NEURO LEC 17 COGNITION, CONSCIOUSNESS, ATTN, LANGUAGE Flashcards
Definition of cognition
the process by which we come to know the world
Cognition is the ability to
* attend to ____ stimuli or _____ motivation
* identify significance of such stimuli
* make meaningful responses
External
Internal
What is the primary function of the temporoparietal association cortex?
Cognitive intelligence
What is the primary function of the dorsolateral prefrontal areas?
- Self awareness
- Executive functions (goals and plans)
What is the primary function of the medial dorsal prefrontal area?
Perceives others’ emotions, making assumptions of their beliefs/intentions
What is the primary function of the ventral prefrontal cortex?
Connects with areas of mood and affect
Lesion to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex looks like
Executive dysfunction, loss of willpower
Lesion to orbital cortex looks like
Disinhibition, irritability, impulsiveness
Lesion to ventromedial prefrontal cortex looks like
Apathy
Lesion to medial dorsal prefrontal cortex looks like
Paranoia, delusions
What is the Theory of hemispheric specialization?
To reduce connection times of signals going long distances
Highly skilled movements performed by R handed people are _____ hemispheric dominant
Left
Handedness and other aspects of lateralization are not present till age ____
3 or 4
If a lesion occurs at a younger age, language and other dominant side functions move to ______ side with preservation of ____ likely
nondominant
function
What is the name of the commissural fibers connecting homologous structures of sides of cerebral cortex?
Corpus Callosum
What are the 5 dominant (usually L) functions?
- Language
- Skilled motor planning
- Math - sequence, analytic calculations
- Music - sequential, analytic skills in trained musicians
- Sense of direction - following written directions in sequence
What are the 5 nondominant (usually R) functions?
- Prosody - emotion, tone of voice
- Visual spatial analysis and spatial attention
- Math - estimate quantities, aligning #s into columns
- Music - in untrained musicians and complex performance in trained musicians
- Sense of direction - navigating your way due to sense of spatial orientation/awareness
Which side does sequential, analytic calculations?
left
Which side does emotion, tone of voice?
Right
Which side does following written directions in sequence?
Left
Which side does music in untrained musicians and complex performance in untrained musicians?
right
which side does sequential, analytic skills in trained musicians?
left
which side does navigating your way due to sense of spatial orientation/awareness?
right
if there is a lesion in the white matter between visual cortex and language processing areas, what can the person do, and what can’t they do?
Can see but can no longer read
What syndrome is conduction aphasia an example of?
Disconnection syndrome
what is a corpus callosotomy?
a “split brain” procedure for severe epilepsy
what are the 3 levels of consciousness?
The triple A’s:
Alertness
Attention
Awareness
What is defined as:
the normal functioning of brainstem and diencephalic arousal circuits and cortex?
Alertness
What has the same circuits as for alertness?
Attention
What is attention?
Same circuits as those for alertness AND processing in frontoparietal association cortex
What is awareness?
- Subjective and personal experiences
- Ability to combine higher order systems from various parts of the brain into united, efficient summary of mental activity
- Poorly understood anatomically
Where is the reticular formation embedded in?
Tegmentum
What makes up the rostral RF + related structures?
RF of midbrain and upper pons and continuous with certain nuclei of diencephalon rostrally
What makes up the caudal RF + related structures?
RF of pons and medulla with intermediate zone of SC caudally
What is the rostral RF in charge of?
Conscious state in the forebrain
What is the caudal RF in charge of?
Motor, reflex, and autonomic functions
consciousness Neurotransmitters
-serotonin
-norepinephrine
-acetylcholine
-dopamine
serotonin is from
raphe nucleus
which NT is generalized arousal level
serotonin
norepinephrine is from
locus coeruleus and medial reticular zone
NE is for
attention (direction of consciousness) and autonomic functions
Acetylcholine is from
pedunculopontine nucleus
which NT is for selection of objection of attention, based upon goals
acetylcholine
dopamine is from
ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra
which NT is motivation, cognition *and motor activity
dopamine
What can a coma occur from?
- Lesion in rostral RF and related structures
- Massive damage to B cerebral cortex regions
- Damage to B thalamus
T/F: More caudal and/or ventral brainstem lesions can cause coma
False
They don’t! Only ones in the rostral RF cause a coma.
What is a coma NOT?
