Lecture 31- Calculation, estimation, prediction Flashcards

1
Q

What else apart from social cognition does our brain do? (3)

A

-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.)

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2
Q

What are the three divisions of the prefrontal cortex?

A
  1. Medial
  2. Orbital
  3. Dorsolateral
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3
Q

What are the general functions of the three divisions of the prefrontal cortex?

A
  1. 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
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4
Q

What are the clinical tests to check for damage to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?

A
  1. 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
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5
Q

What happens to a person with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex damage?

A

-Distractability, impulsivness, perseverative errors

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6
Q

Does the damage to prefrontal cortex affect language?

A

-“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

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7
Q

What was the experiment with eye tracking and attention?

A

-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

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8
Q

What are the higher order inferences? (4)

A
  1. catgorization, multiple regression, principle components 2. the meaning of proverbs 3. word similarity, word meaning definition 4. estimates
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9
Q

What are the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex functions?

A

-delayed gratification -suppression -the stroop test is indicative of dorsolateral prefrontal function

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10
Q

What is perseveration?

A

-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

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11
Q

What are some other functions of the prefrontal cortex?

A

1: Problem solving 2: Rule following 3: Flexibility 4: Perseveration-indication of prefrontal damage

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12
Q

What does the cart test show?

A

-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.

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13
Q

What does the frontal pole do?

A
  • 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
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14
Q

Are the subtle architectural changes in the prefrontal cortex indicative of functional regions?

A

-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

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15
Q

What is self-reference and which animals have it?

A

-humans, chimps, dolphins -the ability to recognise oneself as oneself (e.g. in the mirror)

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16
Q

What is the Theory of Mind?

A

-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

17
Q

How do we think?

A

-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

18
Q

What drives exploration and innovation? (theories)

A
  • 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
19
Q

What is SIRT1 and what does it do?

A
  • 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…)
20
Q

What are the functions of SIRT1?

A

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

21
Q

What happens when SIRT goes up/down?

A
  • 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.
22
Q

What is our most influential way of thinking?

A

-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

23
Q

What is the purpose and mechanism of thinking?

A

-understanding and problem solving

24
Q

How do we think?

A

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