Cognition Flashcards
what is condition? what activities does it include?
high level functions carried out by the brain; identifying relevant features in complex stimuli, recognizing related objects, storing information of novel stimuli and relation to familiar objects, planning appropriate responses
what are the special aspects of cognition?
visual perception, analysis used for speech
what are the 3 main brain structures involved in cognition?
- association cortexes of prefrontal, parietal and temporal lobes
- basal nuclei
- dopaminergic input to basal ganglia
what is the function of the basal nuclei on cognition?
repress cognitive processes (acts as a brake)
what is the function of dopaminergic input on cognition?
facilities de-repression, allowing cognition
cognition comes from the latin word cognito which means
learning, knowledge, examination
t/f association areas are involved in processing primary sensory information / motor output
false
the basal nuclei surpasses cognition via neurons in the ___ that tonically inhibit neurons in the __ that extend to cortical areas and would typically cause cognition
globus pallidus; thalamus
what are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
auditory hallucinations, paranoid delusion
what are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
apathy, lack of emotion, social anxiety and isolation
what are the cognitive symptoms schizophrenia?
disorganized thoughts, difficulty completing tasks
the positive symptoms of schizophrenia are thought to be caused by __
defect in repression of cognitive events by basal nuclei
list three causes of schozophrenia
- combination of genetic, developmental, and social factors
- structural changes frontal cortex (smaller)
- dopamine hypotheses
what is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?
caused by too much dopamine
dopamine agonists can cause __
hallucinations and delusions
list 2 treatments for schizophrenia
- neuroleptics
2. atypical antipsychotics
what are neuroleptics?
dopamine antagonists that lower the positive symptoms of schizophrenia
what are atypical antipsychotics?
dopamine and serotonin antagonists
localized lessons of the association cortex lead to __
specific defects
give an example of an event that may result in a localized lesson of the association cortex
stroke
generalized lessons of the association cortex lead to ___
general defects in cognition such as memory, language, perceptual skills, social behaviour, and problem solving
example of pathology that would cause generalized lesions of the association cortex
Alzheimers disease
a lesion to the frontal lobe would result in what sort of deficiencies?
problem solving, planning and social behaviour
damage to the temporal lobe may result in what kind of difficiencies?
agnosia = difficulty recognizing familiar objects
damage to the parietal lobe may result in what types of deficiencies?
contralateral neglect syndrome (unaware of all the objects on contralateral side to lesion)
the temporal association area receives input from the __ and ___ cortexes and is responsible for recognizing ___
primary auditory and visual; complex stimuli
the parietal cortex contains the ___ and ____ cortexes
primary somatosensory and posterior parietal
the association area of the parietal lobe receives input from the ___ and ___ cortexes
visual and somatosensory
t/f there are many areas of the association cortex involved in specialized aspects of language analysis and generations
true
the areas associated with a certain task can be determined using what imaging process?
functional magnetic resonance imaging
lesions in the wernicke’s/brocas areas can lead to __-
aphasia (deficits in language generation)
lesions in the wernickes area will cause
lack of language comprehension
lesions in the brocas area will casue
expressive aphasia (difficulty forming words and senstences, but can understand language
what are the 2 categories of memory?
- qualitative
2. temporal
what are the 2 subclasses of qualitative memory?
- declarative (what can be expressed by language)
2. procedural (unconscious , like riding a bike)
what are the 2 subclasses of temporal memory?
- short term (sec-min)
2. long term (days-years)
what brain parts are used in procedural memory?
cerebellum, premotor cortex, basal nuclei
what brain areas are used in declarative memory?
hippocampus (short term) and association areas (long term)
impairment of the hippocampus results in ___
amnesia
what is anterograde amnesia?
can’t make new memories
memories are likely stored as long-lasting changes in the effectiveness of ___ , referred to as __
synapses; synaptic plasticity
long-term potentiation at many glutamatergic synapses is dependent on ___ type glutamate receptors
NMDA
synaptic transmission of memory typically only involves ___ type glutamate receptors
AMPA
simultaneous activation of many glutamatergic synapses leads to strong ___ which removes the __ from NMDA receptors, resulting in the influx of __
depolarization; Mg, Ca
calcium acts as a ___ for signalling pathways that lead to insertion of new ___ in the postsynaptic membrane
second messenger; AMPA
additional insertion of AMPA receptors to the postsynaptic membrane leads to ____
long-lasting increase of synaptic efficacy and therefore increase in postsynaptic potential
synaptic plasticity works best with neurons that release __ at synapse. which is __% of neurons in the brain
glutamate; 50
AMPA receptors are permeable to __ and__
Na and K
___ receptors are mostly responsible for the creation of EPSP
AMPA
NMDA receptors are sensitive to both ___ and ___ and require strong __ to open
glutamate and voltage; depolarization
formation of memories is linked to what phase of longterm potentiation?
initial
storage of memories is linked to what phase of longterm potentiation?
maintenance phase
how can membrane EPSP cause a depolarization great enough to open NMDA receptors?
several synapse on the same region and add together
what is the purpose of the Mg on the NMDA receptors/
acts as a stopper to ions when there is not a song enough depolarization
