History

Question 1

Definition of Cognitive Neuroscience

Answer 1

Scientific study of biological mechanisms underlying cognition.

Investigates the neural substrates of mental processes and associated behaviors.

Asks how are psychological/cognitive functions produced by neural circuitry?

Question 2

The Cognitive Neuroscience Triangle

Answer 2

Computation

Brain

Behavior

Question 3

Major Neuroscience Journals

Answer 3

Brain: 1878

Journal of experimental psychology: 1916

Question 4

Major Cognitive Neuroscience Journals

Answer 4

Cognitive Brain Research: 1992

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience: 1988

Brain and Cognition: 1982

Question 5

What do Fechner, Helmholtz and Wundt all have in common?

Answer 5

Connected perception to physical properties of stimuli – psychophysics.

Relied heavily on reports of participants about their observations, perceptions and experiences – empiricism.

Question 6

What big text did Wundt publish and when?

Answer 6

Wundt Published principles of physiological psychology in 1874.

Established the first experimental psychology laboratory in Leipzig Germany in 1879.

Question 7

What do Pavlov, Thorndike, and Skinner have in common?

Answer 7

Behaviorists

Question 8

Limitations of behaviorism

Answer 8

Study of behavior is limited to observable processes related to stimulus and response.

Could not study the intervening mental processes because they were not observable.

Question 9

When did behaviorism become dominant?

Answer 9

Dominant from early to mid 1900’s by familiar scientists such as Pavlov, Thorndike, Skinner

Question 10

Cognitive revolution

Answer 10

New ideas emerging in the 1950’s challenged the view of behaviorism.

It was possible to study and understand cognitive processes.

Computers and artificial intelligence allowed for simulation of mental processes.

Biological psychology allowed for direct measure of mental process

Noam Chomsky’s view of language (and review of B.F. Skinners book on language) further contributed - There are things that no amount of learning can teach

Question 11

Information theory

Answer 11

Inspired concepts in cognitive revolution

Gave us the “bit” as a fundamental measure of information.

Applied to human brain function to understand:
Limits of neural signalling
Nature of neural codes
Brain as a communications network.

Question 12

Who invented information theory?

Answer 12

Developed by Claude Shannon in 1948 at Bell Labs to quantify amount of information a system can carry.

Question 13

Drawbacks of brain as a computer

Answer 13

Comparison is too simplistic and most have abandoned it.

There is not distinction between hardware and software in the brain.

Neurons are non-linear, plastic and incredibly complex.
The brain is self organizing.

Brains are embodied.

Question 14

Process Models

Answer 14

Consider cognitive function as a series of discrete mental processes.

Devise behavioral measures to test hypothesis about processes.

Mental process can be inferred from behavioral measures.

Reaction time is a common and popular measure.

Question 15

Mental chronometry

Answer 15

The time it takes to make a response to a stimulus or instruction provides insight into the underlying mental processes.

Question 16

Memory paradigm

Answer 16

Participants are presented with a set of letters to remember – memory set

Then presented with a probe letter - probe

Must indicate as quickly as possible if letter is in the memory set (positive) or not (negative).

Use reaction time to the probes to test the process model.

Hypothesize that reaction time increases with the number of items in memory set.

Question 17

What do simple models of brain function assume

Answer 17

Assumes linear and sequential processing of information by independent stages.

Question 18

Franz Joseph Gall

Answer 18

(Early 1800’s)

Phrenology: Cortical localization of function

Question 19

Jean Pierre Flourens

Answer 19

(1825)

Aggregate Field Theory

Question 20

Paul Broca

Answer 20

(1860)

Localized lesion disrupts specific ability to speak.

Question 21

Gustav Frisch & Eduard Hitzig

Answer 21

(1870s)

Cortical stimulation in dogs generated movement of specific mucles.

Question 22

Korbinian Brodmann

Answer 22

(1909)

Cytoarchitectonics: cellular organization of the cortex.

Question 23

Camillo Golgi & Santiago Ramon Cajal

Answer 23

(late 1800’s)

Neural Doctrine: the neuron is the individual unit of the nervous system.

Question 24

Connectionist Models of Brain Function

Answer 24

Models that more accurately represent brains neural circuitry.

Information is processed in parallel along a number of channels.

Feedforward~feedback and excitatory~ inhibitory connections allow for interaction between different stages of processing.

Processing stages are not independent.

Cognition arises from the interaction of large numbers of broadly distributed neurons.

Question 25

Small world networks in terms of the brain

Answer 25

Brain is organized according to two basic principles:

Functionally segregated brain areas process specialized information.

Complex cognition emerges from the interaction among distinct brain regions

Question 26

Why are small world networks good models?

Answer 26

Model of the brain need to account for the seemingly incompatible notions of segregation and integration.

Small world networks accomplish this task.

Question 27

Generic small world networks

Answer 27

Small world networks are characterized by many short range connections and few long range connections.

Very efficient form of communication.

Minimizes path length

Has low “wiring” costs and therefore uses the least amount of energy and uses the least amount of space.

Question 28

Hubs

Answer 28

nodes that act as central connection points

These hubs provide most of the long range communication in the brain