M1, T1, intro to cog neuro

Question 1

What is cognitive neuropsychology?

Answer 1

• Examines variety of problems in carrying out everyday behaviours that is associated with brain injury or brain developmental problems
• Aim is to study patients with brain damage -> to understand the mind -> understand other patients’ deficits -> rehabilitation/treatment programs
• Cognitive Neuropsychology explains symptoms of brain injured patients relative to normal cognitive function
  eg. perception, memory, language, movement

Question 2

Optic aphasia

Answer 2

inability to name visually presented objects with intact visual object recognition processes (patient can mime the use of objects)

Question 3

Utilization Behaviour

Answer 3

Actions for use of objects intact but patient uses objects in an inappropriate context.
- Occurs because of poor task based control and actions are triggered by strong “use” of environmental cues

Question 4

Cognitive psychology

Answer 4

study of mental processes/the mind

e.g. face and object recognition, speech, writing, planning

Question 5

Neuropsychology

Answer 5

study of how particular brain structures and processes mediate behaviour

Question 6

Cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 6

combination of both cognitive psychology and neuropsychology with emphasis on understanding the mind

Question 7

Developmental cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 7

study the development of normal cognitive function

Question 8

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 8

branch of neuroscience, study of the neural systems (brain) that carry out cognitive function

Question 9

Cognitive neuropsychiatry

Answer 9

applications of cognitive neuropsychology methods to understand/explain disorders of higher-level cognition

Question 10

Ultra or radical or orthodox cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 10

• Assess patient’s performance and link to normal models of cognitive function
• Emphasis on mind
• Less concerned about neural correlates of patient performance or impairment
• Focus on case study approach to studying patients

Question 11

Functional or localization cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 11

Associations across large number of patients

Associations between task performance and lesion locations and how this links to cognition

Question 12

Aims of cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 12

• explains patterns of impaired and intact cognitive function in brain injured patients
• link these patterns of damage to components of theory/models normal cognitive function
• information from brain injured patients (impaired and intact processes) -> conclusions (theories and models) normal cognitive function

Question 13

Challenges of cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 13

• patient has to be willing to undertake significant research
• patient has to remain stable across time
• time consuming to complete proper case study research
• brain damage in uncontrolled

Question 14

Threats to the relevance of cognitive neuropsychology research

Answer 14

• Incentive to use latest technique (e.g. imaging, TMS)
• Focus on neural rather than cognitive processes
• Reliance on big data (100s participants)
• Neuroplasticity

Question 15

Threats to the relevance of cognitive neuropsychology research - big data

Answer 15

• Reliance on big data (100s participants)
• Very very large data sets
• Data analysed computationally to examine patterns, trends and associations
• Useful to examine human behaviour

Question 16

Methodological approaches of traditional neuropsychology

Answer 16

• Group patients based on common co-occurrence of symptoms (syndromes)
• Aim: determine location brain lesions
• Not concerned with specific cognitive processes
• Loss information individual patients

Question 17

Empirical approaches within cognitive neuropsychology

Answer 17

• single case studies
• case series studies
• multiple case studies
• neuropsychology

Question 18

Neuropsychology empirical approaches

Answer 18

• focus on neural parameters
• multiple patients
• group averages

Question 19

Single case studies empirical approaches

Answer 19

• single patient tested across multiple tasks
• detailed study of patient
• control participant(s)
• may design treatment based on patient profile

Question 20

Case study series empirical approaches

Answer 20

• single patient tested across multiple tasks
• multiple patients
• detailed study of patient
• control participant(s)
• may design and test efficacy of treatment based on patient profile
• patient(s) study across time

Question 21

Multiple case studies empirical appraoches

Answer 21

• single patient cases
• related studies
• concatenated

Question 22

Generalisability of patient case studies is achieved as -

Answer 22

• Theoretically driven approach to patient assessment
• Theory/model cognitive function must account for all patient cases within disorder
• Theory/model must also explain normal cognitive function in same cognitive domain
• Converging data sources to confirm/falsify theory/model
• > cognitive psychology experiments
• > cognitive neuropsychology patient data and
• > computer/computational models of cognition

Question 23

Dual Route Cascade Model of Reading

Answer 23

• normal adult reading
• reading development
• reading disorders - dyslexia
• experiments normal adult readers and children learning to read
• patient reading skills
• computational modelling of normal adult readers and patients (dyslexias)

Question 24

Associations - inference from data to theory cog neuropsych

Answer 24

• Look for pattern of impairments across tasks
• Association of symptoms across patient’s performance on a number of tasks
• Example: Patient KM performing (and failing)
• > a word recognition task,
• > a face recognition task and
• > an object recognition task
• do all tasks use same processor or processes?

Question 25

Interpreting associations of task performance

Answer 25

- all 3 tasks use a common cognitive processes OR - no overlap between cognitive processes and discrete sets of cognitive processes are mediated by adjacent brain areas - for example, Gerstmann's syndrome (damage to left parietal cortex) - > symptoms of acalculia, finger agnosia, right-left disorientation and dysgraphia

Question 26

Dissociations - inference from data to theory

Answer 26

- Look for different patterns of performance across tasks - Determine impaired and intact cognitive functions - Patient KM performing word and face recognition tasks, only failing one - Tasks must tap separate Cognitive Processes - BUT what if differences due to task difficulty?

Question 27

Double dissociation - inference from data to theory

Answer 27

- find two patients with opposite pattern of task performance

Question 28

Assumptions of cog neuropsych

Answer 28

- fractionation assumption - modularity assumption - transparency or subtractivity - universality assumption

Question 29

Fractionation assumption

Answer 29

brain damage results in selective impairments of cog processing Neurological Specificity of Isomorphism - correspondence between mind and brain (monism)

Question 30

Modularity assumption

Answer 30

cog processes operate via a series of independent modules (functional modules) Neural processes operate via anatomical modules

Question 31

Transparency or subtractivity

Answer 31

analysis of pattern of intact and impaired performance -> type and function of impaired processes (module/s)

Question 32

Universality assumption

Answer 32

all cog architectures the same initially (uniformity of functional architecture)

Question 33

Module types

Answer 33

Functional modularity: mental processes = functional architecture, cog modules Knowledge modules: independent of other bodies of knowledge Processing modules: independent processor of information Anatomical modularity: specific brain region Neurochemical modularity: specific neurotransmitter

Question 34

Modularity hypothesis (MH)

Answer 34

- double dissociation -> cog skills mediated by numerous semi-independent cog processes or systems - each process/system can be impaired separately - Mental life made possible by activity of multiple cognitive processors or modules e. g. reading, face recognition, speech, and decision making - Modules independent but inter-communicate - Modules -> diagrams of cognitive processes

Question 35

Criticisms of using diagrams to explain cognition

Answer 35

- diagrams limited, e.g. single word vs syntax - lack specification internal workings modules - basis patient data -> post-hoc theories (falsifiable) - diagrams superimposed on left hemisphere

Question 36

Modularity of mind (Fodor)

Answer 36

- information encapsulated: processing in module isolated from rest of system - domain specific: 1 type of input, e.g. visual or spoken word - mandatory module operation: automatic, e.g. recognition familiar persons - innate, is this always true? - fast operation - neural specificity - higher level processes not modular, e.g. reasoning, decision making