exam Flashcards
1
Q
biological rhythms
A
regular fluctuations in any living process
2
Q
circadian rhythms
A
the physical, mental, and behavioral changes an organism experiences over a 24-hour cycle
3
Q
ultradian rhythms
A
biological rhythms shorter than a day
varys several minutes to hours long
4
Q
infradian rhythms
A
biological rhythms that take more than a day because they repeat less than once per day
example: 28 day human menstrual cycle
5
Q
human and many other primates are __
A
diurnal - active during the day
6
Q
the free-running period
A
the time between two similar points of successive cycles
example: sunset to sunset
7
Q
every animal has its own:
A
endogenous clock; periods vary from one individual to another
8
Q
phase shift
A
the shift of activity produced by a synchronizing stimulus
9
Q
zeitgeber
A
any cue that an animal uses to synchronize its activity with the enviornment
10
Q
light acts as a powerful:
A
zeitgeber
11
Q
large lesions of the hypothalamus interfered with:
A
circadian rhythms
specifically legions in SCN - suprachiasmatic nucleus
12
Q
SCN contains an __
A
endogenous clock, and generates a circadian rhythm
13
Q
tau mutation
A
mutation affecting the endogenous clock
within the SCN itself there must be a mechanisim that can drive a circadian rhythm in activity, this biological clock is affected by mutation of the gene tau
14
Q
in mammals, light information from the eyes reaches the
A
SCN directly
15
Q
retinal ganglion cells contain a special photopigment called
A
melanopsin, makes them sensitive to light
16
Q
people who are blind often show
A
a free-running circadian rhythm, with difficulties getting to sleep at night and staying awake during the day
17
Q
do people on western or eastern side go to bed later?
A
western side go to bed later, because the sun sets later on the western side of time zone compared to the east
18
Q
students attending highschools that start after 8:30 am demonstrated:
A
improved academic preformance, less sleeping in class, reduced incidence of depression, 70% fewer car crashes
19
Q
Clock and Cycle Proteins (the molecular clock process)
A
bind together to form a dimer
dimer binds to DNA, enhancing transcription of genes fore Period and Crytochrome
Per and Cry bind together as a complex that inhibits activity of the Clock Cycle dimer, slowing transcription of per and cry genes, and therefore slowing production of the per and cry proteins
the per and cry proteins break down, releasing clock/cycle from inhibition and allowing the cycle to start over again. The rate of gene transcription, protein complex formation, and protein degradation result in a cycle that takes about 24 hours to complete
retinal ganglion cells detect light with melanopsin, and their axons in the retinohypothalamic tract release glutamate onto neurons in the SCN, the glutamate stimulations leads to increase transcription of the per gene, synchronizing the molecular clock to the day-night cycle
20
Q
two classes of sleep
A
Rem and non-rem
21
Q
fully awake brain eeg activity
A
low amplitude waves and fast frequencies, 15-20 hz, this pattern is sometimes referred as beta activity or a desynchronized EEG
22
Q
when relaxed and eyes closed eeg shows:
A
regular oscillation at a frequency of 8-12 hz, known as alpha rhythm
23
Q
stage 1 sleep
A
drowsiness causes time spent in alpha rhythm decreases, and eeg shows waves of smaller amplitude and irregular frequency, as well as sharp waves called vertex spikes
this is the beginning on non-rem sleep and is accompanied by slower heart rate and relaxation, under the eyelids the eyes may roll about slowly. lasts about several minutes and gives way to stage 2
24
Q
stage 2 sleep
A
12-14 hz waves, called sleep spindles that occur in periodic burst, by K complexes. If awakened during these first 2 stages of sleep, many people deny that they have been asleep
25
stage 3 sleep
large amplitude very slow waves called delta waves, gives the name Slow Wave Sleep (SWS)
as night progresses delta waves become more prominent.
