Neuroscience Project

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by Aaryaa Desai7 views·Updated Jan 31, 2022
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This presentation is about memory loss in my life, and analyzing it from a neurobiological perspective.

Audio Transcript

  1. Hi my name is Aaryaa and I'll be discussing memory loss in my life.
  2. So some context.
  3. My grandpa is in his seventies and he tends to forget things more often.
  4. He repeats information.
  5. He said earlier in the day and he has no memory of his childhood up until age 13.
  6. He has moments of short term memory loss for example
  7. struggling to recall if he took his medicine already.
  8. So what is going on?
  9. Well, he's experiencing normal brain changes that happen during aging.
  10. The brain undergoes decreased blood flow and
  11. the hippocampus deteriorates as the individual ages.
  12. These are not momentary memory lapses suggest when you go
  13. to the kitchen and you forget why you're there.
  14. A lot of parts of the brain are involved in memory
  15. but these are the primary four parts that are affected.
  16. First is the hippocampus which transfers working memory into long term
  17. memory and connects with other memories and retrieves them as well.
  18. # two: The Amygdala regulates emotions associated with memory.
  19. The cerebellum plays a large role in implicit memory and
  20. the prefrontal cortex encodes task relevant information and working memory.
  21. First of all,
  22. the hippocampus is responsible for declarative memory which
  23. can store and retrieve episodic memory and semantic memories where
  24. episodic memories form is in the temporal lobe and episodic
  25. memories are memories of a specific day or moment.
  26. While semantic memories are of general knowledge
  27. damage to the hippocampus interferes with the ability to
  28. form new memories and recall memories as well.
  29. M. R. I scans show that between ages 30 to 80, this area shrinks 13%.
  30. This is the reason why adults were shrinking
  31. hippocampuses struggle to recall past memories,
  32. neural activity is slow.
  33. This is a potential reason why my grandpa who was
  34. in his late 70's struggles to remember a few items.
  35. Additionally, the neocortex includes semantic memories and episodic memories.
  36. For semantic, the hippocampus transfers them to the neocortex, which holds them
  37. in case someone loses their hippocampus,
  38. they will not lose their semantic memories,
  39. as long as neocortex is kept alive.
  40. versus for episodic memories,
  41. the hippocampus transfers stumbling neocortex, which needs
  42. to be sent back to the hippocampus
  43. If someone wants access to them.
  44. they are re consolidated in the hippocampus and
  45. then sent back to the neocortex for storage.
  46. every time the memory goes through a loop, However, it can be altered.
  47. The neocortex consists of the four lobes in this image,
  48. the frontal lobe temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and the occipital lobe.
  49. Next, the amygdala is more psychology related
  50. but it holds emotional importance of memories.
  51. It forms memories in relation with fear. damage
  52. causes impaired emotional memories.
  53. For instance, if you remember the day you lost a loved one,
  54. the amygdala can replay that memory over and over again,
  55. as it holds emotional importance to you
  56. next the cerebellum.
  57. This processes procedural memory memories according to dr newly
  58. the cerebellum output targets frontal cortex and vice versa.
  59. The cerebellum also conducts motor movement based on past experiences.
  60. For instance, you shoot a basketball at a
  61. certain angle because that worked the previous time.
  62. Your cerebellum aids you in that
  63. and malfunctions in the cerebellum result in malfunctions in working memory.
  64. Finally, the prefrontal cortex is task relevant in working memory,
  65. neurons fire rapidly in relation to short term memory.
  66. An example of working memory is remembering directions
  67. to an address until you reach there.
  68. The damage to the prefrontal cortex causes inability to remember
  69. information and damages the functions of working memory as well.
  70. So how has this course helped me? well,
  71. thank you to Professor Megan-- Professor Mason for
  72. the intricate details of neurobiology that she has covered and
  73. that has helped me think from a neuroscientist perspective.
  74. For instance,
  75. in this picture you see a child spinning around and the child will
  76. get dizzy Well before I would say if I were the child,
  77. I'm dizzy because I spun around and my eyes weren't focused.
  78. However, now
  79. if I felt this way,
  80. I would say that my vestibular sense is disrupted as my head is off balance.
  81. thus affecting my gaze.
  82. A small reflection.
  83. Not only can I think neurologically,
  84. but my but I can also associate things going on in my body with neurology.
  85. I can understand why and how specific
  86. issues in my brain may correlate with temporary
  87. brain malfunctions, specific issues in my body,
  88. Excuse me may correlate with temporary brain malfunctions.
  89. Additionally,
  90. I can easily identify the parts of the brain that correspond to specific functions
  91. such as the amygdala for emotions and cerebellum for balance.
  92. I'm very glad I got to understand the brain as it is a phenomenon that
  93. has full control in our body and that is what makes us who we are.
  94. Each part of the brain is unique and there is much unexplored,
  95. which makes every aspect of neurobiology.
  96. On inspiring.
  97. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoyed my presentation.