1. The biological basis of memory
Gavin Norton
Room 6MO7

2. Memory storage
Association cortices
Unimodal
Multimodal

3. Primary motor cortex
a - Frontal lobe
Primary somatic sensory cortex
b - Temporal lobe
Primary visual cortex
c - Occipital lobe
Primary auditory cortex
d – Parietal lobe
Primary olfactory cortex

4. Unimodal somatosensory cortex
Touch
Pressure
Temperature
Texture
Vibration
Proprioception
Tactile discrimination
Size and shape of objects, direction of movement

5. Unimodal auditory cortex
Sound frequency
Sound pitch
Sound timing
Auditory perception

6. Unimodal visual cortex
Dorsal pathways
Motion and depth
Form and colour
Ventral pathways
Visual perception

7. Multimodal cortices further integrate
Somatosensory and visual
Motor and Wernickes
Visual and auditory
Visual and visual
Perception of space
Somatosensory and visual
Visual and visual
Advanced visual perception
Perception of language
Visual and auditory (Wernickes area)
Motor and Wernickes
Language expression

8. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
1. Agnosias, apraxias
4. Receptive aphasia/dysphasia
2. Achromatosia, visual agnosias
5. Expressive aphasia/dysphasia
3. Neglect syndrome
6. Prosopagnosia and loss of recall of specific items

9. Agnosias, apraxias Agnosia-disorder of higher sensory analysis
Apraxia-disorder of higher level (skilled) motor function
Tactile agnosias
Agraphasthesia
Astereognosis
- can’t identify shapes drawn on hand
- can’t identify objects in hand
Apraxias
Motor (e.g. dressing)
Constructional
Visual agnosias
Spatial agnosia (optic ataxia)
Simultanagnosia
- can’t judge distances
- can’t compare sizes and shapes

10. Memory processing
Short-term memory
(working memory)
Long-term memory

11. Short-term memory (working memory)1. 2. 3. 4.
1. Spatial working memory
2. Object working memory
3. Verbal working memory
4. Object working memory

12. Long-term memory Anatomical substrate Explicit (declarative)
Implicit (non-declarative)
Procedural (motor skills)
Basal ganglion
Non-associative (habituation and sensitisation) ?
Associative (conditioning)
Amygdala
Temporal lobe
Anatomical substrate

13. Hippocampal formation + dentate gyrus and subiculum

14. Medial cerebral cortex
a = frontal lobe
b = temporal lobe
c = occipital lobe
d = parietal lobe
parahippocampus
hippocampus
Perirhinal and enterorhinal cortices
Mamillary body and mamillothamalic tract

15. Explicit long-term memory
Sensory input
Unimodal and multimodal cortices
Working memory in frontal lobes
Parahippocampal cortex
Perirhinal and enterorhinal cortices
Mamillary body and mamillothalamic tract
Hippocampus
Dentate
Subiculum

16. Glutamate NMDA AMPA NMDA Mg2+ Ca2+ Increases release Ca2+ Mg2+
Sensitises
Less negative

17. Amnesias and dementias
Short-term memory deficits
Long-term memory deficits
Anterograde amnesia
Retrograde amnesia
Korsakoff’s syndrome