Cognition

Question 1

cognition

what is cognitive functioning

Answer 1

processes that allow humans/animals to perceive external stimuli, extract key information and hold it in memory to then generate thoughts/actions to reach a desire goals

Question 2

major areas of cognition

what are the 7 areas of cognition?

Answer 2

1. Executive function (management of cognitive processing)
2. Attention and concentration
3. Perception
4. Emotion
5. Language
6. Memory
7. Control of motor behaviour

Question 3

Functional frameworks

Describe how functional frameworks work in cognition

Answer 3

1. bottom-up attentional capture/top-down voluntary attention occurs
2. central executive receives sensory input
3. action planning happens, then response output

Question 4

functional frameworks

what ways can working storage be used to transfer information from long term memory to short term?

Answer 4

using inner senses like:
- verbal rehearsal
- visusopatial sketchpad (eg you remember where you parked your car)
-

Question 5

Cogniton location

where is cognition believed to reside?

Answer 5

in the cerebral cortex

Question 6

how many synapses are there in the cerebra cortex alone

Answer 6

125 trillion synapses

Question 7

why does higher mental fuction reside in the cerebral cortex

why does higher mental fuction reside in the cerebral cortex

Answer 7

• cognitive abilities closely parallel cerebral cortex’s structural complexity
• patients who have damage to cerebrum have clear cognitive deficits
• no convinving evidence that cognition resides outside brain

Question 8

primary sensory areas

what do primary sensory areas do

Answer 8

receive information

Question 9

association cortices

what do association cortices do

Answer 9

responsible for complex processing between arrival of input to primary area and the consequential generated behaviour

Question 10

Brodmann

what is localisation of function

Answer 10

Brodmann’s idea that different parts of the brain contribute to different information processing

Question 11

Brodmann

how do we know localisation of function exists?

observations, imaging, mapping, analysis

Answer 11

• observations from patients with damage to one or another of these regions
• non-invasive brain imaging of normal or diseased patients
• functional mapping at neurosurgery
• electrophysiological analysis of comparable brain regions in animals

Question 12

techniques used to study brain function

what are in-vitro recordings

Answer 12

1. slice of brain in buffer solution is put into an electrode plate.
2. neurones are stained red
3. electrode plate starts recording, light is turned on then turned off, creating depolarisation and polarisation

Question 13

techiques used to study brain function

what are the pros of in-vivo microelectrode recording in experimental animals

Answer 13

pros:
- excellent temporal resolution
- can identify individual neurones that direct behaviour outputs

cons:
- only small amounts of neurones can be seen
- invasive
- cant be done on humans as unethical

Question 14

techiques used to study brain function

what is a pro and a con of using MRI of brain function imaging?

Answer 14

pro:
- non-invasive whilst providing imaging

con:
- doesnt actually tell use about the cognitive function of the neurones in the image

Question 15

techiques used to study brain function

what does a fMRI do

Answer 15

looks at blood oxygenation levels to see if a specific set of neurones are active or not

Question 16

techiques used to study brain function

how does a fMRI work

Answer 16

1. Ox. and deox. blood have different magnetic resonance
2. active brain areas use more oxygen than inactive areas and thus require more blood flow
3. fMRI examines change in magnetic resonance due to changes in blood oxygenation
4. different in magnetic resonance provides measure of neuronal activity

Question 17

techniques used to study brain function

how does a transcranial magnetic stimulation work

Answer 17

1. magnetic field generated over scalp
2. this induces change in electrical field in underlying brain tissue
3. this transiently interrupts local processing, creating a reversible brain lesion, which allows you to see what that specific part of the cerebral cortex is responsible for.

Question 18

occipital damage

what does occiptial damage causes

Answer 18

• visual field defects AKA cortical blindness

Question 19

Parietal cortex areas

what parietal cortex areas receive information about lower visual field and whole body sensory map

Answer 19

cortical areas 5 and 7

Question 20

parietal lobes

what do the postcentral gyrus and sensory association areas in the parietal lobes do

Answer 20

Postcentral gyrus- tactile sensation and perception

sensory association area - integration of visual, somatosensory and auitory stimuli

Question 21

parietal cortex damage

what does left parietal damage cause

Answer 21

• Impaired verbal short term memory (can only repeat back 2-3 letter at a time)
• Agraphia (inability to communicate through writing)
• Dyscalculia (difficulty in performing calculations)

Question 22

parietal cortex damage

what does right parietal damage cause

Answer 22

• Constructional apraxia (inability to copy drawings or manipulate objects to form patterns or designs)
• Disengagement – cannot shift attention from one stimulus to another
• Impaired visual short term memory
• Anosognosia (a deficit of self-awareness – patients are unaware of the existence of their disability)

Question 23

parietal cortex damage

why do patients have left side neglect syndrome/contralateral neglect syndrome (can’t see things positioned on their left side) if they have damage to their right hemisphere?

Answer 23

this is because the right parietal lobe attends to both left and right hemispace

Question 24

Temporal lobes

what happens if you have damage to temporal lobes?

Answer 24

• visual agnosia ( cant recognising/name familiar objects)
• prosopagnosia ( cant recognise faces)

Question 25

temporal lobes

what happens if you have left temporal lobe damage?

Answer 25

• speech, verbal comprehension and language processing problems
• long term verbal memory and sequential memory problems ( being able to recall the gist but lacks details)
• patients become over-emotional,hypochondriacal and/or depressed, egocentric, paranoid, aggressive

Question 26

temporal lobe damage

what happens if you have right temporal lobe damage

Answer 26

• selective attention of verbal and visual inputs disturbed
• loss of awareness of body language, facial expression and vocal intonation
• inappropriate humour, foolish behaviour, impulsivity
• impaired long term memory for pictures, faces and places

Question 27

frontal lobe

what are the 3 areas of frontal lobe and what do they do

Answer 27

• primary motor cotex: motor function
• premotor area: planning and programming of movements
• prefrontal area: organisation of intellectual and emotional context and control of intention of movement

Question 28

frontal lobotomy

what was lobotomy used for?

Answer 28

to treat mental illnesses like scizophrenia, depression and bipolar

Question 29

frontal lobotomy

how did frontal lobotomy work

Answer 29

probe was inserted through eye socket and part of pre-frontal cortex was scooped out

Question 30

the 5th lobe

where is the insular cortex located

Answer 30

Located between the temporal and frontal lobes deep within the lateral fissure

Question 31

the 5th lobe

what is the insular cortex thought to be involved in

Answer 31

Involved in:
- psychic awareness of viscero-sensory feelings,
- stomach/gastric sensations
- emotional aspect to sensory feelings
- heart rate/blood pressure perception
- psychic evaluation of temperature and body states