26
rem sleep
after SWS stage with a brief return to stage 2, REM occurs. EEG displays small amplitude high frequency, similar patterns to someone awake, except the eyes are darting rapidly about under their lids.
other skeletal muscles show atonia during this cycle - flacid muscle state
27
another name for rem is
paradoxical sleep, as the muscles are unresponsive but our brain waves look awake
28
half of the time people are asleep they are in stage
2, rem sleep accounts for 20% of total sleep
29
human sleep shows repeating cycles
90-110 minutes long, recurring four or 5 times a night, reflecting a basic ultradian rest-activity cycle.
30
stage 3 is most prominent in the
early night, and then tapers off as the night goes on
31
rem sleep is more prominent in the
later cycles of sleep
32
the first REM period is the
shortest, which the last REM period before waking may be 40 minutes. Brief arousal occasionally occur after a rem period, and a sleeper may shift posture at this time
33
Properties of REM sleep
variable heat rate and respiration, brain temp increase, brain blood flow increased, muscles are not tense, eye movements rapid, vivid dreams, low growth hormone secretion, increased firing rates in cerebral cortex
34
non-rem sleep properties
decline heart rate and respiration, decreased brain temp, reduced blood flow in cerebral, reduced tension, normal reflexes, twitching reduced, slow eye movement, vague thoughts, high in SWS, many cells reduced in cerebral cortex activity
35
night terror
sudden arousal from stage 3 SWS marked by intense fear and autonomic activation
36
activation synthesis theory
experiences in REM sleep are the more or less random results of which neurons happen to get activated. the brain strings together these disparate activated elements into a more or less coherent story.
37
unilateral sleep
one hemisphere sleeping while other watches for predator - seen in birds and dolphins
38
human infants can move directly from
an awake state to rem sleeps, rem sleep of infants is quite active, suggests the state provides stimulation to essential maturation of the nervous system
39
by 90, stage 3 of sleep has
disappeared
may be related to diminished cognitive functioning
40
sustained sleep deprivation causes rats to
die, within an average of 19 days
41
fatal familial insomina
people with mad cow disease, will eventually stop sleeping, and die 7-24 months after insomnia begins
autopsy reveals degeneration of cerebral cortex and thalamus
42
biological function of sleep
energy conservation, niche adaption, body and brain restoration, memory consolidation
43
ecological niche
unique assortment of enviornmental opportunities and challenges to which each organism is adapted, these adaption causes species to become better at gathering food at either night or daytime
nocturnal mice, adapt at sneaking around in dark to avoid predators
44
forebrain generates
slow wave sleep SWS, the forebrain alone can generate this without contributions from the lower brain regions, appears to be generated by basal forebrain releasing gaba into tuberomammillary nucleus in hypothalamus
lesions of basal forebrain causes insomnia, where electrical stimulation caused sleepiness
45
four interacting neural systems that underlie sleep
1. forebrain generates SWS
2. brainstem activates sleeping forebrain into wakefulness
3. pontine system triggers REM
4. hypothalamic system coordinates other 3 brain regions to determine which state were in
46
narcolepsy
frequent intense attack of sleep that last 5-30 minutes
show rem immediately upon following asleep
47
cataplexy
people with narcolepsy also show, a sudden loss of muscle tone leading to the collapse of the body without the loss of consciousness
48
mutant gene responsible for narcoletpic mammals
gene for a neuropeptide called orexin, mice with orexin gene knocked out display narcolepsy
rats can be made narcoleptic if injected with toxin that destroys neurons possessing orexin receptors, the narcoletpic dogs start losing orexin neurons at the age when symptoms of narcolepsy appear
49
humans with narcolepsy have lost ___ of orexin neurons
90%
orexin prevents the transition from wakefulness directly into rem
50
orexin is found exclusively in
hypothalamus
axons go to basal forebrain, reticular formation and locus coreulus
neurons of orexin project also into hypothalamic tuberomammillary nucleus
