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PSYCH 258 > Chapter 2: Cognitive Neuroscience > Flashcards

Chapter 2: Cognitive Neuroscience Flashcards

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1
Q

Cognitive Neuroscience

A

field concerned with studying the neural basis of cognition

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2
Q

Levels of Analysis

A

a topic can be understood by studying it at a number of different levels of a system

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3
Q

Neurons

A

cell that is specialized to receive and transmit information in the nervous system

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4
Q

Nerve Net

A

a network of continuously interconnected nerve fibers (as contrasted with neural networks, in which fibers are connected by synapses)

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5
Q

Neuron Doctrine

A

the ides that individual cells called neurons transmit signals in the nervous system, and that these cells are not continuous with other cells as proposed by nerve net theory

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6
Q

Cell Body

A

part of a cell that contains mechanisms that keep the cell alive, in some neurons the cell body and the dendrites associated with it receive information from other neurons

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7
Q

Dendrites

A

structures that branch out from the cell body to receive electrical signals from other neurons

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8
Q

Axons

A

part of the neuron that transmits signals from the cell body to the synapse at the end of the axon

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9
Q

Synapse

A

space between the end of an axon and the cell body or dendrite of the next axon

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10
Q

Neural Circuits

A

group of interconnected neurons that are responsible for neural processing

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11
Q

Receptors

A

specialized neural structures that respond to environmental stimuli such as light, mechanical stimulation, or chemical stimuli

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12
Q

Microelectrodes

A

small wires that are used to record electrical signals from single neurons

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13
Q

Recording Electrode

A

when used to study neuronal functioning, a very thin glass or metal probe that can pick up electrical signals from single neurons

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14
Q

Reference Electrode

A

used in conjunction with a recording electrode to measure the difference in charge between the two

reference electrodes are generally placed where the electrical signal remains constant, so any change in charge between the recording and reference electrodes reflects events happening near the tip of the recording electrode

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15
Q

Resting Potential

A

difference in charge between the inside and outside of a nerve fiber when the fiber is at rest (no other electrical signals are present)

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16
Q

Nerve Impulse

A

an electrical impulse that is propagated down the length of an axon (nerve fiber)

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17
Q

Action Potential

A

propagated electrical potential responsible for transmitting neural information and for communication between neurons, typically travel down a neuron’s axon

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18
Q

Neurotransmitter

A

chemical that is released at the synapse in response to incoming action potential

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19
Q

Principle of Neural Representation

A

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

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20
Q

Feature Detectors

A

neurons that respond to specific visual features, such as orientation, size, or the more complex features that makeup environmental stimuli

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21
Q

Experience-Dependent Plasticity

A

a mechanism that causes an organisms neurons to develop so they respond best to the type of stimulation to which the organism has been exposed

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22
Q

Visual Cortex

A

area in the occipital lobe that receives signals from the eyes

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23
Q

Temporal Lobe

A

the lobe on the side of the brain that contains mechanisms responsible for language, memory, hearing, and vision

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24
Q

Hierarchy Processing

A

processing that occurs in a progression from lower to higher areas of the brain

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25
Q

Sensory Code

A

how neural firing represents various characteristics of the environment

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26
Q

Specificity Coding

A

the representation of a specific stimulus by the firing of neurons that respond only to that stimulus

an example would be the signaling of a person’s face by the firing of a neuron that responds only to that person’s face

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27
Q

Population Coding

A

neural representation of a stimulus by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons

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28
Q

Sparse Coding

A

neural coding based on the pattern of activity in small groups of neurons

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29
Q

Localization of Function

A

location of specific functions in specific areas of the brain

for example, areas have been identified that are specialized to process information involved in the perception of movement, form, speech, and different aspects of memory

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30
Q

Cerebral Cortex

A

the 3-mm-thick outer layer of the brain that contains the mechanisms responsible for higher mental functions such as perception, language, thinking, and problem solving

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31
Q

Cortical Equipotentially

A

the idea, popular in the early 1800s, that the brain operates as an invisible whole, as opposed to operating based on specialized areas

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32
Q

Broca’s Area

A

an area in the frontal lobe associated with the production of language, damage to this area causes Broca’s aphasia

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33
Q

Broca’s Aphasia

A

a condition associated with damage to Broca’s area, in the frontal lobe, characterized by labored ungrammatical speech and difficulty in understanding some types of sentences

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34
Q

Wernicke’s Area

A

area in the temporal lobe associated with understanding language

damage to this area causes Wernicke’s aphasia

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35
Q

Occipital Lobe

A

the lobe at the back of the brain that is devoted primarily to analyzing incoming visual information

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36
Q

Parietal Lobe

A

the lobe at the top of the brain that contains mechanisms responsible for sensations caused by stimulation of the skin and also some aspects of visual information

