Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

Cognitive Neuroscience > Lecture 4 - The Developing Brain > Flashcards

Lecture 4 - The Developing Brain Flashcards

1
Q

Piaget - Formed developmental psychology - Middle ground in nature vs nurture debate. What does he argue about child development?

A

CYCLICAL process of interactions between child and their environment - STAGES that are fixed and predetermined. Environment impacts child’s cognitive processes to enable the next stages.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is the Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years)

A
  • A child learns that objects still exist when hidden
  • Learns nature of cause and effect, actions have consequences
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is Neuroconstructivism? - Westermann 2007

A
  • Interaction between environment and genetic factors that lead to mature cognitive system
  • Individuals experience things differently even with the same brain based constraints
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is the Blueprint analogy?

A

Each neural connection to the brain is pre-determined. Human brain has 86 billion neurons, each with 10,000 synapses.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

PREDETERMINED DEVELOPMENT (Gottlieb, 1992)

A

Genes -> Brain Structure -> Brain Function -> EXPERIENCES

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

PROBABILISTIC DEVELOPMENT (Gottlieb, 1992)

A

Brain structure and Genes influenced by EXPERIENCES - All linked together

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is the neural tube formation? (prenatal brain development)

A

Cylinder of cells
- at 5 weeks, organised into bulges and starts to form parts of the brain
- Cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus, midbrain

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How are neurons and glial cells produced?

A

DIVISION OF PROLIFERATING CELLS - neuroblasts and glioblasts

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How many neurons are produced per minute in foetal early development?

A

250,000

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What are radial glial cells?

A

Glial cells that exist in the neural tube during neural migration - GUIDE NEURONS TO THEIR FINAL DESTINATION

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is Hebbian learning?

A

Neurons that wire together, fire together - Strengthening of a synapse that occurs when presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons are active at the same time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What does a new born babies brain weigh?

A

450g (adults = 1400g)
Expansion due to growth of synapses, dendrites, axons

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What does a new born babies brain weigh?

A

450g (adults = 1400g)
Expansion due to growth of synapses, dendrites, axons

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What age is the primary visual and auditory cortex peak density?

A

4-12 months. 150% above adult level. Falls to adult level ages 2-4 years old.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What age does the prefrontal cortex reach its peak?

A

After 12 months - doesn’t return to adult level for 10-20 years

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is myelination?

A
  • Increase of fatty myelin sheath that surrounds axons.
  • Prefrontal cortex last to achieve adult levels of myelination - this is associated with social and control behaviour
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is brain plasticity?

A

The brains ability to CHANGE - learn new things

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Draganski 2004 - juggling study

A

3 balls, 3 months JUGGLE
Increase in gray matter density - in region specialised for visual motion and the occipitoparietal region (hand eye coordination)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Maguire et al 2000 - taxi drivers

A

Longest time spent as a taxi driver = increased gray matter density

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Why might gray matter density not be a proxy of cognitive ability?

A

Blind people have more gray matter in visual cortex.
- Developmental pruning of synapses (thinner is better)
- Experience-dependent changes (expertise - thicker is better)

21
Q

Patient AH - 10 year old girl with no RH or right eye

A
  • Only had minor visual impairment
  • Visual info that would normally cross optic chiasm into missing hemisphere was rerouted into the intact hemisphere.
  • Brain plasticity - processed info from both fields
22
Q

What is the Kennard principle?

A

Brain plasticity is better in early life
- Evidence of children developing language skills after a stroke

23
Q

What is Filial Imprinting?

A

When an animal recognises their parent

24
Q

Lorenz - ducklings study

A
  • Evidence of a critical period
  • 15h-3 days for goslings to imprint
  • Ducklings that imprinted to objects generalised to similar objects
25
What is a critical period?
Time period that something has to happen - strict and essential for learning
26
What is a sensitive period?
Time period important for learning, but not essential
27
What does Lenneberg 1967 state about language acquisition?
- Critical period to learning language ends at puberty - Ability to comprehend and produce language may depend on other skills and their sensitive periods (hearing, motor ability etc) - MULTIPLE SENSITIVE PERIODS FOR DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
28
Genie - Feral child study - what was found?
- Had been neglected from birth to 13 years old - After 18 months post release she was able to learn language but it was poor compared to others her age
29
Bilingual study - Petani & Abutalebi, 2005
When both languages are learnt from birth, able to learn without grammatical errors
30
Genetic explanation to learning - Thomas & Johnson, 2008
Programmed synaptogenesis - readies the brain for learning. This is followed by reduced plasticity where learned info is fossilised
31
Environmental explanation to learning - Thomas & Johnson, 2008
Closure of time window - environmental cue - e.g gene plays a role in filial imprinting and is switched off after exposure. Neurons readied for learning but process is self terminating - won't occur if environment is not suitable
32
What does Empiricism mean?
Newborn mind is a blank slate
33
What is the Nativist viewpoint?
Humans are born with basic innate knowledge
34
What is a modern view of innate knowledge?
- Readiness to learn - Environmental cues - children will only learn language with effective input (encouraged by caregivers)
35
What is the meaning of prepared learning?
Learning that occurs without extensive training as it is predisposed - easier to become scared of snakes than flowers
36
What did Harlow's Monkey Study find?
Baby monkeys have an innate preference to the soft mother over the wire mother that provided food
37
What is the habituation paradigm? - Fantz 1964
- Infants prefer novelty - When showed pairs of stimuli simultaneously then one remains the same but another changes = increased fixation to a new pattern - When repeated same stimulus until an infant is bored then shown a new stimulus, if infant is interested then they have discriminated the two
38
What is the visual interest test - looking chamber (Fantz, 1961)
- If an infant turns gaze towards some forms more than others then it must perceive its form / object / shape - Form perception appears at 1 week old - 3.5 months old. - Show selective attention and preferences for visual stimuli - early perceptual development
39
What is the visual acuity threshold?
Minimum level of detail required to detect or recognize specific details or objects. Eye, visual nerve pathways and visual brain is poorly developed at birth - visual acuity threshold not developed
40
What are ERPs
Averaged voltage fluctuations from specific event - reflect cognitive functions
41
What is the Nc (negative central peak)?
Peak of ERP typically 300-700ms after stimulus onset Large peak = high attention Large Nc for mothers face compared to stranger
42
fNIRS - functional near-infrared spectroscopy
- Tracks blood flow via changes in haemoglobin - Sensitive to wavelengths - the extent that the signal is scattered computes BOLD response - Large BOLD response = more cognitive and neural activity
43
What does BOLD stand for?
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent contrast
44
What is BOLD?
The signal measured in fMRI that relates to the concentration of deoxyhaemoglobin in the blood
45
Con of fNIRS
Low spatial resolution as they only cover surface of cortex
46
Pros of fNIRS
Portable and tolerant of movement - convenient for children
47
Cons of ERP/EEG for children
- Uncomfortable (electrodes) - Time consuming - Children and adults show different patterns in tasks that they both find easy Could relate to cognitive differences (same task performed differently) Or non cog differences - skull thickness
48
TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation)
Strong magnets that briefly interrupt normal brain activity as a way to study brain regions
49
tES (transcranial electrical stimulation)
Use of weak electric currents to stimulate the brain

Cognitive Neuroscience (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions