Chapter 2 Vocab Terms Flashcards
Cognitive Neuroscience
Face blindness
Prosopagnosia
a specialized mechanism in the brain that performs a specific function
Module
The idea of a separate, nonphysical mind.
The mind exists outside of the brain and body, both receiving info from the brain and directing the body via the brain.
Rene Descartes
Dualism
Treats the mind as entirely a product of the brain.
All cognition has a neural basis; there is no mind without the brain.
Materialism
The interdisciplinary study of the neural mechanisms of cognition and behavior
Cognitive neuroscience
The principle that different brain areas serve different perceptual and cognitive skills.
Functional specialization
Cells in the nervous system
Neurons
Recieves input from sensory receptors or other neurons
Branches of a tree
Dendrites
Receives input and provides the metabolic machinery for the neuron
Cell body
Soma
Transmits signals to other neurons
Axon
If the input from the dendrites and cell body exceeds a threshold, which corresponds to a decision to fire, an electrical signal is generated down the length of the axon.
“All-or-nothing”
Action potential
The electrical signal triggers the release of chemicals at the end of the axon, which is how neurons communicate with other networked neurons
Neurotransmitters
Neurons communicate via neurotransmitters across gaps called ____
Synapses
What are the terms for the sending and receiving neuron
The sending neuron can either facilitate or inhibit the firing of the receiving neuron, depending on the type of neurotransmitter that is released
Presynaptic and postsynaptic
Connections between neurons.
Their strength can change with learning and experience.
Plastic
More numerous than neurons and provide both structural and funcitonal support to the neurons
Glial cells
The most prominent feature of the brain’s anatomy is that it is organized into two halves called the left and right ____
Hemispheres
A massive interconnection between the two hemispheres.
A large bundle of neural fibers (axons) forming an information highway.
Corpus callosum
When the corpus callosum is severed.
Split-brain
The outer layer of each hemisphere is a thin, folded sheet of neurons
“Tree bark”
Cerebral cortex
Devoted to visual perception.
Occipital lobe
Important for complex perception, memory, and language
Temporal lobe
Involved in thinking, planning, and decision making
Frontal lobe
Important for controlling action
Parietal lobe
Their ability to pinpoint where neural activity occurs
methods in the context of face perception
Spatial resolution
Their ability to pinpoint when neural activity occurs
methods in the context of face perception
Temporal resolution
Their impact on the individual whose brain is being studied, which determines how practically and broadly scientists can use them
methods in the context of face perception
Invasiveness
Studies the behavioral consequences of brain damage
Neuropsychology
Small area in the left frontal lobe.
The neurologist described a patient who could not speak but who could understand langauge.
Paul ____
Broca’s area
Area in the left temportal lobe.
The neurologist discovered a patient who could speak but could not comprehend language.
Carl ____
Wernicke’s area
The ability to directly measure electrical activity from neurons using electrodes.
Electrophysiology
An area in the occipital lobe that recieves visual information from the eyes
Primary visual cortex
A grid of electrodes placed directly on top of the cortex.
Requires invasive surgery, is placed for medical reasons (such as epilepsy patients)
ECoG
Electrocorticography
Uses electrodes on the scalp to detect and amplify global electrical activity.
Less invasive.
EEG
Electroencephalography
The EEG pattern in response to a stimulus or task
ERP
Event-related potential
Uses medical technologies to noninvasively study brain activity.
Originally developed for clinical purposes, medical imaging provides detailed views of internal body structures and abnormalities ranging from fractures to tumors.
Functional brain imaging
The most widely used technique for studying cognition.
Initially developed to provide detailed images of internal organs and other soft tissues.
Shaped like tubes.
MRI
Magnetic response imaging
Measures and localizes blood oxygen levels throughout the brain
fMRI
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
This signal increases with increased brain activity.
Can be plotted on the structural image to show where brain activity is changing.
Neurons us more oxygen when active.
fMRI, BOLD
Blood oxygen level-dependent
When people confuse a correlation as a cause and effect.
Correlation and causation problem
Ways to stimulate or disrupt brain activity to study casual effects on perceptual and cognitive function
Brain stimulation
A method to temporarily disrupt brain activity using focal magnetic pulses targeted over different areas of the scalp
TMS
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