51
treatment of narcolepsy
use of amphetamines in the daytime\\drug GHB helps narcoleptics
52
one hypothesis of sleep paralysis
results when the pontine center continues to impose paralysis for a short while after a person awakes from a REM episode
53
sleep enuresis
bed wetting, associated with SWS
54
somnambulism
sleep walking, occur during stage 3 SWS, more common in first half of night
55
rem behaviour disorder
people appear to be acting out a dream, occurs after the age of 50, more common in men than women
RBD onset is followed by parkinsons disease and dementia
56
sleep onset insomnia
difficulty falling asleep
57
sleep maintenance insomnia
trouble remaining asleep
58
sleep state misperception
they are sleeping without knowing it
59
sleep apnea
progressive relaxation of muscles of the chest, diaphragm, and throat cavity, or from changes in the pacemaker respiratory neurons of the brainstem
relaxation of the throat obstructs the airway, a kind of self-choking
60
sudden infant death syndrome
arises from sleep apnea as a result of immature systems that normally control respiration
61
emotion
subjective mental state accompanied by distinctive cognition, behaviours and physiological changes
62
James-Lange theory
physical changes in the body happen first, which then leads to the experience of emotion
63
Cannon-Bard Theory
it is the brains job to decide which particular emotion is an appropriate response to the stimuli
64
program fear
the emotion of fear shifts our perception, attention, cognition and action to focus on avoiding danger and seeking safety
65
eight basic emotions grouped in four pairs of opposites
joy/sadness
affection/disgust
anger/fear
expectation/suprise
66
superficial facial muscles
attach only between different points of facial skin, so when they contract, they change the shape of the mouth, eyes or nose or maybe create a dimple
67
deep facial muscles
attach to bone and produce larger-scale movements, like chewing
68
facial muscles innervated by
facial nerve VII innervates facial expression
motor branch of trigeminal nerve V innervates muscles that move jaw
69
facial feedback hypothesis
sensory feedback from our facial expressions can affect our mood, consistent with the james-lange notion that sensations from our body inform us about our emotions
70
brain self stimulation
people recieving electrical stimulation in the septum feel a sense of pleasure or warmth, or sometimes sexual excitement
71
cerbral cortex normally
inhibits rage responses
72
release of dopamine into the nucleus accumbens responsible for
pleasurable feelings
73
kluver bucy syndrome
a rare neuropsychiatric disorder due to lesions affecting bilateral temporal lobes, especially the hippocampus and amygdala. It is characterized by hyperorality, hypermetamorphosis, hypersexuality, bulimia, placidity, visual agnosia, and amnesia.
74
alexithymia
impairments in emotional awareness associated with dysfunction of insula
75
activity in cingluate cortex is altered in
sadness, happiness, and anger
76
left somatosensory cortex is deactivated in
both anger and fear
77
intermale aggression
agression between males of same species
males are 5 times more likely to be charged with murder in US
75% of assault arrests were male, 90% of murder were male
78
hormone tesosterone causes
intermale aggression, androgens clearly seem to increase aggression
treating castrated males with testosterone restores fighting behaviour
treating adult volunteers with extra testosterone wont increase aggresion
79
aggressive behaviour is modulated by brain activity associated with
GABA, vasopresin, and serotonin
most aggressive monkeys had the lowest levels of serotonin being released in the brain
serotonin inhibits aggression
drugs enhance GABA generally reduce aggression, paradoxically, alcohol seems to provoke aggression even though it enhances GABA
80
medial amygdala
analyzes smell information, allowing rats to distinguish between male rivals and females to be courted, this information is relayed to ventromedial hypothalamus, which serves as a trigger to aggressive behaviour
81
activation of VMH neruons can cause
males to be mating with females to suddenly attack them, inhibiting VMH reduces the likelihood of attack
82
maternal aggression
controlled by circuits in VMH, as well as preoptic area and pre mammillary nucleus and a serotonergic projection originating from the midbrain
