Frontal Lobe Org and Function

Question 1

What is attention?

Answer 1

Selective awareness of a part of the environment
“mental spotlight”
there are both conscious and unconscious aspects

Question 2

What is consciousness?

Answer 2

Awareness at primary level (awareness of external world)

Awareness of awareness at secondary level (awareness of internal world)

Question 3

What is selective attention?

Answer 3

focusing on a particular stimulus and “filtering out” irrelevant ones
requires varying levels of effort

Question 4

What is divided attention?

Answer 4

allocating our resources (that we have a limited capacity of) among different activities

Question 5

What is shifting attention?

Answer 5

requires disengaging and re-engaging of attentional processes

Question 6

What are the three distinct networks that each represent a different set of attentional processes?

Answer 6

Alerting network (maintains alertness, speeds up reaction times, suppresses other cerebral processing)

Orienting network (orienting to sensory stimulation)

Dual executive network (executive networks direct and monitor performance (thoughts, actions, and emotions))

Question 7

What is inattentional blindness?

Answer 7

Failure to notice something that occurs during the performance of another task

Question 8

What is change blindness?

Answer 8

Failure to detect changes in the presence, identity, or location of objects in scenes

Question 9

What is attentional blink?

Answer 9

Attention to first target prevents awareness of second one, even if it’s conspicuous failure to detect a second stimulus if presented within 500 ms of the first

Question 10

Consciousness requires the integration of what four processes?

Answer 10

Arousal
Perception
Attention
Working Memory

Question 11

Basic functions of the frontal lobe?

Answer 11

Plan behavior
Select relevant activities
Be persistent with a task
Ignore distracting stimuli
Working memory
Executive functions

Question 12

With regard to the asymmetry of frontal-lobe function, what does the LEFT hemisphere contribute?

Answer 12

Language

Encoding memories

Question 13

With regard to the asymmetry of frontal-lobe function, what does the RIGHT hemisphere contribute?

Answer 13

Nonverbal movements, facial expressions

Retrieving memories

Question 14

Name the subdivisions of the frontal lobes and their primary functions

Answer 14

Primary Motor Cortex (M1): elementary movements/ controls movement force and direction

Premotor Cortex and Broca’s area: chooses movement from a movement lexicon, considers behaviors in context

Prefrontal Cortex: contributes to emotional state

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: plays a role in measures of executive functioning

Orbitofrontal Cortex: input from all sensory modalities, reward-pleasure processing, associative learning, social awareness, emotional behavior

Question 15

With regards to imaging and the frontal cortex, what is the default network?

Answer 15

areas of the brain that are active while participants are resting
involved with thinking about one’s past, the future, when one’s mind wanders

Question 16

With regards to imaging and the frontal cortex, what is the salience network?

Answer 16

areas of the brain that are active when a behavioral change is needed
modulate other network’s activities
if not functioning properly, show excess activity

Question 17

Convergent versus divergent thinking.

Which one are frontal lobe lesion patients impaired on?
Which one does more posterior lesions affect?

Answer 17

Convergent: only one answer to the question

Divergent: number and variety of responses to a single question

Frontal lobe patients impaired on divergent thinking
Posterior lesions seem to affect convergent thinking

Question 18

What is poor temporal memory?

Answer 18

poor understanding of timelines
poor prospective memory
poor recent memory (reduced recency effect)

Question 19

What are some disorders that affect the frontal lobe?

Answer 19

Schizophrenia
Parkinson’s Disease
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
Drug addiction

Question 20

Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD)

Behavioral symptoms

Answer 20

hyperoral behaviors
stereotyped/ repetitive behaviors
hyperactive behavior
hypersexual behavior
impulsivity

Question 21

Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD)

Emotional symptoms

Answer 21

apathy or indifference
lack of insight into own behavior
emotional blunting

Question 22

Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD)

Neurological symptoms

Answer 22

"parkinsonism" 
decreased facial expression
slowness of movements
rigidity
postural instability