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37
Q

Frontal Lobe

A

the lobe in the front of the brain that serves higher functions such as thought, language, memory, and motor functioning

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38
Q

Prosopagnosia

A

condition caused by damage to the temporal lobe that is characterized by an inability to recognize faces

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39
Q

Double Dissociation

A

a situation in which a single dissociation can be demonstrated in one person and the opposite type of single dissociation can be demonstrated in another person

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40
Q

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

A

a brain imaging technique that measures how blood flow changes in response to cognitive activity

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41
Q

Voxels

A

small cube-shaped areas in the brain used in the analysis of data from brain scanning experiments

42
Q

Task-Related fMRI

A

the fMRI response that occurs in response to a specific cognitive task

43
Q

Fusiform Face Area (FFA)

A

an area in the temporal lobe that contains many neurons that respond selectively to faces

44
Q

Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA)

A

an area in the temporal lobe that contains neurons that are selectively activated by pictures of indoor and outdoor scenes

45
Q

Extrastriate Body Area (EBA)

A

an area in the temporal cortex that is activated by pictures of bodies and parts of bodies, but not by faces or other objects

46
Q

Multidimensional

A

the multidimensional nature of cognition refers to the fact that even simple experiences involve combinations of different qualities

47
Q

Distributed Representation

A

occurs when a specific cognition activates many areas of the brain

48
Q

Neuronal Networks

A

groups of neurons or structures that are connected together

49
Q

Track-Weighted Imaging (TWI)

A

a technique for determining connectivity in the brain that is based on detection of how water diffuses along the length of nerve fibers

50
Q

Functional Connectivity

A

the extent to which the neural activity in separate brain areas is correlated with each other

51
Q

Resting-State fMRI

A

the fMRI response recorded when a person is at rest (not involved in any cognitive tasks)

52
Q

Resting-State Functional Connectivity

A

a method for determining functional connectivity that involves determining the correlation between the resting state fMRI in separated structures

53
Q

Seed Location

A

the area of the brain associated with carrying out a specific cognitive or motor task that serves as the reference area in the resting-state functional connectivity method

54
Q

Time-Series Response

A

the way the fMRI response changes over time

55
Q

Test Location

A

when measuring resting-state functional connectivity, the activity of the test location is compared to the activity at the seed location to determine the degree of functional connectivity between the two locations

56
Q

Default Mode Network

A

network of structures that are active when a person is not involved in specific tasks

57
Q

What is cognitive neuroscience?

A

the study of physiological basis of cognition

involves an understanding of both the nervous system and the individual units that comprise that system

58
Q

What are levels of analysis?

A

we do not examine topic of interest from a single perspective, but rather we look at them from multiple angles and different points of view

each “viewpoint” can add small amounts of information which, when considered together, leads to greater understanding

59
Q

What are nerve nets?

A

early concept of interconnected neurons creating a nerve net, similar to a highway network

streets are connected without stop signs

this allows for almost nonstop, continuous communication of signals throughout the network

60
Q

What is the neuron doctrine?

A

Ramon y Cajal

individual nerve cells transmit signals, and are not continuously linked with other cells

61
Q

What are neurons?

A

cells specialized to receive and transmit information in the nervous system

each neuron has a cell body, an axon, and dendrites

62
Q

What is a cell body?

A

contains mechanisms to keep cell alive

63
Q

What is an axon?

A

tube filled with fluid that transmits electrical signal to other neurons

64
Q

What are dendrites?

A

multiple branches reaching from the cell body, which receives information from other neurons

65
Q

What are sensory receptors?

A

specialized to respond to information received from the senses

66
Q

What is an action potential?

A

neuron receives signal from environment

information travels down the axon of that neuron to the dendrites of another neuron

67
Q

How do you measure action potentials?

A

microelectrodes pick up electrical signal, placed near axon

size is not measured; it remains constant

the rate of firing is measured

low-intensity stimulus: slow firing
high-intensity stimulus: fast firing

68
Q

What is the synapse?

A

space between axon of one neuron and dendrite or cell body of another

when the action potential reaches the end of the axon, synaptic vesicles open and release chemical transmitters

69
Q

What are neurotransmitters?

A

chemicals that affect the electrical signal if the receiving neuron, cross the synapse and bind with receiving dendrites

70
Q

What are excitatory neurotransmitters?

A

increases chance neuron will fire

71
Q

What are inhibitory neurotransmitters?

A

decreases chance neuron will fire

72
Q

What is the definition of the mind?

A

a system that creates representations of the world, so we can act on it to achieve goals

73
Q

What is the principle of neural representation?

A

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

74
Q

What are feature detectors?

A

neurons that respond best to a specific stimulus

75
Q

What was the Hubel & Wiesel (1960s) research with visual stimuli in cats?