83
psychopaths have reductions in
size and activity of prefrontal cortex, which may impair their ability to control impulsive behaviours
treatment that enhance serotonin activity in the brain might be useful adjunct to psychotherapeutic intervention
84
stress immunization
little stress early in life seemed to make animals more resilient to later stress
this only benefits when pups are promptly comforted after each stressful event
rat pups who had good moms had less likely of developing mood disorder, and rat pups who had bad moms lead to development of mood disorder
85
epigenetic regulation
represents a change in the ecpresison of the gene, rather than a change in the encoding region of the gene - occurs due to environmental factors
86
effects of bullying were are strong as
those of physical or sexual abuse
87
positive symptoms schizophrenia
abnormal behavioural states that have been gained; hallucinations, delusions, etc
88
negative symptoms schizophrenia
loss of normal functions such as slow and impoverished thought and speech, emotional and social withdrawal or blunted affect
89
twin studies show schizophrenia has
both environmental and genetic origins
50% chance the other twin will develop schizophrenia
90
DISC1
gene in one large scottish family of which had several schizophrenic members, carried a mutant disabled version of DISC1
91
epigenetic schizophrenic risks
paternal age, children fathered by older men have a greater risk of developing schizophrenia
sperm of older men had more opportunity to accumulate mutations possibly
92
people living in a big city are more likely to
develop schizophrenia, 1 and a half times more likely, possibly due to the stress of many social interactions
93
paternal stress increases the
likelihood of the baby developing schizophrenia
94
adolescents with schizophrenia lose ____
gray matter over wide regions at a faster rate compared to control adolescents
95
schizophrenics have enlarged
cerebral ventricles
96
when DISC1 was inserted into mice they saw
development of enlarged lateral ventricles
97
hypofrontality hypothesis
frontal lobes are underactive in people with schizophrenia
98
what replaced the lobotomy as a treatment of schizophrenia
chlorpromazine, reduces positive symptoms
99
long term effects of antipsychotics
dyskinesia, tardive dyskinesia
basically elaborate uncontrollable movements
if discontinuation of drugs, hypersensitivity psychosis can occur, marking an increase in positive symptoms
100
dopamine hypothesis
people with schizophrenia have an excess of either dopamine release or dopamine receptors
antipsychotics block D2 receptors
101
amphetamine psychosis
high doeses of amphetamine can cause excess dopamine to accumulate in synapses, resulting in amphetamine psychosis which is reversed by anti schizophrenic medication
102
first-generation antipsychotics
d2 receptor antagonists
haloperidol has a greater affinity for d2 receptors than chlorpromazine and is more widely used now
103
second generation antipsychotics
have only moderate affinity for D2 receptors
they have their highest affinity for blocking serotonin receptors
104
why are second generation antipsychotics effective?
clozapine can increase dopamine release in frontal cortex, good for relieving negative symptoms in addition to positive symptoms relieved by first generation antipsychotics
several studies show that giving people 2 types of drugs shows no difference
105
glutamate hypothesis
schizophrenia results in underactivation of glutamate receptors, which might account for reduced activity in frontal cortex
106
depressive disorders are
highly heritable, concordance rate for identical twins is 40%
107
depressed peoples brains show
increased amygdala activation, increased frontal lobe activity, decreased activity in parietal and posterior temporal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex
also have thinner cortex across large areas of the right hemisphere, also difficulties regulating stress hormone release
many studies show hippocampal volume reduction, and reduced activation of this region during memory tasks
108
treatments
ECT, rTMS, MAO, SSRIs, tricyclics, CBT
CBT and SSRI together are more effective in combating depression than either one is alone
109
why do more females than males develop depression
