Brain Memory & Language 4 Flashcards
Recall Test
Material is learned then reproduced later
What do Explicit Memory Tests measure?
What do Direct Memory Tests measure?
Memory that we express with awareness
Conscious memory
Serial Recall Test
Material is learned then reproduced in the same order
Free Recall Test
Material is learned and reproduced in any order
Cued Recall Test
Material is learned then reproduced using other words as memory triggers
What do Implicit Memory Tests measure?
What do Indirect Memory Tests measure?
Memories that is expressed WITHOUT awareness
Unconscious access to memory
How are Implicit Memory Tests performed?
How are Indirect Memory Tests performed?
Subjects are asked to “do this task”
They usually don’t know their memory is being tested
Tests look for a subject’s improvement because this shows material is being retained.
How do people with amnesia perform on explicit vs. implicit memory test?
They tend to be horrible at direct memory tests but do amazing well on indirect memory tests
They seem to be able to store material but not to consciously access it.
What does the Ventral Pathway connect?
The Occipital and Temporal Lobes
What sort of information is handled by the ventral pathway?
What is ______?
Damage to what neural pathway causes Agnosia?
Ventral Pathway
What does the Dorsal Stream connect?
The Occipital to the Parietal
What sort of information is handled by the Dorsal Stream?
How something functions or works?
Where something is located?
Agnosia
The inability to recognize objects even though the person has intact sensory modalities (abilities)
Can only affect one sense modality
Is Agnosia a sensory deficit?
No, it is a recognition deficit
What is the most common form of Agnosia?
Visual Agnosia
Visual Agnosia
A person can see an object, but they cannot recognize it.
They can recognize objects by using their other senses.
Two Types of Visual Agnosia
Apperceptive Agnosia
Associative Agnosia
Apperceptive Agnosia
There is a visual perception problem
The person sees the parts but not the whole
They cannot integrate the visual information into a stable representation
Someone with Apperceptive Agnosia cannot…
Visual recognize objects, words, or faces
Match by shape
Copy drawings
Someone with Apperceptive Agnosia can…
See and reach for objects
Can identify colors
Identify objects using their other senses
Sometimes people with Apperceptive Agnosia are assumed to be…
…blind
What is the most common CAUSE of Agnosia?
Carbon Monoxide poisoning
What sort of neural damage causes Apperceptive Agnosia?
Occipital lesions that are located towards the Ventral Pathways
Associative Agnosia
Subject can form a stable mental concept of something but they cannot connect this to their Long Term Memory
Thus, they have no recognition of the object
They can’t name or use objects
People with Associative Agnosia can…
ID items by touch
Copy drawings
Match by shape
People with Associative Agnosia cannot…
Name items (even their own drawings)
Match items by use or category using sight
Match drawings to objects
What sort of neural damage causes Associative Agnosia?
Bilateral damage along the Ventral Pathway in the Temporal Lobe
Prosopagnosia
The inability to recognize individual faces
People with Prosopagnosia can…
Identify faces as faces
Identify parts of face
Types of Prosopagnosia
Acquired Prosopagnosia
Developmental Prosopagnosia
What sort of neural damage caused Prosopagnosia?
Damage to the Fusiform Face Area
Where is the Fusiform Face Area located?
In the Inferior Temporal Lobe
Acquired Prosopagnosia
Caused by brain damage
Often co-occurs with agnosia
Is very rare
Developmental Prosopagnosia
There is no brain damage
Is highly variable
Is more common than previously thought
Facial recognition is…
RH dominant
How do normal people process upside down faces?
We have a much harder time.
We really want to look at faces when they are right side up
Many prosopagnosiacs find this easier
Selective Attention
Attending to specific information while ignoring other information
Other things aren’t noticed until someone or something directs your attention to them
Controlled Attention
Decision-Making Attention
You control or decide where to attend and on what
Focusing on your computer in a coffeehouse, focusing on the ball in a basketball game, etc.
Automatic Attention
Reflexive Attention
“Surprise” Attention
You can’t stop yourself from attending to this information
Sudden loud noises, flashing lights, sudden movement, etc.
Cocktail Party Effect
You can’t help but attend to your own name
Sometimes you’ll even attend to words that sound like your name
Neural Bases of Attention
PAS - Posterior Attentional System
AAS - Anterior Attentional System
VS - Vigilance System
Posterior Attentional System
PAS
Orienting attention in space (Where is it?)
Automatic attention
What area of the brain is the PAS associated with?
Parietal Lobe
Somatosensory Cortex (Anterior Parietal Lobe - Strip)
Anterior Attentional System
AAS
Selective Attention System (What is important? Irrelevant?)
Controlled Attention
What area of the brain is the AAS associated with?
Pre-Frontal Cortex
Vigilance System
VS
Sustained Attention
What area of the brain is the VS associated with?
Right Pre-Frontal Cortex
Right Parietal Lobe
Lateralized in the RH
If you don’t attend to something…
…you won’t “see” it
Change Blindness
The inability to notice large changes in the environment
To see an object change, you must attend to it.
Inattentional Blindness
When people are tightly focused on one task, they will fail to notice other things
Top Down Attention
Controlled Decision Making
You choose what to focus on
Bottom Up Attention
Your attention is grabbed by something outside of yourself
Automatic Attention
Hemi-Neglect
Characterized by only attending to information on one side
What sort of neural damage can cause hemi-neglect?
Damage to the Right Parietal Lobe
What attention systems are affected by hemi-neglect?
Posterior Attention System
Vigilance System
Left Neglect is…
More common
More severe
Longer lasting than Right Neglect
Visual Neglect
Spatial Neglect
Things on the left side are not “seen”
These patients may regularly bump into objects on their left
In severe cases they may even ignore sounds on their left
Is Visual Neglect a visual problem?
No!
Hemi-Neglect vs. Hemisensory Loss
Neglect = No awareness, totally ignores left side
Loss = Awareness, compensates for inability
Steps to Attention
Input ->
Perception ->
Attention
What is the Parietal Lobe associated with?
5
Sensation
Perception
Integrating Information (Sensory & Visual)
Spatial Layout & Orientation
Body Perception & Orientation
Somatosensory Strip
Sensory Cortex
Processing Tactile Sensory Input
Integrating Sensory Information
Spatial Relationships
Mismatches in visual & sensory information…
…is confusing
Agosognosia
Lack of awareness of impairment
Denial of impairment
Usually of hemiparesis or hemiplegia
Hemiparesis
Extreme weakness of the right side
Hemiplegia
Paralysis of the right side
What sort of neural damage can cause Anosognosia?
Right Parietal Damage
How do Anosognosiac patients explain their impairment?
“I don’t know why this isn’t working”
“I am doing it”
Confabulation
