memories acquired during the sensorimotor stage are forgotten. The next theory involves memory capabilities. According to a study about memory retention, infants are able to retain information for a few days while at eighteen months can retain information for about three months. (Rovee-Collier and Barr, 2001.) This leads researchers to believe that because information is only retained for a few months and then is lost, that may be the cause of infantile amnesia. Another possible explanation for the phenomenon was suggested by the neurologist, Sigmund Freud who believed that infantile amnesia is caused by the repression of
Hippocampus is a small, curved region, which exists in both hemispheres of the brain and plays a vital role in emotions, learning and acquisition of new information. It also contributes majorly to long term memory, which is permanent information stored in the brain. Although long term memory is the last information that can be forgotten, its impairment has become very common nowadays. The dysfunction is exemplified by many neurological disorders such as amnesia. There are two types of amnesia, anterograde and retrograde. Anterograde amnesia is inability in forming new information, while retrograde refers to the loss of the past memory. As suggested by Cipolotti and Bird (2006), hippocampus’s lesions are responsible for both types of amnesia. According to multiple trace theory, the author suggests that hippocampal region plays a major role in effective retrieving of episodic memory (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). For example, patients with hippocampal damage show extensively ungraded retrograde amnesia (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). They have a difficult time in retrieving information from their non-personal episodic events and autobiographical memory. However, this theory conflicts with standard model of consolidation. The difference between these theories suggests that researchers need to do more work to solve this controversy. Besides retrieving information, hippocampus is also important in obtaining new semantic information, as well as familiarity and recollection (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). For instance, hippocampal amnesic patient V.C shows in ability to acquire new semantic knowledge such as vocabularies and factual concepts (Cipolotti and Bird, 2006). He is also unable to recognize and recall even...
Wilson J.T.L., Teasdale, G.M., Hadley, D.M., & Wiedmann, K.D., Lang, D. (2012). Post-traumatic amnesia: still a valuable yardstick. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 56, 198-201
There are two main forms of amnesia that this article will focus on and they will be retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is “a deficit in memory characterized by an inability to remember past events” (Purdy, Markham, Schwartz, and Gordon 2001). This means that any memory before an accident or a surgery can (will be) lost. Retrograde amnesia is has puzzled many people. “The fact that information acquired before the onset of amnesia can be lost (retrograde amnesia) has fascinated psychologists, biologists, and clinicians for over 100 years.” (Squire, Alvarez 1995).
life, such as reasoning, problem solving, speaking, visual processing and the memory processing. Moreover, the brain plays a highly important role for encoding and recall different kids of memories. Since computer have been invented, people use CT and PET to discover that there have many regions in the brain are associated with memory processing. Although these technologies help people to explore better the relationship between brain and memory, however the reality cases studying can make people comprehend the impact of life closely about what if some regions of the brain have been damaged. And the experimental study in brain regions also useful for evaluating
One cause is benzodiazepine drugs, which are known to have powerful amnesic affects. This has also been recorded in non-benzodiazepine sedatives which act on the same set of receptors. Another cause is a traumatic brain injury in which damage is usually done to the hippocampus or surrounding cortices. It can also be caused by shock from psychological trauma or an emotional disorder. Illness, though much rarer, can also cause anterograde amnesia such as encephalitis, which is the inflammation of brain tissues do to some foreign pathogen. Lucy is diagnosed as having Goldfield’s Syndrome, which is the exact same thing as anterograde amnesia. She shows signs of short-term memory loss, her brain stores the new memories of the day has she lived however, after falling asleep she is unable to access these
Amnesia, a severe long-term memory loss disease, is caused by damaged brain tissue. There are two different types of amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is also known as backward moving. This is when you have a hard time remembering the past, especially episodic memories. This occurs because of memory consolidation. Memory consolidation is the process of a new memory setting until it becomes permanently in the brain. If this process is disrupted, the memory may be lost (Hockenberry and Hockenberry page 265). Anterograde amnesia is also known as forward moving. This is when you are unable to form new
Anterograde Amnesia (AA) is commonly known as short term memory loss. It is the inability to form any new memories after a neurological or psychological trauma in the brain. “Current definitions of anterograde amnesia emphasize the presence of severe and permanent deficits for the recall of recent events (typically with poor recognition) that contrast with intact short-term memory, IQ, semantic memory, skill learning, simple classical conditioning, perceptual learning, and priming” (Aggleton, 2008, p. 1442). Also, according to Aggleton, AA causes the inability to recall autobiographical events (episodic memory). Research shows that damage to the diencephalon or frontal lobe can cause AA. Damage to the diencephalon impairs memory performance because it encodes new experiences for future recall and damage to the frontal lobe of the brain weaken memory performance because the it is involved in regulates access explicit memory (Mendev 2007). Duff, Wszalek, Tranel & Cohen (2008) stated...
