14. Cognition, Assessment, Mental Health Flashcards
What is the forebrain composed of?
Diencephalon
Cerebral hemispheres
What features are associated with the diencephalon?
Adaptability
Flexibility
Creativity
What is cognition?
Interrelated conscious or unconscious mental activities
Includes memory, visuospatial processing, executive processing
What are the functional areas of the frontal lobe?
Primary motor cortex
Premotor cortex
Prefrontal cortex
What function is associated with the primary motor cortex?
Gross and fine motor movement
What function is associated with the premotor cortex?
Planning and selecting movement
What function is associated with the prefrontal cortex?
Integration of sensory info
What are the signs of damage to the frontal lobe?
Problems thinking complexly, concentration, executive functions, sequencing and speed
Personality changes
Broca’s aphasia
What personality changes are associated with damage to the frontal lobe?
More placid
Disinhibited
Emotional instability
Social difficulty
What are executive functions?
Processes that underlie flexible goal-directed behaviour
Ability to achieve insight and awareness
What are examples of executive functions?
Shift from one concept to another Modify behaviour in light of new info Piece info together Manage multiple sources of info Make use of relevant acquired knowledge
What test is used to assess executive function?
Wisconsin card sorting test
What are the functions of the parietal lobe?
Visuospatial location
Language
Attention
Learning of tasks requiring coordination of body in space
What are the functional parts of the parietal lobe?
Primary somatosensory cortex
Somatosensory unimodal association area
Multimodal sensory association area
What function is associated with the primary somatosensory cortex?
Receives sensory info
What function is associated with the somatosensory unimodal association area?
Further processing of sensory info
What function is associated with the multimodal sensory association area?
Integrates visual, auditory and movement stimuli
What are the results of damage to the parietal lobe?
Neglect 1/2 field of vision
Apraxia
Agnosia
Difficulty integrating sensory information from various parts of the body
Difficulty with numbers in relation to one another
Difficulty manipulating objects
How is damage to the parietal lobe assessed in rats?
Water maze
What is apraxia?
Inability to carry out a movement
What is agnosia?
Inability to recognise words, numbers or objects
What are the functional areas of the occipital lobe?
Primary visual cortex
Visual unimodal association area
What function is associated with the primary visual cortex?
Process information from the thalamus
What function is associated with the visual unimodal association area?
Processing information from the primary visual cortex
What are the results of damage to the occipital lobe?
Anton syndrome
Optic ataxia
Inability to recognise what is seen
What is Anton Syndrome?
Loss of vision in a normal appearing eye
Stimuli are received but not processed
‘Denial’ of vision loss; brain makes up stimuli
How is damage to the occipital lobe assessed?
Unable to recognise and recreate a drawing
What information is processed in the temporal lobe?
Auditory, gustatory, visceral and olfactory
Facial recognition
What are the functional areas of the temporal lobe?
Primary auditory cortex Auditory unimodal association area Visual unimodal association area Multimodal sensory association area Limbic association area Amygdala and hippocampus
What are the functions of the amygdala?
Initial interpretation of sensory stimulus based on memory of past events
Fear and aggression
What are the functions of the hippocampus?
Context for incoming info
Learning and memory
Dreams
What are the results of damage to the temporal lobe?
Wernicke’s aphasia
Memory difficulties: left temporal lobe= unable to remember words
Right: Unable to remember music
Prosopagnosia
What is prosopagnosia?
Inability to recognise faces
How is damage to the temporal lobe assessed?
Draw an image from memory
Mini-mental state examination
What is a healthy score on the mini-mental state examination?
27/30
What cognitive deficits are there in someone with schizophrenia?
Attention
Working memory
Social cognition
Language
What cognitive deficits are present with depression?
Incapacity for sustained effort due to decreased limbic dopaminergic signalling
Problems with decision making and initiating actions
Decreased pre-frontal control of emotional processing (bias towards negative stimuli)
