Chapter 3 - The Brain Flashcards
Won't be on tests... but know it anyway
action potential
The all-or-none firing of a neuron that leads to the release of neurotransmitters.
activation function (as in neural networks)
A function that takes in the weighted sum of the previous layer’s inputs and returns the activation level of the node.
activation level (as in neural networks)
The numerical value of a node in a neural network.
aphasia
The loss of language comprehension or expression due to brain damage.
artificial neural network (ANN)
A type of machine-learning models based loosely on the brain consisting of layers of nodes connected by modifiable weights that determine their activations.
association neurons
Neurons that receive their inputs and send outputs to other neurons.
autonomic nervous system
A portion of the peripheral nervous system that connects to most organs in the body and regulates certain unconscious bodily functions.
axon
A projection of the neuronal cell body along which action potentials are propagated, terminating in the release of neurotransmitters
backpropagation
A technique for gradually changing the weights of a neural network in order to reduce the error
brainstem
A stalk-like structure at the base of the brain that connects it to the spinal cord and regulates involuntary functions like heart rate and breathing.
Broca’s aphasia
A form of aphasia typically due to damage to the inferior frontal gyrus that leads to slow and labored speech production.
central nervous system
A portion of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal chord.
cerebral cortex
A folded, layered structure that is the largest single structure and the most superficial portion of the human brain
cerebrum
The largest portion of the human brain, sitting at the top of the brain and consisting of the cerebral cortex and related structures.
cognitive neuroscience
A subfield of neuroscience that uses multiple tools to measure and analyze active brain processing in awake and (typically) healthy individual.
corpus callosum
A band of fibers that connect the right and left hemispheres of the cerebrum
contralateral
A spatial relationship between brain and body observed in vertebrates in which one side of the brain controls or receives input from the opposite side of the body.
dendrites
Branch-like projections that protrude from the cell body of a neuron and contain receptor sites to which neurotransmitters can bind.
distributed/population encoding:
A theory of neural representation in which complex patterns or objects are represented by the distribution of activation across many neurons.
electroencephalography (EEG)
A method that measures electrical activity due to neural or other processing at the surface of the scalp.
encephalization quotient (EQ)
A measure of actual brain size relative to the size that would be predicted based on body size alone. It is strongly correlated with intelligence.
error/loss (as in a neural network)
The difference between the observed output and the correct output of an ANN, used as a measure of its performance and minimized during training.
event-related potential (ERP)
Rapid changes in electrical potential, as measured by EEG, due to the onset of a stimulus.
excitatory
When the firing of a neuron causes a receiving neuron to fire more frequently.
fight or flight response
A sympathetic nervous system response that prepares the body with increased strength and stamina in response to a perceived threat.
fissure
A deep sulcus fold in the cerebral cortex.
functional localization:
The concept that certain cognitive functions reside in specific regions of the cerebral cortex.
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
A technique in cognitive neuroscience for measuring ratios of oxygenated bloodflow in the brain in order to determine task-related neural activity.
functional near-infrared spectroscopy
A tool of cognitive neuroscience which uses near-infrared light in order to measure oxygenated vs non-oxygenated hemoglobin, a component of blood to derive the hemodynamic response.
glial cells
Cells within the nervous system that provide support to neurons.
gyri/gyrus
The “hill”-like projections of the folds of the cerebral cortex.
hemisphere
Each of the two halves of the cerebrum, divided into a left and right, and connected by the corpus callosum.
hidden layer
The intermediate layers between input and output in an ANN. The units in the hidden layer encode patterns in the input layer or in previous hidden layers.
hippocacampus
A complex structure which is involved in memory formation and is structurally an extension of the temporal lobe of the cortex and is involved in the formation of long-term memories.
hypothalamus
A small but highly complex cluster of neurons that lies in the center of the brain that regulates multiple involuntary behavioral functions.
inhibitory
When the firing of a neuron causes a receiving neuron to fire less frequently.
input layer
The first layer of an ANN. The activation level of each node in this layer is determined by values of the data itself.
lobes
The four anatomical divisions of the cortex that exist on each hemisphere.
motor neurons
Neurons whose output leads to activation of muscle fibers.
multivariate-pattern analysis (MVPA)
A data-analysis that uses machine learning to decode what task or stimulus a participating in engaging, based on the distribution of activity across the brain.
nerves
Bundles of connective tissue that allows neurons to communicate with one another and other parts of the body.
nervous system
A portion of the body consisting of neurons, nerves and glial cells whose function is to allow different portions of the body to communicate with one another.
neuroplasticity
The ability of the brain to reorganize the spatial arrangement of its function.
neurospsychology
The study of brain function and impairment due to brain pathology.
neurotransmitters
Chemical agents that serve as “messengers” between neurons.
output layer
The final layer of an ANN that represents the networks decision about the input.
parasympathetic nervous system
A subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that regulates certain bodily functions under conditions when immediate action is not needed.