constant seizures that were located in his temporal lobe. To stop the seizures, surgeons removed his temporal lobe. After the surgery, he couldn’t remember any thing he had done after it. Often forgetting where he was. But he could remember events that happened before the surgery. This all happened because the temporal lobe controls short-term memory. And since its removed he would never have any memories of what happened after the surgery since he cant transfer any thing to his long-term memory. This surgery proves that short-term memory is real and is located in the temporal lobe.
Through brain-damaged patients, we have learned that the hippocampus has a large part to play in memory. Memory has been broken down into episodic, events and experiences, and semantic, general knowledge; in addition memory can be seen as either explicit, deliberate remembering of specific details, and implicit, unconscious influence of knowledge and experience. Implicit memory also contains procedural memory, motor skills and habits, which seem to be the most imbedded as it often remains intact despite removal of the hippocampus entirely. It has become apparent that memory is stored in the brain by importance, explicit memories like names and dates are easily forgotten especially as a result of brain damage whereas implicit memory, which is much more important for ones survival, can remain intact to some degree even with severe amnesia. Neural circuits also have a form of memory called long term potentiation; this is when repeated exposure to a specific stimuli results in a stronger detection process of said stimuli. LTP is most common in pain circuits. By repeatedly receiving neurotransmitters in a synapse, a secondary channel for those synapses opens and allows a chain reaction to occur which results in the growth of more free flowing channels allowing more neurotransmitters to enter the post synaptic cleft at a faster rate; this increase in PSN stimulation also
Consequently, any major incidents that involve severe head injuries by force may cause retrograde amnesia. So, what is the significance of short and long-term memory storage in relation to amnesia? Through encoding and retrieval, we are able to experience external events; record them in our sensory memory; where they become encoded in our short-term memory; and then eventually encoded to our long-term memory—which is beneficial to our retrieving process. Again, imagine waking up one morning with a memory deficit, due to an incident that you have no idea occurred. How do you imagine you would react?
The question then becomes whether declarative and non-declarative memory are in fact separate or different manifestations of the same neural process. From research on H.M., we find evidence for the existence of a declarative memory system that is independent of non-declarative memory and other forms of intelligence. H.M. had the capacity to hold information in his head for a period of time, suggesting that his working memory was intact (Squire and Wixted, 2011). Further evidence that not all memory is the same is the fact that H.M. acquired a motor skill despite not being able to remember actually learning the skill, thus showing the difference between episodic and semantic memory. Amnesiacs are able to acquire the perceptual skill of reading mirror-reversed words at a normal rate compared to controls (Cohen and Squire, 1980), demonstrating that the ability to learn new perceptual skills also remains intact. Of the forms of non-declarative memory, procedural memory involves the cerebellum, motor cortex, and basal ganglia (General Intro the Neurobiology…). Thus, non-declarative memory can, in a way, be seen as a more primitive form of memory that is not acquired through the integration and consolidation of neural events in the medial temporal lobe, but rather through learned associations outside of the
Stroke is a medical condition most people are familiar with, but most people are unaware of its effect on memory functions. There have been several studies conducted that study of effects of stroke on different memory systems, how to properly assess memory damage in stroke patients as well as how to improve memory after stroke. A major theme from the course that relates to stroke and memory is the theme of metamemory and its components such as prospective memory. Personally, I believe that these studies offer hope to stroke victims and their families because memory damage can evaluated and therefore a method of treatment can be developed.
Henry Molaison or known as HM contributes to the deep understanding of memory by previous scientists and until now. His case had been a huge research and discussions among the well known scientists during his time and these results in the study of memories. Henry Molaison is living with a severe epilepsy where he need to undergo a surgery as medications were no longer gave him effects for his disease. So, his surgeon William Beecher Scoville suction out both of his hippocampus and when he got recovered from the surgery, his doctor realised that, Henry was having amnesia and seek him for another doctor. What confusing the doctors is that, even though the surgery was a success where Henry seizures decreasing; he is now facing dense memory loss. Then, once it was realized that the hippocampus plays a crucial roles for memory; the surgery of removing hippocampus was then banned for all and this brings to deep study of memory and hippocampus.
Central idea: Memory is a process of the brain which is prone to certain failures, although specific steps can be taken to guard against these failures.