Transcript Slide 1
Functional Neuroanatomy of
Memory and Impairment after mTBI
Frederick G. Flynn, DO, FAAN
Medical Director, Traumatic Brain Injury Program
Chief, Neurobehavior
Madigan Healthcare System
The views expressed in this
presentation are those of the author
and do not reflect the official policy
or position of the United States
Army, Department of Defense or the
United States Government
Memory
• Short-term
– Information held in mind temporarily
– Held for seconds unless repeatedly rehearsed
– “Working” memory
• Ability to maintain short –term storage of information that is
inaccessible in the environment and the processes that keep
the information active for later use
– Prefrontal cortex is vital to normal function
• Long-term
– Ability to learn new information and ability to recall
info after a delay of minutes to hours
– Explicit: conscious learning
– Implicit: does not require conscious awareness
Memory
• Remote
– A form of long-term memory
– Information learned, consolidated, and stored in
the past months and years
– Includes autobiographical, episodic, and semantic
memories previously stored
– Retrieval of information is subject to modification
upon recall
– Changes in retrieved information are processed as
newly acquired learning for consolidation, storage,
and later retrieval
Explicit Memory Processing
• Encoding
– New information attended to and
processed when first encountered
– Must be strongly encoded in order to be
recalled later
– Attention, motivation, emotional valence
and association with previously learned
knowledge strengthen encoding
Explicit Memory Processing
• Consolidation
– Newly encoded information is altered in order to
make labile memory more stable for long term
storage
– Requires long term potentiation (LTP) and
expression of genes and protein synthesis within
neurons of the hippocampus
– Subsequent structural changes lead to memory
stabilization
Explicit Memory Processing
• Storage
–Mechanism by which memory is
retained over long periods of time in
distributed cortical sites
–Has vast capacity compared to working
memory which is very limited
Explicit Memory Processing
• Retrieval
– The process that permits the recall and use
of stored information
– Brings together different kinds of
information that are stored in separate
cortical network sites
– Constructive process which is subject to
distortion
Explicit Memory Processing
• Retrieval
– Most effective when it occurs in the same context
that the information was originally acquired and in
the presence of the same cues that have been
available during the learning process
– Dependent on prefrontal cortex as it involves an
active effort and strategy
– Critically dependent on short term working
memory
– Enhanced by category cues and multiple choice
Other Types of Memory
• Metamemory
– Judgment of one’s own knowledge of his/her
memory ability
• Prospective memory
– Ability to recall the details of an event planned for
the future
– Two components:
• retrospective : remembering the action that needs to
be performed in the future -“who, what, where, and
when”
• prospective: remembering to actually take the action
when the future time arrives
Other Types of Memory
• Source memory
– Temporal (“when”) and spatial (“where”) memory
that is associated with the episodic component of
memory (“what”)
– In prefrontal lesions the temporal and/or spatial
components of memory may be impaired despite
the retention of the details for the event
• Associative memory
– Attached pieces of information that accompany
the recall of an explicit memory
Working Memory Processing
• Central Executive System
– Allocation of attentional resources
– Planning, coordinating, and scheduling mental
operations
– Analysis of optional responses
– Selection of cognitive strategies
– Ventral lateral area of PFC: stores and maintains
information on line
– Dorsal lateral PFC: monitors and manipulates the
allocation of resources
– Networks with bilateral parietal and cingulate cortex
to provide substrate for content specific attention to
task and motivational drive
Working Memory Processing
• Fluid functioning
– Linked with novel problem solving
– Involves higher degree of demand on the central
executive
– V-S > verbal
– After injury delayed recovery compared to crystallized
• Crystallized functioning
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Retrieval of over learned information
Requires less demand on central executive
Verbal > V-S
After injury recovery is faster than fluid functioning
Working Memory Processing
• Phonological (articulatory) loop
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Verbal domain: dominant (left)hemisphere predominance
Recycles and rehearses verbal material automatically
Actively holds rehearsed material in short-term storage
Involves storage component in the posterior parietal area,
a rehearsal component in the frontal speech areas, and an
execution component in the prefrontal cortex
– Recruitment of homologus contralateral regions with
increasing task demands
– Profoundly impaired in language disorders such as aphasia
Working Memory Processing
• Visuospatial sketch pad
– Non-dominant hemisphere (right) involvement
– Spatial and object recall components
– Spatial: dorsal circuit from occipital-parietal area to dorsal lateral
PFC
– Object: ventral circuit from occipital-temporal to ventral PFC
– Recruitment of homologous contralateral areas with increased
demands
– Fluid processes have higher association with this system
– More closely linked with the central executive
– Visual memory tasks place greater demand on the central
executive
– Takes longer to recover V-S memory than verbal when executive
dysfunction is present
Neurotransmitters in Memory
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No single magic pill for memory impairment
Multiple neurotransmitters involved in the memory process
Ach is most well known – cortical hippocampal system
Glutamate – excitatory efferent hippocampal system
Dopamine – most involved in executive functioning
(mesocortical and mesolimbic)
– May have specific dose window of optimal function
• Norepinephrine- works with dopamine to enhance
selective attention
• GABA – most significant inhibitory crossed homologous
hippocampal neurotransmitter
• Serotonin – mood modulator which may serve to enhance
working memory functions through improvement in mood
Dr. Kelly will now present those day
to day things that may affect
memory and techniques for
improving memory