Cognitive Neuroscience

Question 1

What does a PET scan show?

Answer 1

Structural damage to the brain

Question 2

Why are there folds in the brain?

Answer 2

It increases surface area of outer cortex e.g. Grey matter

Question 3

What are axons?

Answer 3

They are the white matter, it’s coated by fat which promotes conductivity which is why it is white

Question 4

What is phrenology?

Answer 4

It is if there are bumps on the head/brain development underneath it reflects your abilities. This was believed in 1758-1828

Question 5

What happens to the brain during a stroke?

Answer 5

Capillary can no longer send nutrients to the brain and there’s a blockage and the capillary dies

Question 6

What is a receptive field?

Answer 6

An area in space that a cell responds to

Question 7

What is an MRI scan?

Answer 7

Magnet aligns protons in brain tissue

• more accurate
• different tissues take different times to realign depending on their densities
• can’t have any metal on your body including tattoos

Question 8

What is a CT scan?

Answer 8

X rays are transmitted through the brain

Question 9

What are ERPs?

Answer 9

Électrodes on scalp surface measure electrical activity generated by the brain
Average over many trials

Question 10

What is an MEG?

Answer 10

Magneto-encephalogram
Electrical currents generate magnetic fields
These magnetic fiends generated by the brain are measured by powerful detectors

Question 11

What is a PET scan?

Answer 11

Positon émission tomography
Blood flows to the parts of the brain that are active
Inject subject with radio active water
Track where blood is flowing
Blood contains oxygen which has magnetic properties

Question 12

What is a fMRI scan?

Answer 12

Blood flows to areas that are active
Blood contains oxygen that has magnetic properties
Magnet measures position of blood with high oxygen
It is expensive
Blood takes a second to take on additional oxygen

Question 13

What is the occipital lobe of the brain for?

Answer 13

Visual processing

Question 14

What is the parietal lobe of the brain for?

Answer 14

Somatosensory processing and spatial (awareness) processing

Question 15

What is the temporal lobe for?

Answer 15

Auditory processing, complex visual processing

Question 16

What is the frontal lobe for?

Answer 16

Motor cortex, prefrontal cortex, planning, thought, executive functions

Question 17

What is a lesion?

Answer 17

It is damage to the brain, different areas affected in each individual, individual differences, damage is “messy”

Question 18

What is a topographic?

Answer 18

Brain area that corresponds to a visual field

Question 19

What is the peripheral nervous system?

Answer 19

It connects the nervous system to the rest of the body and is itself divided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system

Question 20

What is the somatic nervous system?

Answer 20

Conveys information into and out of the central nervous system, controls voluntary muscles

Question 21

What is the autonomic nervous system?

Answer 21

Divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system which complement each other in their effects on the body and controls the body’s organs automatically

Question 22

What is the sympathetic nervous system?

Answer 22

Prepares the body for action in threatening situations

Question 23

What is the parasympathetic nervous system

Answer 23

It returns the body to its normal state after it having to react to a threatening situation

Question 24

What is the central nervous system composed of?

Answer 24

The brain and the signal cord

Question 25

What is the brain split into?

Answer 25

Hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain

Question 26

What does the hindbrain do?

Answer 26

Coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord with structures as the medulla, the reticular information, the cerebellum and the pons

Question 27

What does the midbrain do?

Answer 27

The help of structures such as the tectum and tegmentum, generally coordinates functions such as orientation to the environment and movement and arousal towards sensory stimuli

Question 28

What does the forebrain do?

Answer 28

Coordinates higher level functions such as perceiving, feeling and thinking. Has structured such as the thalamus, hypothalamus, Limbic system (including hippocampus and amygdala) and basal ganglia all of these functions perform a variety of functions related to emotion and motivation.