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PSYC 309 > Chapter 2 > Flashcards

Chapter 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Cognitive neuroscience

A

the study of the physiological basis of cognition

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2
Q

Levels of analysis

A

a topic can be studied in a number of different ways that each contribute to our understanding

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3
Q

Neurons

A

small units in the brain that create and transmit information about what we experience and know

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4
Q

Nerve net theory

A

continuous, interconnected pathways for conducting signals uninterrupted through the network in all directions

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5
Q

Why was the nerve net described as continuous?

A

past staining techniques and microscopes couldn’t resolve small details due to the high density of the cells

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6
Q

Staining techniques used to study the nerve net

A

immersing a thin slice of brain tissue in a solution of silver nitrate (Golgi); using a Golgi stain on only some cells in a slice of brain tissue from newborn animals (Ramon y Cajal)

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7
Q

Neuron doctrine

A

individual cells called neurons, which are not continuous with other cells, transmit signals in the nervous system

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8
Q

Cell body

A

metabolic center of the neuron that contains mechanisms to keep the cell alive

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9
Q

Dendrites

A

branches out of the cell body to receive signals from other neurons

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10
Q

Axons or nerve fibers

A

long processes that transmit signals to other neurons

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11
Q

Synapse

A

small gap between the axon terminal or the end of a neuron’s axon and the dendrites or cell body of another neuron

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12
Q

Neural circuits

A

groups of neurons that form specific connections with one another

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13
Q

Receptors

A

neurons that are specialized to pick up information from the environment; also have axons

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14
Q

Microelectrodes (Adrian)

A

small shafts of hollow glass filled with a conductive salt solution that can pick up electrical signals at the electrode tip and conduct these signals back to a recording device

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15
Q

Resting potential

A

the inside of a neuron has a charge that’s 70 millivolts more negative than the outside; this difference continues as long as the neuron is at rest

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16
Q

Action potential

A

when a neuron’s receptor is stimulated, the charge inside the axon increases to +40 mV as the nerve impulse passes the recording electrode for about 1 ms, then returns to resting potential

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17
Q

What determines the intensity of a stimulus?

A

the rate of nerve firing or the number of action potentials travelling down an axon per second; the shape and height of an action potential remains constant

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18
Q

Principle of neural representation

A

everything a person experiences is based on representations in the person’s nervous system

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19
Q

Feature detectors

A

neurons that respond to specific stimulus features like orientation, movement, and length

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20
Q

Experience-dependent plasticity

A

the structure of the brain is changed by experience e.g. neurons in visual cortex respond only to vertical lines

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21
Q

Hierarchical processing

A

neurons in the visual cortex that respond to simple stimuli send their axons to higher levels of the visual system, where signals from many neurons combine and interact to respond to more complex stimuli

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22
Q

Sensory code

A

how neurons represent various characteristics of the environment

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23
Q

Specificity coding

A

an object can be represented by the firing of a specialized neuron that responds only to that object

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24
Q

Population coding

A

the representation of a particular object by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons; large number of stimuli can be represented

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25
Q

Sparse coding

A

a particular object is represented by a pattern of firing of only a small group of neurons, with the majority of neurons remaining silent

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26
Q

Localization of function

A

specific functions are served by specific areas of the brain

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27
Q

Cerebral cortex

A

a layer of tissue ~3 mm thick that covers the brain

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28
Q

Neuropsychology

A

study of the behavior of people with brain damage

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29
Q

Cortical equipotentiality

A

idea that the brain operated as an indivisible whole as opposed to specialized areas

30
Q

Broca’s area

A

area in the frontal lobe that is damaged in those who experience stroke; responsible for producing speech

31
Q

Broca’s aphasia

A

slow, labored, ungrammatical speech caused by damage to Broca’s area

32
Q

Wernicke’s aphasia

A

speech is fluent and grammatically correct but tends to be incoherent due to damage in Wernicke’s area located in the temporal lobe; unable to understand other’s speech due to inability to match words with meanings

33
Q

Gyrus

A

ridge on the cerebral cortex

34
Q

Sulcus

A

groove or indentation on the cerebral cortex

35
Q

What happens when the occipital lobe is damaged?

