Chapter 2- Cognitive Neuroscience Flashcards
Phrenology
The study of the shape, size, and protusions of the cranium in an attempt to discorver the relationships between parts of the brain and various mental activities and abilities-Franz Gall-ended up being more of an entertainer.
Modules
Different parts of the brain, each of which is responsible for particular cognitive operations
Phrenology underlying principles
1) the brain is the sole organ of the mind
2) Basic character and intellectual traits are innately determined
3) Since there are diffeerences in character and intellectual traits among individuals as well as differences in various intellectual capacities within a single individual, there must exist differentially developed areas in the brain, responsible for these differences. When there is a variation in the function there must be a variation in the structure.
Localization of function
The idea that there is a direct correspondence between specific cognitive functions and specific parts of the brain
Broca’s Aphasia
A deficit in the ability to produce speech as a result of damage to Broca’s area
Broca’s Area
Te=he area of the brain’s elft hemisphere that is responsible for processing the meaning of words
Wernicke’s Area
Area of the brain’s left hemisphere that is responsible for processing the meaning of words
Wernicke’s Aphasia
A deficit in the ability to comprehend speech as a result of damage to Wernicke’s area
Language comprehension and production
Goes from ear-to wernicke’s area-to Broca’s area-to motor cortex.
Interhemispheric Transfer
Communication between the hemispheres facillitated by the corpus collosum
Split Brain
A condition created by severing the corpus collosum. Often done in cases of sever seizures,
Emergent Property
In sperry’s (nobel prize on interhemispheric transfer, conducted on cats) sense, a property that emerges as a result of brain processes, but is not itself a component of the brain. In the case of the mind this means that consciousness is neither a reducible to, nor a property of, a particular brain structure or region
Emergent Causation
In Sperry’s sense, causation brought about by an emergent property. Once the ‘mind’ emerges from the brain, it has the power to influence lower level processes
Supervenient
In Sperry’s sense, describes mental states that may simultaneously influence neuronal events and be influenced by them
Event-Related Potential
An electrical signal emitted by the brain after the onset of a stimulus
Positron Emission Tomography
An imaging technique in which a participant is injected with a radioactive substance that mingles with the blood and circulates to the brain, A scanner is then used to detect the flow of blood to particular areas of the brain
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
A non radioactive, magnetic procedure for detecting the flow of oxygenated blood to various parts of the brain
Magnetoencephalography
A non invasive brain imaging technique that directly measures neural activity
Connectionism
A theory that focuses on the way cognitive processes work at the physiological/neurological (as opposed to information processing) level. It holds that the brain consists of an enormous number of interconnected neurons and attempts to model cognition as an emergent process of networks of simple units (neurons) communicating with one another
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
An MRI based neuroimaging technique that makes it possible to visualize the white matter tracts within the brain
Two basic connectionist ideas
1) information can be broken down into elementary units
2) There are connections between these units
Neural Network
Neurons that are functionally related or connected
Hebb Rule
A connection between two neurons takes place only if both neurons are firing at approximately the same time
Parallel processing
Many neural connections may be active at the same time
Serial Proecessing
Only one neural activity may take place at any one time
Scans for Brain Structures
CT
MRI
Scan for Brain Functions
EEG
PET
fMRI
MEG
Diffusion tnesor imaging
MRI based neuroimaging technique that makes it possible to visualize the white matter tracts within the brain
Modularity of mind
domain specificity informational encapsulation obligatory firing fast speed shallow outputs limited accessibility characteristic ontogeny fixed neural architecture