A

an experiment in which electrical signals are recorded from the visual system of an anesthetized cat that is viewing stimuli presented on the screen

the lens in front of the cat’s eye ensures that the images in the screen are focused in the cat’s retina

oriented bar, oriented moving bar, and short moving bar are the few types of stimuli that cause neurons in the cat’s visual cortex to fire

76
Q

What is experience-dependent plasticity?

A

the structure of the brain changes with experience

kittens exposed to vertical-only stimuli over time could only perceive verticals in normal stimuli

demonstrated that perception is determined by neurons that fire to specific qualities of a stimulus

77
Q

What is hierarchical processing?

A

when we perceive different objects, we do so in a specific order that moves from lower to higher areas of the brain

the ascension from lower to higher areas of the brain corresponds to perceiving objects that range from lower (simple) to higher levels of complexity

78
Q

What is specificity coding?

A

representation of a stimulus by the firing of specifically tuned neurons specialized to respond only to a specific stimulus

79
Q

What is population coding?

A

representation of a stimulus by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons

80
Q

What is sparse coding?

A

representation of a stimulus by a pattern of firing of only a small group of neurons, with the majority of neurons remaining silent

81
Q

What is the localization of function?

A

specific functions are served by specific areas of the brain

cognitive functioning declines in specific ways when certain areas of the brain are damaged

cerebral cortex (3-mm-thick layer covering the brain) contains mechanism responsible for most cognitive functions

82
Q

What are the primary receiving areas for the senses?

A

occipital lobe: vision
parietal lobe: touch, temperature, and pain
temporal lobe: hearing, taste, and smell

83
Q

What is the frontal lobe?

A

coordination of information received from all senses

84
Q

What is double dissociation?

A

when damage to one part of the brain causes function A to be absent while function B is present, and damage to another area causes function B to be absent while function A is present

allows us to identify functions that are controlled by different parts of the brain

85
Q

What is positron emission tomography (PET)?

A

blood flow increases in areas of the brain activated by a cognitive task

radioactive tracer is injected into person’s bloodstream

measures signal from tracer at each location of the brain

higher signals indicate higher levels of brain activity

86
Q

What is brain imaging?

A

subtraction technique measures brain activity before and during stimulation presentation

difference between activation determines what areas of the brain active during manipulation

87
Q

How is localization demonstrated by brain imaging?

A

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

measures neural activity by identifying highly oxygenated hemoglobin molecules

activity recorded in voxels (3-D pixels)

88
Q

What are event-related potentials (ERP)?

A

neuron “firing” is an electrical event

measure electrical activity on the scalp and make inferences about underlying brain activity

averaged over a large number of trails to calculate ERPs

advantage: continuous and rapid measuremnts
disadvantage: does not give precise location

89
Q

What is the fusiform face area (FFA)?

A

responds specifically to faces

damage to this area causes prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces)

90
Q

What is the Parahippocampal place area (PPA)?

A

responds specifically to places (indoor/outdoor scenes)

91
Q

What is the extrastriate body area (EBA)?

A

responds specifically to pictures pf bodies and parts of bodies

92
Q

What is the central principle of cognition?

A

most of our experience is multidimensional

93
Q

What is distributed representation in the brain?

A

in addition to localization of function, specific functions are processed by many different areas of the brain

may seem to contradict the notion of localization of function, but the concepts are complementary

94
Q

What are neural networks?

A

interconnected areas of the brain that communicate with each other

95
Q

What is a connectome?

A

structural description of the network of elements and connections forming the human brain

96
Q

What is structural connectivity?

A

the brain’s “wiring diagram” created by axons that connect brain areas

as unique to individuals and fingerprints

97
Q

What is functional connectivity?

A

how groups of neurons within the connectome function in relation to types of cognition

determined by the amount of correlated neural activity in two brain areas

98
Q

What are the dynamics of cognition?

A

the flow and activity within and across the brain’s functional networks change based on conditions

change within and across networks is constant

99
Q

What is the default mode network?

A

mode of brain function that occurs when it is at rest (activation at rest is higher than at tasks)

e.g. mind wandering is higher than when you engage in the class

one of the brain’s largest networks

100
Q

What is the Coglab for Brain Asymmetry?

A

this experiment uses a technique devised by Levy, Heller, Banich, & Burton (1983) for demonstrating differences between the hemispheres of a normal subject’s brain

the stimuli involve chimeric faces

a chimeric face is made by taking two different faces, dividing them in half, and combining the left side of one face with the right side of the other face to make a combined, chimeric, face

a right-handed observer will choose the chimeric face with the younger half on the left in terms of the viewpoint of the subject

left-handed people will not show as strong differences in choose the chimeric face

PSYCH 258 (13 decks)

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