Brain structure & function

Question 1

Hindbrain?

Answer 1

reptilian brain –> Hindbrain: Medulla, pons and cerebellum.

Question 2

Medulla

Answer 2

reptilian brain, Hindbrain –> Medulla (myelencephalon): Controls heart rate, respiration, Most posterior division of brain, Consist of tracks (crossing-point) carrying signals between the rest of the brain and the body, reflexes

Question 3

Pons

Answer 3

reptilian brain, Hindbrain –> Pons: bridge between cerebral cortex and cerebellum, sleep regulating neuron clusters, helps respiration, arousal.

Question 4

Cerebellum

Answer 4

reptilian brain, Hindbrain –> cerebellum: Muscular movements, Learning, memory (especially predictions), Regulating fast changing complex behaviour. Higher brain regions intiate movement, C co-ordinates, also fine movement, ballet and cat.

Question 5

Midbrain

Answer 5

reptilian brain –> Midbrain (Sensory motor neurons, Sends info on to forebrain, vital part of communication): Reticular formation, Tectum, Substantia nigra, (Thalamus).

Question 6

Reticular formation

Answer 6

reptilian brain, Midbran/Hindbrain –> reticular form: collection of neurons, involved in arousal and stereotype patters, such as walking, area that runs through brain stem, (ascending) alerts higher brain, (descending) lets through or blocks (attention), if no reticular stimulation no conscious awareness, sleep, DAMAGE: coma.

Question 7

Tectum

Answer 7

reptilian brain, Midbran –> tectum: formed by 2 colliculi, 1. Superior colliculus: visual-motor function/ eye movements: input from retina and visual cortex & 2. Inferior colliculus: auditory function, crossed and uncrossed fibres from the auditory relay

Question 8

Substantia nigra

Answer 8

reptilian brain, Midbran (Basal ganglia) –> substantia nigra: part of the Tegmentum (ventral of the Tectum), Large pigmented sections of cluster of neurons, important component of sensorimotor system - In relation to Parkinson’s disease

Question 9

Thalamus

Answer 9

Reptilian brain/Limbic brain, forebrain –> Thalamus: sensory relay station between higher and lower brain centres (part of the reptilian brain), located on top of the brain stem, relays information organises input from sensory receptors, damage here can cause hallucinations, schizophrenic symptoms

Question 10

thalamus subcomponents // sensory relay nuclei:

Answer 10

Lateral geniculate nuclei: visual relay station, Medial geniculate nuclei: auditory relay station, Ventral posterior nuclei: somatosensory relay station
- All not just send information but also receive it, get feedback

Question 11

Limbic system sturcture

Answer 11

(Forebrain) Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Hippocampus, Amygdala, Cingulate cortex

Question 12

Hypothalamus

Answer 12

Limbic structure/forebrain –> Hypothalamus: many parts of behaviour, especially motivated behaviour E.g. eating, drinking, and sex, emotion and stress
- Intimate communication with endocrine system, controls many hormonal secretions by regulating the release of hormones from the pituitary gland.
Involved in reward and punishment

Question 13

Hippocampus

Answer 13

Limbic structure/forebrain –> Hippocampus: In the medial temporal lobe, Learning and memory, Forming and retrieving memory, Especially special navigation (Taxi driver study & Rats and maze)

Question 14

Amygdala

Answer 14

in each hemisphere, adjacent to the hippocampus in anterior temporal lobe. Involved in emotion processing and fear-learning, links areas of the cortex that process “higher” cognitive information with hypothalamic and brainstem systems that control “lower” metabolic responses (e.g. touch, pain sensitivity, and respiration) - allows amygdala to coordinate physiological responses based on cognitive information e.g. fight or fly

Question 15

Cingulate cortex

Answer 15

regulation of emotion and pain, thought to directly drive the body’s conscious response to unpleasant experiences. Involved in fear and the prediction (and avoidance) of negative consequences. Memory: Learning to avoid negative consequences is an important feature of memory. Damage: Inappropriate emotions, lack of fear, learning impairments, impaired nociception (sensation of pain)

Question 16

Basal Ganglia

Answer 16

Overlapping with the limbic system. Comprising structures regulate initiation of movements, balance, eye movements, and posture, skill learning. Strongly connected to other motor areas in the brain, link the thalamus with the motor cortex, involved in cognitive and emotional behaviors: an important role in reward and reinforcement, addictive behaviors and habit formation.

Question 17

Damage in basal ganglia?

