Chapter 2 - Cognitive Neuroscience

Question 1

cognitive neuroscience

Answer 1

the study of the physiological basis of cognition

Question 2

levels of analysis

Answer 2

the idea that a topic can be studied in many different ways. For example, this book on cognitive psychology explains the behavioral and physiological experiments.

Question 3

neurons

Answer 3

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

Question 4

nerve net

Answer 4

a complex pathway for conducting signals uninterrupted through the network.

Question 5

neuron doctrine

Answer 5

the idea that individual cells transmit signals in the nervous system, and that these cells are not continuous with other cells. Discovered by Spanish physiologist Ramon y Cajal.

Question 6

cell body

Answer 6

the metabolic center of the neuron

Question 7

dendrites

Answer 7

branch out from the cell body and receive signals from other neurons.

Question 8

axons

Answer 8

long processes that transmit signals to other neurons

Question 9

synapse

Answer 9

the gap between the end of a neuron’s axon and the dendrite or cell body of another neuron.

Question 10

neural circuits

Answer 10

a group of interconnected neurons

Question 11

receptors

Answer 11

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

Question 12

microelectrodes

Answer 12

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

Question 13

recording electrode

Answer 13

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

Question 14

reference electrode

Answer 14

used with a recording electrode to measure the difference between the two. Reference electrodes are placed where the electrical current remains constant so that any changes can be recorded.

Question 15

resting potential

Answer 15

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

Question 16

nerve impulse

Answer 16

an electrical response that is propagated down the length of an axon; also called an action potential.

Question 17

action potential

Answer 17

propagated electrical potential responsible for transmitting neural information and for communication between neurons. Action potentials travel down a neuron’s axon.

Question 18

neurotransmitter

Answer 18

a chemical released at the synapse in response to incoming action potentials.

Question 19

principle of neural representation

Answer 19

states that everything a person experiences is based not on a direct contact with stimuli but representations in the person’s nervous system.

Question 20

retina

Answer 20

the layer of neurons that lines the back of the eye.

Question 21

visual cortex

Answer 21

the area at the back of the brain that receives signals from the eye.

Question 22

feature detector

Answer 22

neurons that respond to specific stimulus features such as orientation, movement, and length.

Discovered in the 1960s by David Hubel and Thorsten Wiesel.

Question 23

hierarchical processing

Answer 23

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

Question 24

sensory code

Answer 24

refers to how neurons represent various characteristics of the environment.

Question 25

specificity coding

Answer 25

the idea that an object could be represented by the firing of a specialized neuron that responds only to that object.

Question 26

population coding

Answer 26

the representation of an object by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons.

Question 27

sparse coding

Answer 27

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

Question 28

localization of function

Answer 28

one of the basic principles of brain organization that states specific functions are served by specific areas of the brain.

Question 29

cerebral cortex

Answer 29

a layer of tissue about 3mm thick that covers the brain.

Question 30

neuropsychology

Answer 30

the study of the behavior of people with brain damage

Question 31

Broca's area

Answer 31

an area of the left frontal lobe that is specialized for speech/language production. Proposed by Paul Broca in 1861.

Question 32

Wernicke's area

Answer 32

an area of the temporal lobe responsible for language comprehension.

Question 33

occipital lobe

Answer 33

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

Question 34

temporal lobe

Answer 34

lobe on the side of the brain responsible for language, memory, hearing, and vision.

Question 35

parietal lobe

Answer 35

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

Question 36

frontal lobe

Answer 36

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

Question 37

prosopagnosia

Answer 37

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

Question 38

double dissociation

Answer 38

occurs if damage to one area 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.

Question 39

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Answer 39

creates images of structures in the brain. A standard technique for detecting tumors and other brain abnormalities.

Question 40

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Answer 40

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

Question 41

brain imaging

Answer 41

makes it possible to determine which areas of the brain are active during cognitive processes.

Question 42

voxels

Answer 42

​small cube-shaped areas of the brain about 2 or 3 mm on a side. Voxels are not brain structures but are small units of analysis created by the fMRI.

Question 43

fusiform face area (FFA)

Answer 43

an area in the temporal lobe that contains many neurons that respond selectively to faces. The same part of the brain that is damaged in cases of prosopagnosia.

Question 44

parahippocampal place area (PPA)

Answer 44

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

Question 45

extrastriate body area (EBA)

Answer 45

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

Question 46

distributed representation

Answer 46

the idea that specific cognitive functions activate many areas of the brain.

Question 47

neural network

Answer 47

groups of neurons or structures that are connected together.

Question 48

diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)

Answer 48

a technique based on detection of how water diffuses along the length of nerve fibers, for tracing nerve pathways and determining connections

Question 49

Camillo Golgi

Answer 49

developed a staining technique in which a thin slice of brain tissue was immersed in a solution of silver nitrate; fewer than 1 % of the cells were stained.

Question 50

Ramon y Cajal

Answer 50

a Spanish physiologist who used two techniques, the Golgi stain and a newborn animal brain. A newborn brain is less dense, and the Golgi stain only affects less than 1% of the tissue; these characteristics made it possible for Cajal to discover that the nerve net is not continuous.

Question 51

Edgar Adrian

Answer 51

in the 1920s, he was able to record electrical signals from single sensory neurons; awarded the Nobel Prize in 1932. He discovered that each action potential travels all the way down the axon without changing its height or shape.

Question 52

David Hubel

Answer 52

alongside Thorsten Wiesel found that each neuron in the visual area of the cortex responded to a specific type of stimulation presented to a small area of the retina.

Question 53

Charles Gross

Answer 53

discovered that the neurons in the temporal lobe responded to complex stimuli and neurons in another area of the temporal lobe responded to faces

Question 54

Paul Broca

Answer 54

proposed, in 1861, that an area of the left frontal lobe is specialized for speech/language production. This area is now called Broca's area.

Question 55

Carl Wernicke

Answer 55

identified, in 1879, an area of the temporal lobe responsible for language comprehension. This area is now called Wernick's area.

Question 56

Doris Tsao and coworkers

Answer 56

found that 97% of the neurons within a small area in the lower part of a monkey's temporal lobe responded to pictures of faces but not to pictures of other types of objects.

Question 57

Alex Huth and coworkers

Answer 57

were able to determine what kinds of stimuli each voxel responds to using a fMRI and having subjects view film clips of various objects and actions.