Cognitive neuroscience

Question 1

What are the main assumptions of cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 1

Cognitive neuroscience attempts to explain human behaviour by scientifically studying the brain structures, mechanisms and processes that are responsible for thinking.

‘It is the study of how the brain enables the mind’

Question 2

What was Broca’s area?

Answer 2

Speech production

Question 3

What was Wernicke’s area?

Answer 3

Speech comprehension

Question 4

What do cognitive neuroscientists explore in terms of neurons?

Answer 4

Cognitive neuroscientists explore how individual neurons operate and communicate to form complex cell assemblies (clusters of linked neurons that all fire together to complete a task) that make up the human brain.

Question 5

What are the brain scanning techniques used by cognitive neuroscientists?

Answer 5

• Event related potentials (ERPs) are used to study how different populations of neurons respond on a millisecond-to-millisecond basis as they process different types of information
• PET scans and MRI are used to differentiate between the brain activity of a normal brain (neurotypical) and an atypical brain

Question 6

What is brain fingerprinting?

Answer 6

Brain waves from EEGs are used to determine whether specific information is stored in an individual’s memory.

Question 7

How has brain fingerprinting been used in solving crimes?

Answer 7

The brain wave patterns of eye witnesses can be analysed to determine whether they are lying in court.

Question 8

What are 5 main things that neuroscience has found?

Answer 8

• There are different types of long-term memory (episodic and semantic memory) may be located on opposite sides of the pre-frontal cortex
• The healthy brain changes with age
• Stress in the middle age affects women’s brains differently from men’s
• The function of an addict’s brain is different to a non-addict
• There is a neuronal basis to emotions and emotional recognition