Cognition Flashcards
cognition
what is cognitive functioning
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
major areas of cognition
what are the 7 areas of cognition?
- Executive function (management of cognitive processing)
- Attention and concentration
- Perception
- Emotion
- Language
- Memory
- Control of motor behaviour
Functional frameworks
Describe how functional frameworks work in cognition
- bottom-up attentional capture/top-down voluntary attention occurs
- central executive receives sensory input
- action planning happens, then response output
functional frameworks
what ways can working storage be used to transfer information from long term memory to short term?
using inner senses like:
- verbal rehearsal
- visusopatial sketchpad (eg you remember where you parked your car)
-
Cogniton location
where is cognition believed to reside?
in the cerebral cortex
how many synapses are there in the cerebra cortex alone
125 trillion synapses
why does higher mental fuction reside in the cerebral cortex
why does higher mental fuction reside in the cerebral cortex
- 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
primary sensory areas
what do primary sensory areas do
receive information
association cortices
what do association cortices do
responsible for complex processing between arrival of input to primary area and the consequential generated behaviour
Brodmann
what is localisation of function
Brodmann’s idea that different parts of the brain contribute to different information processing
Brodmann
how do we know localisation of function exists?
observations, imaging, mapping, analysis
- 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
techniques used to study brain function
what are in-vitro recordings
- slice of brain in buffer solution is put into an electrode plate.
- neurones are stained red
- electrode plate starts recording, light is turned on then turned off, creating depolarisation and polarisation
techiques used to study brain function
what are the pros of in-vivo microelectrode recording in experimental animals
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
techiques used to study brain function
what is a pro and a con of using MRI of brain function imaging?
pro:
- non-invasive whilst providing imaging
con:
- doesnt actually tell use about the cognitive function of the neurones in the image
techiques used to study brain function
what does a fMRI do
looks at blood oxygenation levels to see if a specific set of neurones are active or not
techiques used to study brain function
how does a fMRI work
- Ox. and deox. blood have different magnetic resonance
- active brain areas use more oxygen than inactive areas and thus require more blood flow
- fMRI examines change in magnetic resonance due to changes in blood oxygenation
- different in magnetic resonance provides measure of neuronal activity
techniques used to study brain function
how does a transcranial magnetic stimulation work
- magnetic field generated over scalp
- this induces change in electrical field in underlying brain tissue
- 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.
occipital damage
what does occiptial damage causes
- visual field defects AKA cortical blindness
Parietal cortex areas
what parietal cortex areas receive information about lower visual field and whole body sensory map
cortical areas 5 and 7
parietal lobes
what do the postcentral gyrus and sensory association areas in the parietal lobes do
Postcentral gyrus- tactile sensation and perception
sensory association area - integration of visual, somatosensory and auitory stimuli
parietal cortex damage
what does left parietal damage cause
- 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)
parietal cortex damage
what does right parietal damage cause
- 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)
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?
this is because the right parietal lobe attends to both left and right hemispace
Temporal lobes
what happens if you have damage to temporal lobes?
- visual agnosia ( cant recognising/name familiar objects)
- prosopagnosia ( cant recognise faces)
temporal lobes
what happens if you have left temporal lobe damage?
- 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
temporal lobe damage
what happens if you have right temporal lobe damage
- 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
frontal lobe
what are the 3 areas of frontal lobe and what do they do
- 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
frontal lobotomy
what was lobotomy used for?
to treat mental illnesses like scizophrenia, depression and bipolar
frontal lobotomy
how did frontal lobotomy work
probe was inserted through eye socket and part of pre-frontal cortex was scooped out
the 5th lobe
where is the insular cortex located
Located between the temporal and frontal lobes deep within the lateral fissure
the 5th lobe
what is the insular cortex thought to be involved in
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
