Chapter 2 (Cognitive neuroscience) Flashcards
The brain is __% of our body mass and consumes __% of our blood supply
2% - 20%
4 views on the mind brain problem
- Interactionism
- Epiphenomenalism
- Parallelism
- Isomorphism
- Interactionism view of the mind-brain problem
“The mind and brain are separate but interact”
Descartes, pineal gland is where they interact
Mind is the Most important thing / Body like machine driven by mind
*2. Epiphonomenalism view of mind-brain problem
“The mind is irrelevant”
Huxley & similar to Skinner
Mind = Consciousness / It is a byproduct of what the body is doing
- Parallelism view of mind-brain problem (no causation)
“the mind and brain are two aspects of same reality (2 levels of abstraction)”
G.T Fechner - All operates in parallel mental event = physical event in brain
mind-brain at the same time
(similar to isomorphism but causation?!)
*4. Isomorphism view of the mind-body problem (causation what we see what brain does)
From Gestalt
Wolfgang Kohler
Direct causal link mind-brain symmetry
Actions of mind-brain = same structure
Literal connection mind-brain you see something, same visual image created in the mind
Similar parallelism but isomorphism = causation
Who was opposed to epiphenomenalism
William James
Sais mental events don’t affect brain activity that produce them any more than shadow on the steps of a traveler
Argument - epiphenomenalism
Consciousness can be slower than actions so it can’t be the drive of all behaviours
But Tibet et al (1982) found out brain prepares for action before we are consciously aware of it (cause before effect) - Argument for epiphenomenalism
What did Libet et al (1982) try to do?
Map the speed of consciousness vs initiation of conscious action
For epiphenomenalism
The brain prepares for action .3-.2ms before we are consciously aware of it
What did Libet et al (1982) find ?
The brain starts to prepare an action before we are consciously aware of having made the decision to act
How long does the brain change occur before we are conscious we want to make an action
Preparation -550ms
Awarness -.200ms
Movement o ms
So difference = .200- .300 milliseconds
Cause must precede effect
The problem for consciousness?
The problem with parallelism
Makes no claim about the nature of the relationship between mental and physical
2 Relms in parallelism
if you talk to yourself ( __ relm)
if someone else talk to you ( ___ Relm)
Mental relm
Physical relm
What is the difference between isomorphism and parallelism
Isomorphism = cube neuron
Parallelism the synchrony of many cues together create whole
Injury to the left side of the brain
Language, right side of the body control
A neuron is
A primary functional unit of the brain
Neurons are connected in clusters called
Modules
Neurons in Modules are connected forming
Networks
Neurons communicate via
Electrical signals
The Hebb Rule (1949)
Neurons get connected when often excited close to the other “neurons that fire together wire togeather”
Unilateral neglect
Ex left hemispheric neglect - clock drawing they don’t have conscious awareness of cues on the left side
Damage to Wernicke’s area affects language
Comprehension issues
Damage to Broca’s area causes language
production issues of language
Imagining movement trajectory / Perception of rhythmic motion / processing musical syntax / natural language syntactic processing
4 methods to measure brain activity
- Positron emission Tomography (PET)
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI)
- Electroencephalography (EEG)
- Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
PET tells us about
Blood flow / an idea of where oxygen went / most used parts
After the action occurs
Difference scores (brain at rest brain in action)
Radioactive substance injected
Hard to interpret the cause of brain activation