Cognition and Personality Flashcards
What are the 3 streams of information that occur after a visual stimuli has been detected?
Visual information is processed by the occipital lobe
Dorsal stream- ‘where’ is fast
Anterior stream-
Ventral stream- ‘what’ is energy demanding
What are the ‘executive functions’ of the brain?
Attention, working memory, reasoning and problem solving
What is ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ thinking?
Bottom up= focuses on interpreting sensory information in real-time. Does not require previous knowledge
Top down= the interpretation of incoming information based on prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations
How long does short term memory last?
Around 10s
What are the two types of long term memory?
Implicit (procedural) and explicit (declarative)
What is implicit memory
It does not require the conscious or explicit recollection of past events or information e.g. like riding a bike
What are the 4 types of explicit memory?
- Semantic memory- knowledge about facts
- Episodic memory- remembering events
- Autobiographical- remembering our life
- Visual memory- photographic memory
What mainly controls the advanced thinking?
Pre-frontal cortex
What are the two areas that working memory is held?
The pre-frontal cortex and the episodic buffer in the parietal lobe
What is working memory?
Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily
What is the episodic buffer?
In the parietal lobe, it is a temporary store that integrates information from the other components and maintains a sense of time, so events occur in a continuing sequence
What structure is important for long term memory?
The hippocampus- It is necessary for the process of encoding short term memory into long term, particularly episodic or autobiographical
Where is the hippocampus?
Deep in temporal lobes
What can happen if the hippocampus is damaged?
Loss of explicit memory (amnesia)
Where are procedural memories stored?
Split between two areas; basal ganglia and cerebellum
Cerebellum= responsible for timing and execution of learned motor skills e.g. playing piano
Basal ganglia= repetitive movements we use frequently e.g. use of muscles grab an object
What happens during sleep with memories?
During sleep the hippocampus and neocortex relay information to one another
Where are plans for movement made?
Information about perception of space, audio and visual stimuli are carried to pre-frontal cortex where movement plans are made.
Where do bottom up goals and top down goals come from?
Bottom up goals= limbic system
Top down goals= prefrontal cortex (high thinking)
What is the limbic system?
The limbic system is the part of the brain involved in our behavioural and emotional responses, especially when it comes to behaviours we need for survival: feeding, reproduction and caring for our young, and fight or flight responses
What are the structures within the limbic system?
The hypothalamus, nucleus accumbent, median forebrain bundle, ventral segmental area and the amygdala
Where do negative and positive emotion arise from
Amygdala is more associated with negative emotion
The reward area (nucleus accumbens, medial forebrain bundle and ventral segmental area) associated with positive emotion
What is salience?
The limbic drive to invest perceptual resource in significant stimuli
The salience network is a collection of regions of the brain that select which stimuli are deserving of our attention.
What is the dorsal stream of visual information?
Fast
From occipital lobe to parietal lobe
‘Where’
What is the anterior stream of visual information?
saliance system or the ‘so what’ pathway. Tries to decide if the stimuli is interesting enough to invest in
What is the ventral stream of visual information?
From occipital to temporal
Energy expensive
‘What’
What happens if the limbic system and/or the prefrontal cortex find a stimuli worth investing in?
There are two responses;
1. The limbic system activates the hippocampus- if stimuli is useful important to make a memory of it
2. The attention control system is also activated, which tells the ventral stream it is worth investing in
What is entityfication?
Trying to distinguish something that is a coherent object in the world from other things
What is the dynamic hypothesis testing theory?
- We have a best guess about what reality is
- We commit to a goal
- We hypothesise how to achieve that goal (in pre-frontal cortex)
- We act
- There is dynamic monitoring of whether the goal is getting closer or further away
- Continue this until we reach the goal
What neurotransmitter results in positive emotion?
Dopamine
What structures in the brain release dopamine and what does this target?
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is produced in the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, and hypothalamus of the brain. Reaches frontal cortex
What neurotransmitter are pathways for fear moderated by?
Come from the amygdala and are moderated by glutamate
What are two scales to measure cognition?
MMSE- limited value other than in advanced dementia
Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination III (total score out of 100- useful to chart over time)
What are the ‘big 5’ traits in personality?
Openness
Conscientousness
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
What is the ‘negative’ trait out of the big 5?
Neuroticism, high would be tense, moody, anxious, sensitive, prone to negativity
What acronym does the big 5 spell?
OCEAN
What structures are contained within the salience system?
This network consists of the following brain regions: the dorsal anterior cingulate, the insula and the amygdala
