Chapter 2: Cognitive Neuroscience Flashcards
What does level of analysis refer
It refers to the idea that a topic can be studied in a number of different ways with each approach contributing its own dimension to our understanding.
Define neuron doctrine
The idea that individual cells transmit signals in the nervous system and these cells aren’t continuous with other cells.
State the parts of a neuron
Cell body: is the metabolism centre of neuron containing mechanism to keep cell alive.
Dendrites branch out from cell body to receive signals from other neurons
Axons are long processes that transmit signals to other neurons.
What conclusions did Cajal discover
There’s a small gap between the end of a neurons axon and the dendrites or cell body of another called a synapse.
Neurons aren’t connected indiscriminately to other neurons but form connection to specific neurons which forms groups of interconnected neurons forming a neural circuit
There are neurons specialized to pick up info from environment called receptors which receive stimuli from senses and environment.
What is the resting potential
It is the stable charge of -70Mv of a neuron at rest.
Define nerve impulse
A stimulated neuron
What is an action potential
The impulse stimulating the neuron and the mechanism by which information is transmitted throughout the nervous system
What are neurotransmitter
Chemicals that make it possible for signals to be transmitted across gap that seperates end of axons from dendrites to another neuron.
What is the principle of neural representation
It states that everything a person experiences is based not on direct contact with stimuli but on representations in the person’s nervous system.
What is cognitive neuroscience
The study of the physiological basis of cognition
What are feature detectors
Each neuron in the visual area of cortex responded to specific type of stimulation presented to a small area of retina and are called feature detectors because they responded to specific stimulus features such as orientation movement and length.
What is hierarchal processing
The progressions from lower to higher areas of the brain
What is sensory coding
Refers to how neurons represent Various characteristics of the environment.
Define specificity coding
The idea that an object could be represented by the firing of a specialized neuron that respond only to that object
What is population coding
Is the representation of a particular object by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons
When does sparse coding occur
When small groups of neurons are involved when a particular object is represented by a pattern of firing of only a small group of neurons with the majority of neurons remaining silent.
Define localisation of function
Specific functions are served by specific areas of the brain where most cognitive functions are done by the cerebral cortex which is the layer of tissue about 3mm thick that covers the brain
What’s neuropsychology
The field of psychology that aims to understand how behavior and cognition are influenced by brain functioning and that is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of people with brain damage
What is a stroke
A disruption of the blood supply to the brain usually caused by a blood clot.
What are some identified brain localisations
Broca’s area: specialised for speech
Wernicke’s area: responsible for language comprehension
Occipital lobe: visual cortex which receives signals from our eyes at the back of our head
Temporal lobe: auditory cortex which receives signals from the ears in the superior temporal lobe and responsible for hearing while areas in the inferior temporal lobe are associated with processing of complex visual information.
Parietal lobe: somatosensory cortex which receives signals from the skin is in the anterior part of the parietal lobe and responsible for perceptions of touch pressure and pain.
The frontal lobe: receive signals from all senses and is responsible for coordination of senses and higher cognitive functions like thinking and problem solving
Define prosopagnosia
An inability to recognise faces.
What is double dissociation
An occurrence where damage to one brain area causes function A to be absent while function B is present and damage to another area causes B to be absent while A is present
What are some techniques for brain imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging MRI
Functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI
Electroencephalogram EEG which can pick up event related potentials ERPs
What is the fusiform face area FFA and the parahippocampal place area PPA and the extastriate body area EBA
The specific brain area that is activated when looking at a face
PPA is the brain area activated when looking at indoor and outdoor scenes where info about spatial layout seems important for this area
The EBA is activated by pictures of bodies and body parts excluding faces.
What is distributed representation
The idea that specific cognitive function activate many areas of the brain
What are neural networks
Groups of neurons or structures that are connected together.