- Persistent vegetative state
- Minimally conscious state
- Locked-In Syndrome
deep unconciousness, no sleep/wake, dont open eyes, respond to stimuli, or show signs of intentional movement
coma
awake but no aware.
with spontaneous eye mvmt
regular sleep cycle
normal respirations
lack cognitive or purposeful behavior can have reflexes
complete loss of consciousness awareness
persistent vegetative state
minimally conscious state
severe alter consciousness with intermittent awareness
show one sign of consciousness (follow commands, recognize object, respond to stimuli)
has intelligent speech not reflexive
locked in syndrome
fully conscious
cant move or communicate but with eye movement
cognitive function intact unlike coma and vegetative states
Maintence of alertness is ran by multiple parallel systems where? (3 Places)
Brainstem that projects -> Cortical/forebrain
Brainstem that projects -> thalamus/hypothalamus
Hypothalamus
Thalamic nuclei
The reticular formation receives input from sensory systems, especially the ________________ involved in pain
anterolateral system spinoreticular pathway
The ___________ hypothalamus projects to the arousal system
Posteriolateral hypothalamus
What cortical areas project to the reticular formation to allow emotion & cognition to impact alertness
Several areas from the association cortex and limbic cortex
what are other areas that activate alertness?
superior colliculi
cerebellum
basal ganglia
thalamus
defined as the brain processes that allocate resource to what matter
attention
which cerebral hemisphere is most responsible for attention –> sustained attention and spatial awarenss
right hemisphere
What are the 4 kinds of attention?
Sustained attention - vigilance, concentration, nondistractability
Switching- changing from 1 task to another
Selective- ability to focus on something more than other things
Divided- Preforming 2 or more tasks at the same time
vigilance, concentration, nondistractability
sustained attention
changing from 1 task to another
Switching
ability to focus on something more than other things
Selective
Preforming 2 or more tasks at the same time
divided
Before a person can be attentive, they must be:
In an awake/alert state
What areas of the brain provide motivation that allows us to be attentive?
Anterior cingulate gyrus, amygdala, other limbic structures
attentional disorder
- dual task deficient
-neglect
-attention deficient disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD
-motor impersistence (unable to maintian posure/position for extended time even with cognitive ability)
What hemisphere is dominant in language for R handed people?
What hemisphere is dominant in language for L handed people?
L hemisphere is dominant 95% of the time
L hemisphere is dominant 60-70% of the time
Many L handed people have _____________ representations for language, especially if family has history of L handedness
Bilateral cortical
comprehension of language occurs in
werinickes area
*
Wernicke’s area is found within ______________ cortex
L temporoparietal cortex
(includes spoken, written, signed language)
motor planning and production of language happens in
brocas area
where is brocas area
frontal lobe close to primary motor cortex
what does brocas area contain
ability to string words together grammatically
reading and writing require
additional connections with visual and motor cortices
the _______ gyrus is connected to wernickes area for comprehending spoken and written language
Angular Gyrus - assists w/ complex language
What connects wernicke’s and brocas?
Arcuate Fasciculus
The nondominant side language abilities:
Area equivelant to wernickes:
Comprehends emotion or tone of voice
(if you’ve got wernicke’s on the left, this area is on the right)
aphasia
disorder of spoken language
The nondominant side language abilities:
Area equivelant to Brocas:
Controls your own tone of voice and gestures in communication (right inferior frontal gyrus)
Wernicke’s vs Broca’s aphasia
Wernicke’s- fluent w/ words but words have no meaning (paraphasic errors(unintended words) neologisms (made up words), anomia can occur in cirumlocution)(cant name object)
Broca’s- know what you want to say but have trouble saying it
sensory/receptive aphasia
Wernickes aphasia
motor/expressive aphasia
brocas aphasia
Conduction aphasia
Lesion to arcuate fasciculus or other connections b/w wernickes and brocas area
Can hear but cannot repeat it back
good comprehension poor repetition
Global aphasia-
Both speaking and understanding are impaired to some degree
Agraphia
Inability to write
logorrhea
excessive and often uncontrollable speech. People with logorrhea tend to speak rapidly, continuously, and with little regard for whether others are listening or able to keep up.
confabulation
unintentional fabrication or distortion of memories without the intent to deceive
verbal perseveration
repetition of words, phrases, or sounds beyond their appropriate context.
alexia/dyslexia
inability to read
communication disorders that are not language disorders
-oral motor dyspraxia (inability to motor plan; is a speech disorder that affects the ability to coordinate and control the muscles required for speaking, chewing, and swallowing. not caused by muscle weakness)
-dysarthria (results from weakness, paralysis, or incoordination of the muscles used for speech production. It affects the ability to speak clearly and can result in slurred, slow, or strained speech.)