help-seeking behaviour is greater in women, could be because of differences in endocrine physiology
110
people with depression and sleep
depressed people have irregular sleep patterns, and shown to enter REM much sooner after sleep onset, reduction in stage 3 sleep and an increase in stage 1 and 2
111
People with BPD exhibit enlarged
ventricles, as seen in schizophrenia, more manic episodes the person has experienced, the greater the ventricular enlargment, suggesting worsening of brain loss overtime
112
BPD has more in common with:
schizophrenia than depression
113
BPD individuals benefit from taking
lithium
114
people who experience recurrent panic attacks have
temporal lobe abnormalities, specifically in left hemisphere, also changes in the amygdala
115
anxiolytic benzodiazepines
things like xanax and valium, combat anxiety, and are termed anxiolytics
anxiolytic benzodiazepines interact with binding sites of GABA receptors, where they act as noncompetitive agonists, causing a boost in GABA mediated postsynaptic inhibition and reduces the excitability of postsynaptic neurons
116
Buspirone
agonist of Serotonin receptors that provides relief of anxiety
117
PTSD memory disturbances are because of
smaller volume of right hippocampus, could also be due to inflammatories contributing to neural degeneration
118
fear conditioning
sensitization and extinction work
119
ptsd exhibits a paradoxical
long term reduction in cortisol levels, due to persistent increases in sensitivity to cortisol
120
OCD shows best response to
CBT, and SSRI's
121
people with Tourettes also exhibit
ADHD or OCD
122
Tourettes has a greater density of
D2 receptors in caudate nucleus of basal ganglia
123
treatment of tourettes
haloperiodol, a d2 receptor antagonist, a first generation antipsychotic reducing tic frequency, but it has unpleasant side effects compared to second-generation antipsychotics that also show good response
DBS also benefits people with tourettes
124
amnesia
severe impairment of memory, usually as a result of accident or disease
125
retrograde amnesia
loss of memories that formed prior to an event, such as surgery or trauma
126
anterograde amnesia
inability to form new memories after an event (surgery or trauma)
127
memory deficit seems to be caused y
loss of medial temporal love including hippocampus
128
declarative memory
facts and information acquired through learning
type of memory we use to answer "what" questions
things you know that you can tell others
129
nondeclarative learning
shown by performance rather than conscious recollection, such as riding a bike
type of memory we use for "how" problems and is often nonverbal
things you know that you can show by doing
130
delayed non-matching-to-sample task
a test of object recognition that requires monkeys to declare what they remember by identifying which two objects was NOT seen previously. Monkeys with damage to medial lobe are severely impaired on this task
131
which brain structures are important for declarative memory
damage to both the hippocampus and nearby cortex
132
damage to _______ can also cause amnesia
medial diencephalon, a limbic structure that has connections with dorsomedial thalamus and mammillary bodies
133
Korsakoffs syndrome
degenerative disease in which damage is found to mammillary bodies and dorsomedial thalamus
people with this fail to recognize or sense any familiarity with some items, yet frequently deny anything is wrong. They often confabulate, that is, to fill a gap in memory with falsification that they seem to accept is true.
Damage to frontal cortex is also found in this disease, probably causes the denial and confabulation
main cause is lack of vitamin thiamine, alcoholics suffer this deficiency, treating them with thiamine will prevent further deterioration of memory but not reverse dmaage already done
134
Hippocampus, mammillary bodies and dorsomedial thalamus is needed to __-
form new declarative memories
135
episodic memory
a declarative memory that you show episodic memory when you recall a specific episode in your life or relate an event to a particular time and place
136
semantic memory
a generalized declarative memory, such as knowing the meaning of a word without knowing where or when you learned the word
137
The inability to recall autobiographical details of life may be due to
injuries to the frontal and parietal cortex.
