14 Cognitive Neuropsychology

Question 1

Cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 1

The study of the relationship between brain function and behaviour

Question 2

How is CN determined?

Answer 2

Through evidence from damaged brains but can also include other methods (e.g imaging)

Question 3

Why can it be hard to assign particular functions to structures

Answer 3

Many functions rely on distributed brain systems. Brain regions are specialised to perform particular roles but these may not map out clearly

Question 4

Phrenology

Answer 4

A theory developed by Gall that each part of the brain has a specific function

Question 5

What did Flourens do?

Answer 5

He lesioned parts of the cortex of animals and discovered that the brain can recover from certain legions

Question 6

What did Brodmann do?

Answer 6

He studied the cortex under a microscope and split the regions into Brodmann’s areas

Question 7

How well to brodmanns areas map onto what we now know?

Answer 7

Pretty well because he based his areas on brain connections

Question 8

What did Bouilaud do?

Answer 8

He realised the frontal lobe was associated with speech. He found Broca’s area and brocas aphasia

Question 9

Broca’s aphasia

Answer 9

Syndrome from damage to the Broca’s area, it disrupts speech and causes the patient to only answer in one or two words

Question 10

What did wernicke do?

Answer 10

Investigated region of cortex that receives info from the ear. He called this wernickes area and the associated syndrome is wernickes aphasia

Question 11

Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 11

Syndrome caused by damage to wernickes area. Individuals can speak fluently but make no sense

Question 12

Model of language processing

Answer 12

1. Wernicke’s area (sound goes to sound images)
2. Sound images are transmitted along arcuate fasciiculus
3. Sound images are turned to representation of speech in Broca’s area

Question 13

Conduction aphasia

Answer 13

Caused by damage to arcuate fibres. Comprehension maintained and speech sounds. Speech is impaired and patients struggle to repeat what is said to them

Question 14

Episodic memory

Answer 14

For specific events

Question 15

Semantic memory

Answer 15

Facts

Question 16

Working memory

Answer 16

Short term, rehearsal

Question 17

Procedural memory

Answer 17

Motor memory

Question 18

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 18

Poor ability to acquire new information following a lesion, especially episodic and semantic memory

Question 19

Causes of anterograde amnesia

Answer 19

• Korsakoff’s syndrome linked to alcoholism and poor diet.

- Temporal lobectamy

Question 20

Patient HM

Answer 20

Suffered from epilepsy so had his hippocampus removed. He suffered from anterograde amnesia

Question 21

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 21

Loss of memory of events prior to lesion

Question 22

What is the role of the hippocampus in memory thought to be?

Answer 22

To be able to consolidate new memories which are stored elsewhere

Question 23

Double dissociation

Answer 23

Where two anatomical patient groups with different lesion sites attempt to do the same tasks

Question 24

Apperceptive agnosia

Answer 24

Unable to perceive full shape of the object despite intact low level processing. Struggles to copy a drawing

Question 25

Associative agnosia

Answer 25

Ability to perceive shape but inability to recognise it. Can copy a drawing but can’t name it

Question 26

Prosopagnosia

Answer 26

Inability to recognise faces visually. Tends to involve damage to fusiform gyrus (FFA)

Question 27

Inversion effect

Answer 27

Upside faces are more difficult to recognise sine it is difficult to process the configuration of features