A

blindness in the area of the visual space connected to the area of the occipital lobe that was damaged

36
Q

Auditory cortex

A

located in the upper temporal lobe; receives signals from the ears

37
Q

Somatosensory cortex

A

in the parietal lobe; receives signals from the skin for perceptions of touch, pressure, and pain

38
Q

Frontal lobe

A

receives signals from all senses and is responsible for coordination and higher cognitive functions like planning, short-term memory, strategic thinking, judgement, social cognition, and movement

39
Q

Prosopagnosia

A

caused by damage to the temporal lobe on the lower right side of the brain; inability to recognize faces but still able to recognize people through featural processing (e.g. voices, names, hair color, clothes)

40
Q

Double dissociation

A

damage to one area of the brain causes function A to be absent while function B is present, while damage to another area causes the opposite (e.g. object and face recognition)

41
Q

task-related fMRI

A

change in brain activity when a person engages in a specific cognitive task

42
Q

Corpus callosum

A

fiber bundle of axons or commissures that connect the right and left hemispheres

43
Q

Contralateral control

A

right hemisphere controls the left side of the body, and vice versa

44
Q

Lateralization

A

certain functions are dominant in on hemisphere (e.g. language production on the left)

45
Q

Brainstem

A

controls automatic processes that regulate basic life-support functions like breathing, heart rate, swallowing, sleep cycles; can result in coma or death if damaged; contains regions producing serotonin, norepinephrine, etc.

46
Q

Cerebellum

A

for balance and coordination of voluntary movements, and performing high-level cognitive tasks

47
Q

Layers in superior and inferior colliculus

A

shallow: relay centers for sensory information entering the brain; deep: motor activity like eye movement

48
Q

Result of damage to superior and inferior colliculus

A

problems in hearing, seeing, and motor control

49
Q

Forebrain

A

surrounds the midbrain and contains the cerebral; regulates higher mental processes and enables people to engage in complex learning, memory, thought, and language

50
Q

Diencephalon

A

subdivision of the forebrain consisting of the thalamus and the hypothalamus

51
Q

Thalamus vs. Hypothalamus

A

for salience and sensory relay; for body regulation (body temp, hunger, thirst, sexual behavior) and arousal

52
Q

Salience

A

the degree to which attention is captured by a stimulus in the environment

53
Q

Parts of the limbic system

A

basal ganglia, thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus

54
Q

Amygdala(s)

A

for salience, perception, learning, memory, and fear responses

55
Q

Hippocampus

A

for spatial navigation, perception, memory: creating new memories, integration of new memories with existing memories

56
Q

Basal ganglia

A

in the base of forebrain, top of midbrain; for action-selection, skill, motivation, reward

57
Q

Temporal lobe

A

for hearing, language, and long-term memory

58
Q

Parietal lobe

A

for processing touch information and complex sensory integration

59
Q

Occipital lobe

A

for visual processing and visual pattern recognition

60
Q

Connectome

A

the wiring diagram of the structure of the brain

61
Q

Default mode network

A

responds when a person is not involved in specific tasks; implicated in mind wandering and creativity

62
Q

Fusiform face area

A

for facial recognition; damaged in prosopagnosia cases; in the fusiform gyrus on the underside of the temporal lobe

63
Q

Parahippocampal place area

A

activated when perceiving indoor and outdoor scenes through information on spatial layout

64
Q

Extrastriate body area

A

activated by pictures of bodies and parts of bodies (but not by faces)

64
Q

Distributed representation

A

many areas of the brain are involved in a particular type of cognition e.g. looking at faces

65
Q

Neural networks

A

interconnected areas of the brain that can communicate with each other; related to distributed processing

66
Q

Networks

A

structural pathways that form the brain’s information highway containing functional pathways that operate dynamically

67
Q

Structural connectivity

A

how the brain is wired together; formed by nerve axons connecting different brain areas

68
Q

Functional connectivity

A

the extent to which neural activity in two brain regions is correlated by using resting state fMRI data; correlated = functionally connected

69
Q

Track-weighted imaging

A

technique for detecting brain pathways based on how water diffuses along the length of nerve fibers

PSYC 309 (13 decks)

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