138
skill learning
learning how to preform a task by doing it over and over
139
all three types of skill learning
sensorimotor, perceptual and cognitive skills all are impaired with damage to basal ganglia, cerebellum and motor cortex
140
priming
is a change in the way you process a stimulus
priming does not require declarative memory, and is not impaired by damage to basal ganglia
141
perceptual priming
this priming is related to reduced activity in bilateral occipitotemporal cortex
142
conceptual priming
associated with reduced activation of left frontal cortex
143
associative learning
learning that involves relations between two events
best studied form is classical conditioning
144
Bell in pavlov is
conditioned stimulus
145
salivation is the
unconditioned response
146
the learned response to the conditioned stimulus (bell alone) is
conditioned response
147
instrumental conditioning
association is formed between animals behaviour and the consequences of the behaviour
example - skinner box, animals learned by pressing bar they would get reward
148
place cells
rat hippocampus contains these neurons that selectively encode spatial location
place cell activity indicates that the hippocampus remaps to new locations
149
natural selection favours enlargement of
hippocampus to enhance spatial learning
150
sensory buffers
briefest memories
151
working memory
refers to the ability to actively manipulate information in your short term memory, perhaps retrieving information from long term memory to solve a problem or make us of information
considered subset of short term memory where info can be analyzed and manipulated
152
memory system and the three processes
encoding of raw information from sensory channels into STM
consolidation of the STM into more durable LTM
retrieval of the stored information from LTM to use in working memory
153
some strategies to prevent PTSD formation
block the effects of epinephrine in the amygdala by treating victims with antiadrenergic drugs shortly after trauma
154
medial lobe and STM and LTM
medial love is not needed to encode sensory information into STM, or to retrieve information from STM BUT it is crucial to moving memories to STM to LTM
155
environmental enrichment in rats shows
EC animals have heavier thicker cortex in the somatosensory and visual cortical areas, enhanced cholinergic activity, more dendritic branches, larger cortical synpases, more neurons in hippocampus, enhanced brain recovery from brain damage
156
habituation
nonassociative learning, a decreased response to a stimulus as its being repeated
157
long term habituation
reduction in number of synapses between sensory cell and the motor neuron
158
cerebellar circuit is necessary for
eyeblink conditioning, and simple conditioning in humans
159
hebbian synapses
when pre and postsynaptic neuron are repeatedly activated together, the synaptic connection between them would become stronger and more stable
"cells that fire together wire together"
these hebbian synapses could act together to store memory traces
160
tetanus
brief high frequency burst of electrical stimuli
161
long term potentiation
long-lasting enhancement of synaptic transmision, synapses become stronger and more effective
162
NDMA receptor and LTP
drugs that block this receptor completely prevents new LTP, but does not effect synaptic changes that have already been established
163
EPSP is mediated by
AMPA receptors by release of glutamate at the synapse
164
retrograde transmitter
a diffusible gas that travels back across the synapse to alter the functioning of presynaptic neuron
induces the presynaptic terminal to release more glutamate than previously, thereby strengthening the synpase
LTP involved active changes on both sides of synpase
165
mice engineered to overexpress NMDA receptors in hippocampus have
enhanced LTP and better than normal long term memory
166
vigilance
global level of alertness of the indivudal
167
overt attention
direct our eyes and attention to the same target
168
cocktail party effect
how attention acts to focus cognitive processing resources on a particular target, if your attention drifts to another stimulus -for example if you start to listen to another conversation-it becomes almost impossible to simultaneously follow what your friend is saying
169
dichotic presentation
different streams of speech simultaneously to peoples left and right ears via headphones, participants were able to report what they heard in the attended ear, but reported very little about what they heard on nonattended ear - this is referred to SHADOWING
170
attentional spotlight
shifting around the enviornment, highlighting stimuli for enhanced processing
171
perceptual load
immediate processing demands presented by a stimulus
when we focus on a complex stimulus, the load on our perceptual processing resources is so great that there is nothing left over
when we focus on easy stimuli, we may have enough perceptual resources left over to process additional stimuli
we only have enough of it to do one complex task at a time, or a few very simple ones
172
people use cues to predict
stimulus location, shifting attention without shifting gaze
173
Reactions times and brain process
neural processing required between input and output require V1, to PFC, then through premotor and primary motor cortex down to the spinal motor neurons and out the finger muscles
174
reflective attention
involuntary reorientation towards a sudden or important event, like when a glass breaks in a restaurant
bottom-up process, because attention is being seized by sensory inputs from lower levels of the nervous system, rather than being directed by voluntary, top-down processes of the forebrain
175
visual search
systematically scanning the world to locate a specific object among many
176
conjunction search
searching for an item on the basis of a combination of two or more features, such as size and colour
can become difficult, if for example, you are looking for your friend in a large crowd, the bigger the crowd is the harder the task becomes
177
temporal resolution
ability to track changes in the brain that occur quickly
178
spatial resolution
ability to observe the detailed structure
179
where waldo is an example of
conjunction searches
180
ERP
event related protential tracks regional changes in brain activity much faster than fMRI does, and is great in studying moment-to-moment consequences of attention in the brain
181
auditory N1 effect
selective attention enhances processing of a particular sound
182
P3 effect
sensitive to higher-order cognitive processing of the stimulus qualities like the underlying meaning of the stimulus, identifying the speaker, and so on, which the P3 effect provides an example of late-selection effect on attention
183
visual P1 affect
thought to reflect the initial sensory and attentional processing of a stimulus by specific areas of the cerebral cortex.
