Lecture 6: Neurophysiology of Higher Cognition Flashcards
Cognition requires extensive synaptic interactions between what type of cells?
Pyramidal
What structures are utilized in the final common pathway for speaking?
Wernicke’s Area
Arcuate fasciculus
Broca’s Area
What structures compose the mediational system for language?
Temporal, parietal, frontal association areas
What is the function of the conceptional system for language?
Provides concepts of what you are trying to communicate
By what age can babies recognize all sounds that might be language?
6 months
“language universalist”
When learning a second language after the language acquisition phase, what region is activated?
Area adjacent to Broca’s area
what is the fxn of the conceptual system
concepts & rules
-provide names of objects (nouns)
“what word am I looking for?”
what age do babies begin to prune out irrelevant particular languages
6-9 months
what age does babbling begin to convert to true language
around 1
what is the fxn of social cognition
fxn in interpersonal & social situations
-recognize others emotions
what are the two components of social cognition
emotional comprehension
theory of mind
what is the basis behind emotional comprehension
neural circuit for recognizing emotion in others -
also involved in producing that emotion yourself
what are the steps of percieving facial expression
- recognize face as special (superior temporal sulcus & fusiform area)
- bring in emotional component (ant cingulate cortex, amygdala & PFC)
what facials cues do you use to recognize emotion
eyes, nose & mouth
controlled by amygdala - directs gaze to triangle (esp the eyes)
Are you able to recognize emotional context if you damage the amygdala
no!
spend little time looking at eyes & dont methodically scan the face for recognition of emotion
what is required for imitation of motion
- ventral visual path (visual input)
- post. mirror neuron system: motor detection
- ant. mirror neuron system: detect goal of action
2 & 3 also imitate emotional state/behavior -intact circuit with limbic system via insula
what is prosody
tuned rhythm of speech & how it contributes to meaning
ex: sound of an angry man
what are the steps involved in prosody
- primary auditory cortex - process info of pitch, loudness & speed —-> send info to—->
- right post. sup. temporal sulcus - begin to piece together info (also get input from secondary auditory process) —>
- frontal cortex - judge the emotion
what is theory of mind
ability of understanding mental state & appreciate how they differ from you
need emotional comprehension to exist for proper fxn
what is the core path for theory of mind
amygdala & connection to med. temporal lobe= memory/sensory processing
orbitofrontal cortex - sensory/emotional processing
what is the accessory path of theory of mind
language scaffold used at young age
frontal lobe: executive fxn
what is involved in decision making with explicit (known) risk
stimulus encoding system
= orbitofrontal cortex, ventromedial PFC & striatum
-evaluate evidence to make decision
what is involved in decision making when risk is unknown
action selection system: learn & encode value of results/ error detection (ant cingulate cortex)
expected reward system: predict expected reward (basal ganglia, amygdala, insular cortex, intraparietal cortex)
