Lecture 2 Notes Flashcards by Hadrian Jiang

What is cognitive neuroscience?

The study of the nervous system with the intent to understand and explain cognition.

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What are 4 reasons that we study neuroscience?

As another level of analysis, to explain things such as mental disorders, to be able to produce insights by looking at the nervous system, and to intervene using those insights.

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What is qualia?

A quality or property as perceived or experienced by a person.

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What are 4 perspectives on how the mind and brain are associated?

Interactionism, epiphenomenon, parallelism, and isomorphism.

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What is the interactionist perspective?

A dualist perspective, there is a non-physical mind and a physical brain.

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What is the epiphenomenon perspective?

There is a mind that does exist, but it emerges out of brain activity (the mind is the shadow that the brain casts).

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What is the parallelism perspective?

The mind and brain are two things that work together - two sides of the same coin.

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What is the isomorphic perspective?

A Gestalt explanation; mind terms and brain terms are the same. For every causal mind term there is a corresponding brain term.

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What are 3 principles of neuroscience?

Localization, lateralization, and plasticity.

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What is localization?

Particular parts of the brain seem to serve specific functions.

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What is lateralization?

The right and left hemispheres do different things.

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What is plasticity?

The idea that the brain can change over time.

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What are the 2 types of plasticity?

Structural and functional.

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What is structural plasticity?

The hard wiring of the brain changing and developing. Developing new connections where none existed before.

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What is functional plasticity?

Moving a function from one area to another.

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When is the brain most plastic?

During youth.

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Does plasticity involve only neurons?

No, it may involve many different types of cells.

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What is synaptic pruning?

When unused neural pathways in the brain are “pruned off” to make room for new things.

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What is a CT scan?

Computer axial tomography. A moveable x-ray source and a computer work to create a cross section of the human body.

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What is a PET scan?

Positron emission tomography. Radioactive isotopes are given to the patient and blood flow to an area is tracked. Uses the subtraction technique.

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What is the subtraction technique?

A scan is done before and after something, and the difference is taken.

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What is an (f)MRI?

(Functional) magnetic resonance imaging. Brief, powerful magnetic pulses are sent through the body/brain.

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What is the difference between an MRI and an fMRI?

An fMRI shows activity, an MRI just shows a still image.

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What are the advantages (2) and disadvantages (1) of an (f)MRI?

Advantages are that it is non-invasive and provides a good resolution. Disadvantage is that it is very expensive.

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What is an EEG?

Electroencephalogram. Recording the electrical impulses created by neurons through the scalp.

What are the advantages of an EEG? (3)

Non-invasive, super fast, and provides millisecond levels of what the brain is doing.

What is an ERP?

Event-related-potential. Averages EEG patterns associated with specific events to find characteristic peaks and valleys after stimuli.

What advantage does an ERP have over an MRI?

It is less expensive.

What are the two parts to an ERP?

Negative/positive polarity and time (ms).

What is an MEG?

Magnetoencephalography. Measures magnetic fields on the scalp to provide an image.

How do MEGs and fMRIs compare and contrast?

MEGs have better temporal resolution and just as good a spatial resolution. They are more expensive though.

What is DTI?

Diffusion tensor imaging. A form of MRI that detects the difference in activity in neurons by tracing the movement of a water molecule to find the structure of an axon.

What is an advantage of a DTI?

Can work with dead tissue and can map what parts of the brain are connected to one another.

Around how many neurons and glial cells do we have?

Between 10 and 100 billion neurons and 1 to 50 times as many glial cells.

How many neurons thick is our cortex?

6 neurons thick.

About how many synapses do we have?

0.15 quadrillion.

What do neurons transmit signals to?

Other neurons, muscles, and glands.

At what rate are we losing neurons?

1 per second after the age of 20.

What is the dendrite for?

Receiving information.

What is the soma?

The cell body.

What is the axon?

The main length of a neuron.

What is an axon hillock?

The tapering part of the soma.

What is the myelin?

The fatty sheathe that covered the axon to speed up neural impulses.

What are the nodes of Ranvier?

The gaps between the myelin.

What is the terminal bouton?

The end opposite the dendrite.

What are the 4 stages of action potentials and corresponding voltages?

Resting stage (-70mV), depolarization (+40mV), repolarization, hyperpolarization/undershoot (~-80mV).

What is the gap between neurons called?

The synaptic cleft.

Around how many known neurotransmitters are there?

At least 50.

What is EPSP?

Excitatory-post-synaptic-potential.

What is IPSP?

Inhibitory-post-synaptic-potential.

How do neurotransmitters convey an effect?

In a graded fashion. Effect changes in the proportion to the intensity of the stimulation of the neurotransmitter.

What are 2 things that are represented in your mind?

Quality and intensity of experience.

What are the 4 types of sensory coding?

Specificity, temporal, population, and sparse coding.

What is specificity coding?

Different neurons are activated for different stimuli.

What is temporal coding?

Different perceptions are based on different patterns of activity.

What is population coding?

Patterns of activity across populations of neurons are what react to different stimuli.

What is sparse coding?

Middle ground between specificity and population; a strong activation by a relatively small number of neurons.

What three parts can the brain be split into?

The hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain.

What two parts can the forebrain be split into?

The cortex and subcortex.

What 4 parts can the subcortex be split into?

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala, basal ganglia, and hippocampus.

What is the anterior cingulate cortex responsible for? (3)

Connections between the prefrontal cortex and the parietal lobe, involved in emotional regulation and making decisions, associated with physiological responses (HR and BP).

What is the amygdala responsible for?

Negative emotions such as anger and fear.

What is the basal ganglia responsible for?

Intentional movements.

What is the hippocampus responsible for?

Spatial navigation, committing things to long term memory.

What 4 parts (lobes) can the cortex be split into?

Occipital lobe, temporal lobes, parietal lobe, and frontal lobe.

What divides the temporal lobe from the rest of the brain?

The lateral fissure.

What divides the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe?

The central fissure.

What fissure divides the two hemispheres?

The longitudinal fissure.

What is the fusiform face area originally thought to and now known to identify?

Originally thought to recognize faces, now it is known to identify subtle differences in pictures of objects.

What does the parahippocampal place area identify?

Visual scenes.

What does the extrastriate body area identify?

Body parts (not the face).

What is the Broca's area associated with?

Production of speech.

What is Wernicke's area associated with?

Comprehension of speech.

What is contralateral perception/control?

Sides of the brain controlling/perceiving from the opposite side of the body.

What is ipsilateral information processing?

Sides of the brain controlling/perceiving from the same side of the body.

What is hemispherical specialization?

One hemisphere tends to do something that is different than the other side.

What connects the two hemispheres?

The corpus callosum.

Are the two hemispheres symmetrical?

No.

What is a single dissociation?

When one part of the brain is damaged and one function goes away.

What is a double dissociation?

When two people have two different parts of their brains damaged and have different functions impaired.

What is the capgras delusion?

A delusion where someone believes that their parents are not really their parents, but are imposters.

What is a proposed cause of the capgras delusion?

A disconnect between the temporal lobes (visual cortex) and the amygdala (emotional connection).