cognitive neuroscience

Question 1

models

Answer 1

representations of structures or processes that help us simplify, visualise or explain structures or processes

structural
represent strucutres in the brain involved with specific functions
useful for localisation and visualisation

processes
represent how a process operates

Question 2

neurons

Answer 2

cells specialised to create, receive and transmit information in the nervous system

Question 3

nerve nets

Answer 3

early concepts of neurons

continuously interconnected neurons
allows non-stop uninterrupted communication of signals
staining techniques and mucroscopes could not see small enough details so appeared continuous

Question 4

neuron doctrine

Answer 4

contradicted nerve nets

found nerve nets not continuous
individuals units connected that transmit signals

Question 5

principle of neural representation

Answer 5

everything a person experiences is not based on direct contact with stimulus but on representations in the nervous system

despite all action potentials being the same
so inputs need to be differentiated

Question 6

feature detectors

Answer 6

neurons that respond best to a specific stimulus

discovered by Hubel and Wiesel

Question 7

Hubel and Weisel

Answer 7

each neuron in visual area of cortex responses to a specific type of stimulation

different type of stimulus cause different neurons in cats visual cortex to fire

multiple feature detectors represent different aspects of objects

Question 8

synapse

Answer 8

space between axon of one neuron and dendrite of antoher

action potential reaches end of axon, synaptic vesicles open and release neurotransmitters
synaptic transmission is biochemical

Question 9

neurotransmitters

Answer 9

chemicals that affect the electrical signal of the receiving neuron, cross the synapse and bind with receiving dendrites

Question 10

hierarchical processing

Answer 10

progression from lower to higher areas of the brain

neurons respond to simple stimuli and send their icons to higher levels which respond to more complex stimuli

sent to higher levels where signals combine and interact to respond

when we perceive language, we do so in a specific order that moves from lower to higher areas of the brain
eg spoken language comprehension

Question 11

sensory coding

Answer 11

how neurons represent various characteristics of the environment

specificity coding
population coding
sparse coding

Question 12

specificity coding

Answer 12

representation of a stimulus by the firing of specifically tuned neurons specialised to respond to only a specific stimulus

Question 13

population coding

Answer 13

representation of a stimulus by the pattern of firing of many neurons

Question 14

sparse coding

Answer 14

representation of a stimulus by a pattern of firing of only a small group of neurons, with most neurons remaining silent

Question 15

localisation of function

Answer 15

specific functions served by specific areas of the brain

most cognitive functions served by cerebral cortex
cognitive function declines in specific ways when specific areas are damaged

Question 16

double dissociation

Answer 16

when damage to one part causes loss of function A but not B
damage to another areas causes function B to be absent but function A is present

Question 17

frontal lobe

Answer 17

movement
executive functions
memory
central sulcus

coordination of information received from senses

Question 18

temporal lobe

Answer 18

hearing
language and visual processing
memory

perceives hearing, taste and smell

Question 19

occipital lobe

Answer 19

visual processing

perceives vision

Question 20

parietal lobe

Answer 20

somatosensory processing
attention

perceives touch, temperature and pain

Question 21

Broca’s area

Answer 21

frontal lobe

language production

Question 22

Wernicke’s area

Answer 22

temporal lobe

language comprehension