Answer 17

e.g. Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease,
tremors, involuntary muscle movements, abnormal increase in muscle tone, difficulty initiating movement, abnormal posture

Question 18

Substructures of basal ganglia:

Answer 18

caudate nucleus: long, tail-like structure, sweeping out of each amygdala
putamen: connected to caudate through series of fibre bridges
globus pallidus: located between Putamen and thalamus
nucleus accumbens: thought to be associated with rewarding effects of addictive drugs on other reinforcers
substantia nigra
subthalamic nucleus

Question 19

Frontal cortex/lobe

Answer 19

Neo-cortex, Cerebral cortex. Prefrontal cortex, Frontal eye fields & Premotor cortex: Coordinating and initiating movements.
Primary Motor cortex & Broca’s area: speech production
Dorsolateral prefrontal Cortex &Medial prefrontal cortex:
involved in complex executive behaviours

Question 20

Parietal lobe/cortex

Answer 20

Neo-cortex, Cerebral cortex. Integrating sensory information.
Somatosensory cortex: Gets info from thalamus, Integrates it to create picture of the outside world, without it we could not plan behaviour for motor movements, Continually updated.

Question 21

temporal lobe/cortex

Answer 21

Neo-cortex, Cerebral cortex. Long-term memory, auditory perception, emotion.
A large number of substructures associated with face perception, object recognition, understanding language.
includes Superior temporal Gyrus.

Question 22

Superior temporal Gyrus

Answer 22

Neo-cortex, Cerebral cortex, temporal lobe –> Superior temporal gyrus. Wernicke’s area: Speech comprehension & Primary auditory cortex: Familiarity within different frequencies .

Question 23

occipital lobe/cortex

Answer 23

Neo-cortex, Cerebral cortex

rich connections to other parts of brain, starts off process of interpreting visual info, visual perception

Question 24

Corpus collosum (aivokurkiainen)

Answer 24

Neo-cortex, Cerebral cortex
connective tissue between the hemispheres
o Allows info to move between hemispheres

Question 25

Frontal lobe functions

Answer 25

Help us identify, work towards and achieve personal goals, Resolve conflicts, Give us control over other higher functioning, Executive functioning and cognitive control

Question 26

Working memory, interaction of frontal and posterior cortical areas

Answer 26

Working memory: storing information at the same time you have to process information
Interaction of frontal & posterior cortical areas: Talking about the golden gate bridge - Referencing location - Bringing to mind images while telling story - Have to use verbal information to communicate that - Controlling all this using some part of the frontal cortex - huge interplay of areas in the brain - Have to identify regions in order to better understand interplay

Question 27

Cognitive neuroimaging, what and why it’s good

Answer 27

to study brain structure and function relevant to human cognition - establish where and when processes occur

• order of activations, and differences across areas
• range of techniques which vary in their spatial and temporal resolution (precision) - very high spatial and temporal resolution only required if very detailed account needed

Question 28

Single-unit recordings?

Answer 28

Uses very tiny needles to do recording, Studies single neurons using micro-electrode, Very sensitive (detects 1 millionth of a volt), Very localised - don’t understand overall picture if we just look at single part

Question 29

Event related potentials (ERPs)

Answer 29

looking at patterns of activity in response to psychological phenomena.
Sensory evoked potential: when we manipulate phenomena and measure response
Hard to get exactly where it is, just a general area. (EEG)

Question 30

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Answer 30

(ERP) Records brain (electrical) activity at surface of scalp, Present same stimulus numerous times, then average the effect on EEG output
High temporal resolution (ms) but low spatial resolution

Question 31

Positron emission tomography (PET)

Answer 31

Inject tiny amounts of radioactive solution, gets taken up by brain’s blood vessels and processed
Allows us to see active vs non-active part of the brain by different colours, not real time info like EEG but see more specific regions
Need to adjust our experiment this way, cannot be a respond task

Question 32

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Answer 32

For structional purposes
Radio waves excite atoms in brain producing magnetic charges detected by magnets
Changes detected by computer, which gives 3D image of brain

Question 33

functional MRI

Answer 33

for functional purposes
Blood oxygenation in brain can be detected to indicate functional changes (BOLD response)
when brain region active it needs glucose, can map where the glucose is going to - see which brain region is active

Question 34

Transcranial Magnetic stimulation (TMS)

Answer 34

Magnetic Coil delivers pulse which inhibits processing in given area - creates temporal ‘lesion’
Intervention technique, we determine what region we manipulate (disable)
All others are observation correlational approaches, this is causation approach

Question 35

Cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 35

study of patterns of cognitive performance (intact and impaired) exhibited by brain-damage individuals - to provide knowledge about normal human cognition
complexities revealed when system malfunctioning e.g. patient HM: after lobotomy to control his epilepsy was unable to form new memories

Question 36

Cognitive neuropsychology assumptions

Answer 36

• Functional & anatomical modularity: cognitive systems domain-specific, in specific identifiable areas
• Uniformity of functional architecture across individuals
• Substractivity: impairments cannot add to systems

Question 37

Cognitive neuropsychology evidence

Answer 37

Performance dissociations (crucial): x impaired, y unimpaired, Double dissociation (ideal): above pattern in one individual, opposite true of another E.g. find someone who is able to perform one task but not the other. Individual (case studies) and group studies

Question 38

cognitive neuropsychology limitations

Answer 38

o Compensation for impairment?
o Typically, damage is extensive
o Diverse patients with broadly similar brain damage