Lecture 18: Attention and Perception

Question 1

what are the 2 types of attention

Answer 1

selective attention

sustained attention

Question 2

what is selective attention

Answer 2

Focusing attention on one domain above others

Question 3

what is sustained attention

Answer 3

concentrating,

not getting distracted

vigilance

Question 4

Describe the role of attention in perception

Answer 4

we have different types of sensation coming in to our body, and decide to pay attention to some of them

if we can’t perceive things, our brain can’t perceive them

Question 5

what is Brain lateralization

Answer 5

cognitive functions are split up between different regions in each hemisphere

Question 6

how is attention lateralization in the parietal lobe

Answer 6

Attention is lateralized to the right

Question 7

how much attention do the left and right parietal lobes pay attention to

Answer 7

the left hemisphere pays a little attention to the right side

the right hemisphere pays a lot of attention to the left and right sides

for all sensation (touch, sight, etc)

Question 8

why don’t we see attention deficits with left side strokes?

Answer 8

the right side will have the back up to pay attention to the left side

Question 9

what do we see in patients with damage to right posterior parietal cortex

Answer 9

Contralateral neglect

Question 10

what is somatosagnosia

Answer 10

denial of symptoms with contralateral neglect

Question 11

how does attention typically work

Answer 11

Competition between stimulus inputs from each side of space (vision, sensation, sounds)

Question 12

how does the competition for attention change after right MCA stroke

Answer 12

Competition between stimulus inputs from each side of space becomes dominated by the right hemi-field

not paying attention to the left, paying too much attention to the right

Question 13

what is extinction

Answer 13

attention to the left may be somewhat intact in ‘quiet’ environments, but becomes ‘extinguished’ by competing stimulus on the right. This is due to:
* Lack of attention to the left AND * Hyperattention to the right

Question 14

selective attention can be directed to which 5 things

Answer 14

A particular location

Inputs from a specific modality

Specific higher-order aspect of stimulus

A particular object (and multimodal input related to it)

An object, emotion, plan or concept (remembered or imagined)

Question 15

sustained attention can be directed at which 3 things

Answer 15

task

object

modality

Question 16

when reading a neuroscience textbook at a hockey game, what is your selective attention

Answer 16

Look at book, rather than other stimuli in environment

Question 17

when reading a neuroscience textbook at a hockey game, what are the 3 aspects of your sustained attention doing

Answer 17

concentration - continue reading, even if not interested

nondistractibiltiy - able to re-direct attention to task at hand

Vigilance - State of being constantly attentive and responsive to signs of opportunity or danger.

Question 18

what are the 4 key areas and systems for attention

Answer 18

Neuromodulatory Systems

Parietal Association Cortex

Frontal Association Cortex

Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Question 19

what do Neuromodulatory Systems do for attention

Answer 19

Awake, Alert State
Coma > Not awake, Not Alert …Therfore, not ATTENDING

Question 20

what does the Parietal Association Cortex do for attention

Answer 20

Selective attention

Neglect

Question 21

what does the Frontal Association Cortex do for attention

Answer 21

• Sustained and selective attention
• Frontal eye Fields (voluntary saccades)

Question 22

what does the Anterior Cingulate Cortex do for attention

Answer 22

Motivational aspects of attention

• Motivating directed and sustained attention towards interesting stimulus (Easier to attend to money than blank paper)

Question 23

what are the 3 frontal cortex functions

Answer 23

restraint

initiative

order

Question 24

what is restraint

Answer 24

Inhibition of inappropriate behavior.

Question 25

what is initiative

Answer 25

Motivation to pursue positive or productive
activities.

Question 26

what is order

Answer 26

Capacity to correctly perform sequencing tasks & other cognitive operations.

Question 27

what do we see with Damage to frontal cortex

Answer 27

May appear un-remarkable at first because perception, language, memory, and motor abilities are
typically unimpaired

very impulsive, can’t inhibit impulses

Question 28

what deficits dow e see if initiative is affected

Answer 28

Cannot self-initiate tasks
* Deficits with mental flexibility

Question 29

what deficits do we see if order is affected

Answer 29

Decreased insight/awareness of impairments

Deficits with working memory

Deficits with abstraction

Question 30

who is her favourite hockey player

Answer 30

trevor linden