184
enhancement in the cortical fusiform face are is seen
during attention to faces, or in the subcortical superior colliculus and lateral geniculate during attention to spatial arrays
185
superior colliculus
controlling the movement of the eyes toward objects of attention, especially in overt forms of attention
lesions here show reduced inhibition of return for visual stimuli
superior colliculus helps direct our gaze to attended objects
186
pulvinar
heavily involved in visual processing
important in orienting and shifting attention, important for filtering out to ignore distracting stimuli while engaged in covert attention tasks
tasks with large numbers of distracted induce greater activation of pulvinar
187
dorsal frontoparietal and right temporoparietal
work together to continually select and shift between objects of interest
188
lateral intraparietal area
crucial for voluntary attention
189
Frontal eye field
damage to this region causes struggle to prevent their gaze from being drawn away toward peripheral distracted while they're preforming a voluntary attention task
neurons of the FEF are crucial for ensuring our gaze is directed among stimuli according to cognitive goals rather than eye catching characteristics of the stimuli
190
temporoparietal junction
involved in reflexive steering of attention toward novel or unexpected stimuli
acts as alerting signal
191
dorsal stream of processing
responsible for voluntary attention, enhancing neural processing of stimuli and interacting with the pulvinar and superior colliculus to steer attentional spotlight around
192
Hemispartial neglect
attention syndrome in which the person tends to completely disregard the left side of the world, disorder of attention itself, not spatial relationships
193
balint syndrome
biparietal damage, oculomotor apraxia, optic ataxia, and shows profound restriction of attention (simultagnosia)
194
simultagnosia
extreme narrowing of attentional spotlight, to the point that it cant encompass more than one object at a time
195
claustrum
slender sheet of neurons buried within white matter of forebrain lateral to basal ganglia which plays a role in generating the experience of being conscious
196
scientists call unconscious brain functions
cognitively impenetrable
197
easy problem of consciousness
understanding how particular patterns of neural activity specific conscious experiences
198
hard problem of consciousness
The problem of explaining the connection between the phenomena of subjective reality and brain processes
199
qualia
subjective experiences of perceptions
200
prefrontal cortex is main source of
goal-driven behaviours
201
executive function involves
task switching, updating of cognitive plan based on new information, inhibition of responses that would compromise the plan
202
hierarchial cognitive control
ability to direct short term actions while simultaneously keeping longer term goals in mind
203
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
associated with executive control and crucial for working memory and task switching
204
obitofrontal cortex
crucial for goal directed behaviours
205
ventromedial prefrontal cortex
valuation system, that ranks choices on the basis of their perceived worth. and potential reward
206
choice system
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and parietal regions - sifts through evaluated alternatives and produces the conscious decision
207
when people are uncertain
prefrontal cortex becomes active, and dorsal cingulate cortex may imrpove decisions by delaying action until full procesing
208
activity of the amygdala increases when
people have made wrong, costly choice, also increases in obitofrontal aspect of prefrontal cortex, probably reflecting the perception of diminished reward and increasing aversion to loss
209
tachistoscope test
pit the two hemispheres against eachother using a device that presents visual stumli to the left or right half of the visual field
if stimulus exposure lasts less than 150 ms, input is restricted on one hemisphere because there is not enough time for the eyes to shift their direction
in humans, processing may involve transmission of information through corpus callosum to other hemisphere
210
comunication involves
left hemisphere specilazation
211
perception of music is shown in
right hemisphere, but in advanced musiciansm it appears to strongly rely on left hemisphere and enhanced connectivity between left and right planum temporal
212
prosody
perception of emotional tone of voice, and is seen as a right hemisphere specialization
213
Phonemes
basic speech sounds
214
Morphemes
simple units of meaning, assembled into words with meaning → semantics
un-, fathom, and -able all adds up to one meaning: unfathomable
215
aphasia
impairment in language ability, to varying degrees, caused by brain injury, especially to the left hemisphere
Patients with aphasia also exhibit:
Agraphia → impairment in writing
Alexia → impairment in reading
Apraxia → motor impairment; difficult in making sequences of movements
216
paraphasia
substitution of a word by a sound, incorrect word, or unintended word
