Chapter 26: Pre-frontal Cortex Flashcards
What is Consciousness?
The experiencing of one’s own mental contents (thoughts) in a way that one can report on them to others (i.e. awareness)
It is synonymous, at a 1˚ level with awareness and, at a 2˚ level with awareness of awareness
Why Consciousness Evolved
As sensory & motor capacities increase, the problem arises of selection of both information and behavior.
As the brain expands and memory capacity increases, there is an additional variable for stimulus interpretation and motor response.
As the number of sensory channels (modalities) increase, the need arises of integrating (binding) the different inputs to produce a single “reality”.
Working Memory consists of _____________ and ___________
a workspace and an Executive Function
FMRI done on people in coma, persistent vegetative state, sleep and general anaesthesia
In general, the DL prefrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and posterior parietal cortex were inactive in the patients.
Phineas Gage suffered damage to his Prefrontal Area
Need Instant Gratification = Deficit in Workspace Capacity
Abusive & Inconsiderate = Deficits in Contextual Understanding i.e. combining diverse info to give big picture.
Most of us experience our minds as a continuous stream of thoughts & feelings
Flow of thoughts through working memory from sensory input & long-term memory is similar to flow of scenery past the window of a moving train
Attention = Portal to Consciousness
Sensory memory —– [Gate/Attention] ——working memory
The PFC receives inputs from sensory systems as well as LTM storage
PFC integrate the features (where & what) of stimulus
The process of integration or “binding” gives stimulus meaning
Attention binds the features of attended stimulus, while ignoring features of unattended stimuli.
Attention suppresses activity of neurons monitoring unattended stimuli.
Attention enhances activity of neurons monitoring attended stimuli.
Attention biases competition in favor of neurons responding to attended features
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