Chapter 13: Cognition Flashcards
exam 4 material
what is cognition?
cognition refers to information processing (attention, learning, memory, language, intelligence, and decision making)
what is lateralization?
the localization of a function in one
hemisphere (hemispheric dominance)
what is a hemispherectomy?
the removal of one hemisphere in the brain, used to treat Rasmussen’s syndrome (seizures in one hemisphere of the brain), when performed in young children, often the only side effect is a slight limp, more side effects would be seen if this was performed in adolescents or adults
what is split brain?
when the pathways connecting the right and left cerebral hemispheres are severed, no changes in personality, intelligence, or speech, but some language and perception deficits can be observed
what type of thought is found in the left and right hemisphere?
language and logical thought are found to be localized in the left hemisphere while spatial processing is found to be localized in the right hemisphere, activity in the left hemisphere is associated with
positive emotions and activity in the right hemisphere is related with negative emotions
how is lateralization developed?
prenatal androgens may enhance pruning of the corpus callosum during development, the overall development of the left hemisphere
language areas lag behind the development of the right hemisphere, and some environmental factors have been implicated in the development of lateralization
what are some implications of asymmetry?
right handed people are left brained and tend to have stronger language abilities while left handed people are right brained and have greater creativity, women experience impairments in social conduct, emotional functioning, decision-making, risk aversion, and ambiguity aversion when the left hemisphere is lesioned but men only experience these things when the right side is lesioned, individuals with perfect pitch have more activity is the left hemisphere, less lateralization corresponds to being ambidextrous
what disorders are associated with people who are left or mixed-handed?
schizophrenia, depression,
bipolar disorder, anxiety
disorders, alcoholism, and
autism spectrum disorder
what are the ten features of language?
- vocal-auditory canal: uses vocalizations
- arbitrariness: words have meaning
- semanticity: symbols refer to objects
- cultural transmission: handed down from generation to generation
- spontaneous usage: no training or force needed for people to communicate
- turn-taking: follows social rules
- duality: different sounds and combinations form speech
- displacement: ability to communicate about distant times and places
- structure-dependence: use of grammar
- creativity: ability to create new sentences
what is apraxia and what causes it?
apraxia is a neurological disorder causes by the FOXP2 gene that targets Broca’s area as well as the basal ganglia, leads to problems with movement and speech
what are some positive outcomes of bilingualism?
children perform better on tests of executive control, bilingualism is associated with a delay in the onset of age-related dementia
what is aphasia?
aphasia is a total or partial loss of the ability to either produce or comprehend spoken language
what are the six different types of aphasia?
Brocas aphasia: word production impaired
Wernicke’s aphasia: comprehension impaired
conduction aphasia: speech remains fluent and comprehension is fairly good, difficulty repeating speech
global aphasia: loss of almost all language functions
transcortical motor aphasia: inability to speak fluently, but these patients can repeat complex sentences
transcortical sensory aphasia: fluent, grammatical speech, but comprehension is impaired, difficulty in naming tasks
what are some disorders of reading and writing?
alexia: normal speech and comprehension, unable to read or recognize letters, disrupted temporal-occipital junction
agraphia: inability to write, particularly likely when the supplementary motor area (SMA) is damaged
dyslexia: poor phonological awareness, ability to discriminate verbal information at the level of speech sounds
what are the two different language models?
Wernicke-Geschwind model:
Broca’s area is responsible for speech, Wernicke’s area is responsible for comprehension
dual stream models: dorsal stream: sound meaning, ventral stream: making sound movements
