Lecture 2

Question 1

Animal models pros and cons

Answer 1

Pros:
-provides info that cannot be obtained in any other way
-some procedures too invasive for humans
Cons:
-lack of generalisability to humans

Question 2

Single cell readings

Answer 2

-invasive method
-measures responsiveness of a neuron to a given stimulus (action potentials per second)
—spikes per second (firing/spiking rate)

Question 3

Brocas asphasia

Answer 3

A deficit in the ability to produce speech as a result of damage to Broca’s area
-damage causes difficulties in comprehending more complex grammar and speech production

Question 4

Wernickes asphasia

Answer 4

Speech production deficit caused by damage to wernickes area
-damage produces meaningless speech and difficulty comprehending language

Question 5

Stroke (ischemic)

Answer 5

Brain is deprived of blood

Question 6

Hemorrhagic stroke

Answer 6

Rupturing of blood vessel

Question 7

Traumatic brain injury

Answer 7

Damage to skull and brain from external forces
-penetrating head injury
—skull is perforated and meninges are torn
-closed head injury
—coup contre coup injuries
—axonal shearings

Question 8

Trends of traumatic brain injury

Answer 8

-Leading cause of disability globally
-more common in babies and males
-for females, most common in reproductive years (due to domestic violence)

Question 9

Concussions

Answer 9

Least severe category of head injuries
-for a long time, effects of consciousness have been minimised
-30% lead to post concussive syndrome (memory loss, nausea, etc)
-most severe in children

Question 10

Other types of brain injuries

Answer 10

-tumors
-viral infections
-neurodegenerative diseases

Question 11

The fractionation assumption

Answer 11

Damage to the brain can produce selective cognitive deficits

Question 12

The transparency assumption

Answer 12

Lesions affect one or more components within pre-existing cognitive system
-but also do not result in a completely new cognitive system being created

Question 13

The universality assumption

Answer 13

All cognitive systems are basically identical

Question 14

Brain plasticity

Answer 14

Ability of brain to repair itself both at the neuron and cognitive level
-moving the function from one area of the brain to another

Question 15

Transcranial magnetic stimulation

Answer 15

Neurons are activated both from internal source and an external source with the latter disrupting the former
Pros:
-effects are brief and reversible
-location of stimulated site can be moved or removed at will
Cons:
-restricted to sites that can be stimulated
-accidents of nature

Question 16

EEG

Answer 16

Electrodes placed on scalp record electrical signals emitted by the brain
-electrodes record a series of positive and negative peaks
-event-related potentials
Pros:
-excellent temporal resolution
-non-invasive
Cons:
-poor spatial resolution

Question 17

Positron emission tomography(PET)

Answer 17

Radioactive substance injected into bloodstream, and allows detection of blood flow to different areas of the brain as participant completes tasks
Cons:
-radioactive substance
-poor temporal resolution

Question 18

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Answer 18

Large magnets detects active brain areas on a given cognitive task
-oxygenated blood reacts differently in a magnetic field than deoxygenated
-measures concentration of oxygen in blood
Pros:
-good spatial resolution
Cons:
-slow and expensive
-poor temporal resolution

Question 19

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Answer 19

Combines spatial resolution of MRI and temporal resolution of ERPs
-measures magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain

Question 20

Connectionest models

Answer 20

Herb rule: Cells that fire together wire together
-brain consists of en enormous amount of interconnected neurons
-models cognition as a network of simple units communicating with one another