peripheral nervous system
A portion of the nervous system consisting of all neurons, nerves and glial cells outside of the nervous system.
receptors
Sites on the dendrite of a neuron to which neurotransmitters can bind.
reflex action
The simplest form of autonomic behavioral responses in which he spinal chord generates the behavioral signal without the brain.
reuptake
A process in which neurotransmitters in the synaptic cleft are reabsorbed by a sending neuron
sensory receptors
Neurons that receive their activation from physical stimulation of the body
sparse coding
A theory of neural coding in which a complex pattern or object is encoded by the distribution of responses across a small set of neurons.
split-brain
Patients (typically epileptic) who have had their corpus callosum severed, disconnecting the two hemispheres of the cortex.
specificity encoding
A theory of neural coding in which a complex pattern or object is encoded by the response of a single neuron.
sulci/sulcus
The “valley”-like indentations of the folds of the cerebral cortex.
sympathetic nervous system
A subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that unconsciously regulates certain functions of the body to prepare for immediate action.
synapse
The site at which communication between two neurons occurs. It consists of an empty space between the axon terminal of a neuron that is sending information and receptors on the dendrites of the receiving neuron.
synaptic cleft
The small gap between sending and receiving neurons into which neurotransmitters are released.
synaptic vesicles
Storage sites within a neuron that hold neurotransmitters prior to their release.
training set
The dataset used to train a neural network.
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
A research technique that uses magnetic pulses to disrupt localized brain processing in order to observe effects on cognitive function.
transduction
The conversion of information from one form to another.
validation set
A dataset used to test the performance of an ANN after it has been trained to determine whether it can generalize to unseen examples.
weights (as in a neural network)
The modifiable connections between nodes of a neural network. The activation levels of nodes are multiplied by the weights to generate the weighted sum.
Wernicke’s or receptive aphasia
A form of aphasia typically due to damage to the superior temporal gyrus that leads to fluid but nonsensical speech production.
The all-or-none firing of a neuron that leads to the release of neurotransmitters.
action potential
A function that takes in the weighted sum of the previous layer’s inputs and returns the activation level of the node.
activation function (as in neural networks)
The numerical value of a node in a neural network.
activation level (as in neural networks)
The loss of language comprehension or expression due to brain damage.
aphasia
A type of machine-learning models based loosely on the brain consisting of layers of nodes connected by modifiable weights that determine their activations.
artificial neural network (ANN)
Neurons that receive their inputs and send outputs to other neurons.
association neurons
A portion of the peripheral nervous system that connects to most organs in the body and regulates certain unconscious bodily functions.
autonomic nervous system
A projection of the neuronal cell body along which action potentials are propagated, terminating in the release of neurotransmitters
axon
A technique for gradually changing the weights of a neural network in order to reduce the error
backpropagation
A stalk-like structure at the base of the brain that connects it to the spinal cord and regulates involuntary functions like heart rate and breathing.
brainstem
A form of aphasia typically due to damage to the inferior frontal gyrus that leads to slow and labored speech production.
Broca’s aphasia
A portion of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal chord.
central nervous system
A folded, layered structure that is the largest single structure and the most superficial portion of the human brain
cerebral cortex
The largest portion of the human brain, sitting at the top of the brain and consisting of the cerebral cortex and related structures.
cerebrum
A subfield of neuroscience that uses multiple tools to measure and analyze active brain processing in awake and (typically) healthy individual.
cognitive neuroscience
A band of fibers that connect the right and left hemispheres of the cerebrum
corpus callosum
A spatial relationship between brain and body observed in vertebrates in which one side of the brain controls or receives input from the opposite side of the body.
contralateral
Branch-like projections that protrude from the cell body of a neuron and contain receptor sites to which neurotransmitters can bind.
dendrites
A theory of neural representation in which complex patterns or objects are represented by the distribution of activation across many neurons.
distributed/population encoding:
A method that measures electrical activity due to neural or other processing at the surface of the scalp.
electroencephalography (EEG)
A measure of actual brain size relative to the size that would be predicted based on body size alone. It is strongly correlated with intelligence.
encephalization quotient (EQ)
The difference between the observed output and the correct output of an ANN, used as a measure of its performance and minimized during training.
error/loss (as in a neural network)
Rapid changes in electrical potential, as measured by EEG, due to the onset of a stimulus.
event-related potential (ERP)
When the firing of a neuron causes a receiving neuron to fire more frequently.
excitatory
A sympathetic nervous system response that prepares the body with increased strength and stamina in response to a perceived threat.
fight or flight response
A deep sulcus fold in the cerebral cortex.
fissure
The concept that certain cognitive functions reside in specific regions of the cerebral cortex.
functional localization:
A technique in cognitive neuroscience for measuring ratios of oxygenated bloodflow in the brain in order to determine task-related neural activity.
