Lecture 31- Calculation, estimation, prediction Flashcards
What else apart from social cognition does our brain do? (3)
-much of our conscious mental activity relates to abstraction 1. analysis how things work 2. calculation and estimation 3. planning -we are good at calculation and estimation in comparison to other animals -we relentlessly plan (daydreaming or detailed plans on how much you’re spending for lunch etc.)
What are the three divisions of the prefrontal cortex?
- Medial
- Orbital
- Dorsolateral
What are the general functions of the three divisions of the prefrontal cortex?
- medial and orbital (phineas damage)= more social cognition and empowering them through the connection to the amygdala and hypothalamus 2.dorsolateral not so much social
What are the clinical tests to check for damage to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?
- Working memory: Remembering a phone number, remembering and applying rules (count backwards from 100 in steps of 7) 2. Memory of the future: delayed gratification, plans, goals. Temporal structuring of behaviour,prefrontal cortex gives us memory of the future, goals we want to do
What happens to a person with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex damage?
-Distractability, impulsivness, perseverative errors
Does the damage to prefrontal cortex affect language?
-“language is the servant of the intellect” -we are not talking about the capacity of language -broca’s and Wernicke’s -also does not include frontal eye fields= it directs what we want to look at
What was the experiment with eye tracking and attention?
-the eye tracking of what you look at -the search with people with prefrontal damage= they don’t focus on anything much= salience -we learn people’s emotional state by looking at their eyes and mouth
What are the higher order inferences? (4)
- catgorization, multiple regression, principle components 2. the meaning of proverbs 3. word similarity, word meaning definition 4. estimates
What are the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex functions?
-delayed gratification -suppression -the stroop test is indicative of dorsolateral prefrontal function
What is perseveration?
-the repetition of a particular response, such as a word, phrase, or gesture, despite the absence or cessation of a stimulus, usually caused by brain injury or other organic disorder
What are some other functions of the prefrontal cortex?
1: Problem solving 2: Rule following 3: Flexibility 4: Perseveration-indication of prefrontal damage
What does the cart test show?
-test the ability to change categorisation strategy -have the ability to shift the rule -simple test of the ability of prefrontal cortex= to re-evaluate the strategy if not working etc.
What does the frontal pole do?
- temporal structuring
- have to have interim solution
- the ability to plan for an end product
- not just for the next step
- associated with = frontal pole!!!
- this is where the temporal planning happens
- 10 is the pole
Are the subtle architectural changes in the prefrontal cortex indicative of functional regions?
-the subtle changes of architecture but in prefrontal not functional divide according it -only the medial and ventral and the dorsolateral part of the prefrontal cortex division, not more
What is self-reference and which animals have it?
-humans, chimps, dolphins -the ability to recognise oneself as oneself (e.g. in the mirror)
What is the Theory of Mind?
-but one thing not demonstrated in any other animal apart from us -theory of mind, putting yourself in someone’s shoes -to know what another person knows -Has the evolution of advanced social competencies – such as conceptualising the motivations of others - given rise to uniquely human brain functions? -No compelling evidence of “Theory of Mind”.= the capacity to know what someone else will know
How do we think?
-what do we think about? - lot of it about what we want, understanding how things work, prediction and control -curiosity is a defining characteristic of complex animals, seen to an extraordinary degree in humans
What drives exploration and innovation? (theories)
- is it the need to find an advantage in the grim struggle for survival or is it the bounty of excess -commonly assumed that competition drives innovation, the reverse may be true: competition produces stasis, only complacency drives change
What is SIRT1 and what does it do?
- a metabolically regulated enzyme sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) -modulates monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) levels to link mood and behaviour to energy comsumption -variability in the SIRT1 gene contributes to human susceptibility to anxiety disorders -monoamines (adrenaline, dopamine…)
What are the functions of SIRT1?
1: Improves healthy ageing and protects from metabolic-syndrome associated cancer 2:Activates MAO-A in the brain to mediate anxiety and exploratory drive 3:SIRT 1 also control the levels of monoamines= these only modulate, slightly (the adrenaline, dopamine) alsomt endocrine change in the brain
What happens when SIRT goes up/down?
- more sirt1 then less exploratory, cautious, etc. -you will not explore = when underfed
- if well fed= should be exploratory, and procreation etc. -makes sense as animals which are heavily predated should not be exploring etc.
What is our most influential way of thinking?
-Science -modeling= what we do when we plan and analyze, model of how things work in our head -we model when just looking - adjust the information how do we think collectively=science -it resists the authority of the individual, advocacy of individual’s appliance of common sense
What is the purpose and mechanism of thinking?
-understanding and problem solving
How do we think?
1: Empirical methods 2: Deductive methods 3: Strategies, restrategising- in the minds eye -scientific thinking: empirical thinking (observe, search for patterns, rules) -deductive= how we interpret things -science is an evolving model of how things work, restrategising constantly, model and remodel