217
Broca’s area
region of the left inferior frontal region involved in speech production
Anterior lesions that include Broca’s area produce nonfluent (or Broca’s) aphasia -- Difficulty in producing speech, but not in comprehension
Many people with nonfluent aphasia also have hemiplegia → paralysis of one side of the body, usually the right side
218
Wernicke’s area
Damage to the left posterior speech zone causes fluent (or Wernicke's) aphasia
region of the left posterior temporoparietal cortex involved in perception and production of speech
Wernicke’s aphasia:
Fluent, meaningless speech accompanied by many paraphasias and minimal language comprehension
Impaired ability to repeat words or phrases
cant comprehend language but fluent in speech
May also include anomia, word deafness, and/or word blindness
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global aphasia
total loss of the ability to understand or produce language
Results from widespread left-hemisphere lesions, affecting all speech zones
The prognosis for language recovery is poor, and this aphasia is often accompanied by other neurological impairments
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The connectionist model of aphasia
Also known as the Wernicke-Geschwind model says deficits result from disconnection between brain regions in the language network
Wernicke’s area decode sounds and transmits information to Broca’s area via the arcuate fasciculus
Broca’s area sends a speech plan to adjacent motor cortex to produce speech
Lesions that disrupt connections produce conduction aphasia → an impairment in the repetition of words and sentences
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The motor theory of language
Proposes that anterior and posterior left-hemisphere language zones originally evolved as specializations for programming and executing complex movements
The systems are involved in both production and perception of complex motions that produce speech
Users of sign language employ the same neural mechanisms speakers do, and following comparable brain injury, they exhibit the comparable aphasias
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PET scans reveal different brain region activation patterns for each level of processing words:
Passively viewing → posterior area within the left hemisphere
Passively hearing → temporal lobes
Repeating word → motor and supplementary motor cortex, some of the cerebellum
Generating associated word → language related regions of the left hemisphere, including Broca’s areas
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Language development depends on exposure during a
sensitive period (critical period)
After this period, langage can be learned, but more effort is required and different brain regions are used
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FOXP2 gene
important for the normal acquisition for human language
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Non-primate species display vocalizations to:
Signal danger
Readiness to mate
Emotional state, etc.
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Mice with FOXP2 mutations have impaired
ultrasonic vocalizations
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Bird vocalizations range from simple sounds to
complex songs
Complex vocalizations are critical for reproductive behaviours
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Subsong
Human babbling
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Plastic song
Species specific notes and song elements, but not yet fully formed song production
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Crystalized song
A fully developed species-specific song that it similar to a tutor (demonstrator)
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Parallels between birds and humans:
Specialized neural system for vocal behaviour
Distinct phases of song production including critical period for learning songs
Requires exposure form parents or tutors to develop properly
Blocked FOXP2 expression produces errors, as in humans
Different dialects of birdsong exist even within the same species
Birdsong changes over time
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williams syndrome
caused by deletion of 28 genes from chromosome 7, causes various intellectual deficits but excellent verbal skills
possession of extra copies rather deletions produces syndrome of very poor expressive language
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deep dyslexia
errors related to meanings od words
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aquired dyslexia
result of injury usually to left hemisphere
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surface dyslexia
have difficulties restricted to the details and sounds of letters
doesn't occur in native speakers of languages that are perfectly phonetic (Italian, where every letter is pronounced)
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people with hemispatial neglect following right parietal lobe damage
disregard the left halves of the words they see despite having normal vision