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
A tool of cognitive neuroscience which uses near-infrared light in order to measure oxygenated vs non-oxygenated hemoglobin, a component of blood to derive the hemodynamic response.
functional near-infrared spectroscopy
Cells within the nervous system that provide support to neurons.
glial cells
The “hill”-like projections of the folds of the cerebral cortex.
gyri/gyrus
Each of the two halves of the cerebrum, divided into a left and right, and connected by the corpus callosum.
hemisphere
The intermediate layers between input and output in an ANN. The units in the hidden layer encode patterns in the input layer or in previous hidden layers.
hidden layer
A complex structure which is involved in memory formation and is structurally an extension of the temporal lobe of the cortex and is involved in the formation of long-term memories.
hippocacampus
A small but highly complex cluster of neurons that lies in the center of the brain that regulates multiple involuntary behavioral functions.
hypothalamus
When the firing of a neuron causes a receiving neuron to fire less frequently.
inhibitory
The first layer of an ANN. The activation level of each node in this layer is determined by values of the data itself.
input layer
The four anatomical divisions of the cortex that exist on each hemisphere.
lobes
Neurons whose output leads to activation of muscle fibers.
motor neurons
A data-analysis that uses machine learning to decode what task or stimulus a participating in engaging, based on the distribution of activity across the brain.
multivariate-pattern analysis (MVPA)
Bundles of connective tissue that allows neurons to communicate with one another and other parts of the body.
nerves
A portion of the body consisting of neurons, nerves and glial cells whose function is to allow different portions of the body to communicate with one another.
nervous system
The ability of the brain to reorganize the spatial arrangement of its function.
neuroplasticity
The study of brain function and impairment due to brain pathology.
neurospsychology
Chemical agents that serve as “messengers” between neurons.
neurotransmitters
The final layer of an ANN that represents the networks decision about the input.
output layer
A subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that regulates certain bodily functions under conditions when immediate action is not needed.
parasympathetic nervous system
A portion of the nervous system consisting of all neurons, nerves and glial cells outside of the nervous system.
peripheral nervous system
Sites on the dendrite of a neuron to which neurotransmitters can bind.
receptors
The simplest form of autonomic behavioral responses in which he spinal chord generates the behavioral signal without the brain.
reflex action
A process in which neurotransmitters in the synaptic cleft are reabsorbed by a sending neuron
reuptake
Neurons that receive their activation from physical stimulation of the body
sensory receptors
A theory of neural coding in which a complex pattern or object is encoded by the distribution of responses across a small set of neurons.
sparse coding
Patients (typically epileptic) who have had their corpus callosum severed, disconnecting the two hemispheres of the cortex.
split-brain
A theory of neural coding in which a complex pattern or object is encoded by the response of a single neuron.
specificity encoding
The “valley”-like indentations of the folds of the cerebral cortex.
sulci/sulcus
A subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that unconsciously regulates certain functions of the body to prepare for immediate action.
sympathetic nervous system
The site at which communication between two neurons occurs. It consists of an empty space between the axon terminal of a neuron that is sending information and receptors on the dendrites of the receiving neuron.
synapse
The small gap between sending and receiving neurons into which neurotransmitters are released.
synaptic cleft
Storage sites within a neuron that hold neurotransmitters prior to their release.
synaptic vesicles
The dataset used to train a neural network.
training set
A research technique that uses magnetic pulses to disrupt localized brain processing in order to observe effects on cognitive function.
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
The conversion of information from one form to another.
transduction
A dataset used to test the performance of an ANN after it has been trained to determine whether it can generalize to unseen examples.
validation set
The modifiable connections between nodes of a neural network. The activation levels of nodes are multiplied by the weights to generate the weighted sum.
weights (as in a neural network)
A form of aphasia typically due to damage to the superior temporal gyrus that leads to fluid but nonsensical speech production.
Wernicke’s or receptive aphasia
The ______ is the evolutionarily newest part of the brain and is comparatively bigger in humans than in any other species.
cerebral cortex
It is very likely that the brain has gyri and sulci because they ______.
increase the surface area that can fit in the skull
The idea that specific parts of the cortex do different jobs is known as ______.
functional localization
People with damage to their left hemisphere are likely to have trouble with ______.
language
Wernicke’s aphasia is to ______ as Broca’s aphasia is to ______.
comprehension; production
Broca’s aphasia ______.
A) affects production
B) has behavioral consequences such as slow and deliberate speech
C) affects comprehension
D) both A and B
D both A and B
To say two functions are doubly dissociated indicates that those two functions ______.
involve different mechanisms
If a split-brain patient is presented with a triangle in their left visual field and a circle in their right visual field, which object will they verbally name?
the circle
An EEG measures ______.
the electrical activity of an active brain
When the neurotransmitters released by the sending neuron cause the receiving neuron to fire more frequently we call this an ______ effect.
excitatory
This type of neuron receives information from neurons and sends information to other neurons.
association
This technique simulates the basic architecture of the human brain.
artificial neural network
