Hoofdstuk 1

Question 1

Cognition

Answer 1

variety of higher mental processes such as thinking, perceiving, imagining, speaking, acting and planning

Question 2

cognitive neuroscience

Answer 2

bridging discipline between cognitive science and cognitive psychology on the one hand and biology and neuroscience on the other

Question 3

mind-body problem

Answer 3

how can a physical substance give rise to our sensations, thoughts and emotions

Question 4

dualism (René Descartes)

Answer 4

mind is non-physical + immortal, body is physical and mortal..
- Interaction via pineal gland (part of endocrine system)

Question 5

Dual Aspect theory (Spinoza)

Answer 5

mind and brain are two different levels of explanation of the same thing, but not two different kinds of things

Question 6

Reductionism

Answer 6

states that, although cognitive, mind-based concepts (i.e. emotions, memories, attention) are currently useful for scientific exploration, they will eventually be replaced by purely biological constructs (patterns of neuronal firings, neurotransmitter release)

psychology will reduce to biology as we learn more about the brain

Question 7

Reductionists blieve that mind-based concepts and conscious experiences in particular will have th same status as “phlogiston”(oude theorie bij verbranding, gedateerd)

Answer 7

dual aspect theorists will point out that an emotion would still feel like an emotion, even when we fully understand its neural basis, and, as such the usefulness of cognitive, mind-based concepts will never be fully replaced

Question 8

Phrenology

Answer 8

Gall & Spurzheim the failed idea that individual differences in cognition can be mapped onto differences in skull shape (knobbels)

Question 9

Functional Specialization

Answer 9

different regions of the brain are specialized for different functions

Question 10

Broca (1861)

Answer 10

• brain damage impaired the ability to speak
• language = nogt a single entity, but can be divided into speech recognition, speech production and conceptual knowledge (Wernicke)

= huge step forward in terms of thinking about mind and brain
1) empirical observations were being used to determine the building block of cognition, rather than listing them from first principles
2) (related) they were developing models of cognition that did not make direct reference to the brain

• inferring that sppeech recognition and production are separable without knowing where in the brain they’re located

Question 11

Cognitive Neuropsychology

Answer 11

study of brain damaged patients to inform studies of normal cognition

Question 12

a reason for the schism between psychology and biology lies

Answer 12

in the notion that one can develop coherent and testable theories of cognitions that do not make claims about the brain

Question 13

Fodor’s Theory of Modularity

Answer 13

• Fodor makes a distinction between two different classes of cognitive processes –> central systems and modules
• the key difference between them relates to the types of information they can process
• modules are held to demonstrate Domain Specificity (they only process one particular type of information. e.g. colour, shape, words, faces)
• central systems are held to be Domain Independent (type of information is processed is not specific; memory, attention, executive functions)

Question 14

Spatial Resolution

Answer 14

accuracy with which one can measure WHERE an event is occuring

Question 15

Temporall Resolution

Answer 15

Accuracy of measuring WHEN an event occurs

Question 16

Invasiveness

Answer 16

Equipement located internally or externally

Question 17

Cognitive psychology may be sufficient

Answer 17

to tell us the structure of information processing, but it may not answer deeper questions about why information processing should be configured in that particular way. The biologiical restraints imposed by the brain shape the nature and limitations of cognition

Question 18

Functional Imaging and other advances in neuroscience

Answer 18

require the insights from cognitive psychology to frame appropriate questions

Question 19

Connectome

Answer 19

a comprehensive map of neural connections in the brain that may

• aim to map out the pattern of connectivity in the human brain at a macro (millimeter) scale (rather than micro level of synapses)
• project based on MRI techniques that measure structural connectivity (white matter fibers) and functional connectivity (correlated patterns of brain activity between regions)
• understand how these networks support cognitive function

Question 20

Graph Theory

Answer 20

a mathematical technique for computing the pattern of connectivity (or wiring diagram) from a set of correlations

Question 21

The central challenge for cognitive neuroscience for the future

Answer 21

is to develop new ways of describing the relationship between brain structure (notably connectomics) and function (i.e. cognition and behaviour)