Chapter 21: The Resting Brain, Attention, and Consciousness Flashcards
: instead of being idle, a network of brain areas is more active during resting than active states
Resting state
(): the brain must deal with the enormous volume of sensory information. Rather than trying to process all of these signals simultaneously, we selectively focus on things that catch our attention
Attentive state
(): ability to focus on one aspect of sensory input; preferentially process some information and ignore the
rest
Attention
attention involves corresponding changes in the () of neurons at many locations in the brain
sensitivity
(): awareness of something
Consciousness
Generally, neurons become more active in () processing ongoing perceptual or motor information.
cortical areas
quiet and active regions of the brain in the absence of active processing were revealed by ()
PET and fMRI imaging of whole brain
Resting State Brain Activity
- Hans Berger (1929): () activity does not cease even during a rest.
- Ingvar: () activity reached high levels during rest states (regional cerebral blood flow was measured using xenon 133 inhalation technique.)
- Increased activity during rest is localized to specific brain regions that prominently include ().
- EEG
- Frontal
- prefrontal cortex
Some brain regions are always active at rest and less active during any task
default mode network
anticorrelation -> negative correlation
2 hypotheses for the function of the default mode network
- sentinel hypothesis
- internal mentation hypothesis
functions of the default brain network
even at rest, we must broadly monitor the environment
sentinel hypothesis
normal visual field but unable to integrate simultaneous info to understant a complex scene
simultagnosia
component of Balínt syndrome
functions of the default brain network
suggests that the default mode network supports thinking and remembering (i.e. the sort of daydreaming we do while sitting quietly)
internal mentation hypothesis
the internal mentation hypothesis suggests that memory tasks activate the brain in a similar manner to ()
daydreaming about one’s life
when we relax, it is common to daydream, remember, and imagine
spontaneous cognition
limited resource or bottleneck in brain processing
(selective) attention
(): takes place when we block out certain features of our environment and focus on one particular feature.
Selective attention
(): is used when we are paying attention to two things at once
Divided attention
(): happens when we can concentrate on a task, event, or feature in our environment for a prolonged period of time
Sustained attention
(): is the attention we use when we are making steps toward a particular end
Executive attention
