Module 33 (sexual motivation), Neuropsychology Flashcards
neuropsychology
studies the structure and function of the brain as they relate to specific psychological processes and behaviors
neuropsychology (departmental fields covered)
clinical and experimental fields of psychology
neuropsychology goals
aims to study, assess, understand, and treat behaviors directly related to brain functioning
- understand the mind and brain by studying people who have suffered brain injury or neurological illness
visual agnosia
impairment of recognition of visually presented objects
- NOT due to a deficit in vision (acuity, visual field, and scanning are intact), language, memory, or low intellect
types of visual agnosia
apperceptive agnosia
associative agnosia
apperceptive agnosia
Like blindness results in profound difficulties on a patient’s ability to recognize visually presented info (perceptual processing affected)
- generally have damage near left OCCIPITAL lobe
symptoms of apperceptive agnosia
- difficulty copying (redrawing) geometric shapes and letters no depth perception
- unable to identify objects, picture naming impaired, but can still recognize objects through other methods
associative agnosia
results in an impairment in recognition or assigning meaning to a stimulus that is accurately perceived
usually accompanied by other complex neuropsychological problems due to the nature and scope of the injury
associative agnosia symptoms
- unable to identify the object, features, or function
- can distinguish objects though (copy/redraw accurately) or categorize as well
- may retain semantic knowledge of the items
- could be category-specific : impairment limited to specific classes of stimuli; only living or non-living things
associative agnosia physical problems
generally attributed to damage to the left anterior TEMPORAL lobe
- can also be caused by stroke, brain tumor, carbon monoxide poisoning
akinetopsia (motion blindess)
extremely rare neuropsychological disorder in which a patient cannot perceive motion in their visual field, despite being able to see stationary objects without any problems
akinetopsia symptoms
- normal spatial acuity, stereo and color vision
- cannot do visuomotor tasks (moving objects /fluid appear frozen)
akinetopsia physical causes
damage in the posterior visual cortex (V5), usually caused by traumatic brain injury
- bilateral lesion, sometime unilateral lesion
prosopagnosia
inability to recognize faces
- no training can restore ability to recognize faces
prosopagnosia physical causes
bilateral damage to the fusiform gyrus (region of cortex on inferior surface of the brain where the occipital and temporal cortices meet)
fusiform face area damage
enthusiasts unable to distinguish their own expertise; bird watchers unable to distinguish bird species etc.
damage to orbitofrontal region of both frontal lobes (PHINEAS GAGE) symptoms
- emotional, motor, and cognitive changes
- strange apathy
- impulsive behavior
- no concern for past or future
- shallow emotions, less pain
- IQ largely unaffected
prefrontal lesions symptoms
executive function impairments - (planning)
- unable to complete set of errands without multiple false starts, backtracking, confusion
- perseverate (continue to show a behavior repeatedly in any activity)
- reduced pain feeling
prefrontal cortex
may be important for goal-directed behavior, requires prolonged attention and sensitivity to potential rewards and punishments (gages reward stimuli)
damage to right inferior parietal cortex (hemispatial neglect)
unusual set of behavioral changes, called hemispatial neglect, or hemineglect
- key feature is neglect of the left side of both the body and space
ex: people, objects left of the patient’s midline ignored, may fail to dress the left side of the body even in drawings
anosognosia
denial/unawareness of own disability
associated with hemineglect – patients may adamantly maintain that they are capable of engaging in their customary activities and do not recognize the signs of hemineglect
asomatognosia
lack of awareness of part of body
patients can deny ownership of their own left arm or leg rather than accepting that anything unusual is occurring
hemispatial neglect theories
some investigators regard the disorder as a consequence of loss of the ability to analyze spatial patterns
- occurs with right hemisphere : implicated in analysis of spatial patterns
- LOW ROAD processing of left side –shown two pictures of a house – left side on fire would prefer to live int he house where there is no fire on the left side
other theories: regard the syndrome as an attentional deficit
brain and behavior frontal lobe
lecherous behavior and pedophilia caused by tumor on frontal lobe ((loss of executive control)
sexual orientation
one’s affinities as an object of sexual attraction
- not necessarily sexual activity, but desires, interests, infatuations, and fantisies
“identity” as heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual emerges in puberty
sexual orientation statistics
exclusively homosexual (sexual activity)
3% men
1-2% women
sexual orientation and mental health
previously considered psychological disorder
now still puts ones at risk for anxiety and mood disorders due to stress of discrimination and isolation, and the difficulty in finding satisfying and loving relationships
homosexuality in nature (not just humans)
observed in nearly 1500 species, well-documented in about 500 species
disproved theories on sexual orientation
HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT:
- linked with problems with parents (domineering mother, absent father, etc etc etc)
- fear/hatred of opposite sex
- linked with levels of sex hormones in the blood
- result of abuse/molestation/seduction by adults as children
- raised by same-sex parents
fraternal birth order effect
being born after a brother increases likelihood of being gay
brain and sexual orientation
heterosexual men have a cell cluster in the hypothalamus that on average is larger than in gay men and in women
genetics and homosexuality
- fruit fly sexual orientation and behavior determined by difference in one gene
- homosexuality seems to run in families and among identical twins, but sitll emerges spontaneously, even in one of a pair of twins
- genes could be passed on by siblings or by people not living exclusively according to their sexual orientation
homosexuality and gender hormones
same hormones may also affect sexual orientation
- more vs less testosterone can result in bodies, brains, and faces with traits of the opposite sex
- the sexual attraction expected of the opposite sex to one’s own sex
gay-straight trait differences
- spatial abilites
- fingerprint ridge counts
- auditory system development
- handedness
- occupational preferences
- relative finger lengths
- gender nonconformity
- age of onset puberty in males
- male body size
- sleep length
- physical aggression
- walking style
- on average, results between gays and lesbians fall between those of straight men and women
- brain, genetic, and prenatal influences may contribute to these differences
brain differences in sexual orientation
- one hypothalamic cell cluster smaller in women and gay men than in straight men
- anterior commissure is larger in gay men than in straight men
- gay men’s hypothalamus reacts as do straight women’s to the smell of sex-related hormones
genetic influences on sexual orientation
- shared sexual orientation is higher among identical twins than among fraternal twins
- sexual attraction in fruit flies can be genetically manipulated
- male homosexuality often appears to be transmitted from the mother’s side of the family
prenatal influences on sexual orientation
altered prenatal hormones may lead to homosexuality in humans and other animals
- right-handed men with several older biological brothers are more likely to be gay, possibly due to a maternal immune-system reaction
wisconsin card sorting test
rule switch up on you but patients with prefrontal lesions or damage revert to doing the first task or something else (perseveration) repeated behavior
