Association Cortices Review (WK 3 recitation)

Question 1

Give a general overview of how sensory info is processed

Answer 1

1) all sensory info is processed by the Thalamus, primary and secondary cortices
2) All processed sensory info is sent to the frontal association cortex to decide what we attend to
3) The parietal association cortex then attends to the important info
4) Salient cues will override this process

Question 2

How would you describe the parietal association cortex and how it functions?

Answer 2

1) involved in attention, including Top-down + Bottom-up attention, specifically covert & overt attention
2) The posterior parietal association cortex is involved in contralateral attention
3) The LIP is particularly important for saliency maps

Question 3

How would you describe the frontal association cortex and how it functions?

Answer 3

1) super important for executive control, planning, analytics, etc
2) particularly important for top-down attention
3) the dlPFC is important for working memory
4) the vlPFC is important for reward processing
5) the lateral PFC is important for top-down attention

Question 4

How would you describe the temporal association cortex and how it functions?

Answer 4

1) Important for memory and identification
2) the Right Fusiform Gyrus (inferior temporal area) which is important for population coding and recognizing faces
3) the Left Temporal Cortex (Wernicke’s area) is important for naming objects and the use of language