Neurophysiology of Higher Cognition

Question 1

What are the 6 components of cognition?

Answer 1

• language
• social cognition
• decision-making
• executive functioning: foward planning, anticipation, reasoning
• memory
• visuospatial perception

Question 2

Cognition requires extensive synaptic interactions between ________ cells of all the ________ _________ ______

Answer 2

Cognition requires extensive synaptic interactions between pyramidal cells of all the neocortical association areas

Question 3

Describe the very basic pathway for language development:

Answer 3

language conceptual system

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language mediational system

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language implementation system (Broca’s and Wernicke’s)

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spoken language

Question 4

• part of the language system
• broadly distributed set of structures that provide concepts underlying our language
• noun mediation area receives input from ventral visual pathway and provides us w/ name of objects

Answer 4

language conceptual system

Question 5

• part of the language pathway
• includes areas in the temporal, parietal, and frontal association areas
• relays info to the language implementation system from the conceptual system

Answer 5

language mediational system

Question 6

• final common pathway for speaking
• involves Wernicke’s area, Broca’s area, arcuate fasciculus, and facial area of motor cortex

Answer 6

language implementation system

Question 7

Describe language in terms of human development:

Answer 7

• between 6-9 months, brains change and 1) start to recognize specific language sounds of native language and 2) babies drop the use of phenomes that do not occur in their language
• process is complete after ~1 year, where child’s babbling begins to convert to true spoken language
• second language learned during language acquisition phase activates same pathway as first language
• second language learned after language acquisition phase activates an adjacent region of Broca’s area (although this may be reflected in the teaching method)

Question 8

What are the 2 components to social cognition?

Answer 8

• emotion comprehension (recognition)
• theory of mind

Question 9

Describe the process of emotional comprehension in social cognition:

Answer 9

1) perception of facial expression requires that we identify face as something special, superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus (fusiform facial area, in certain of forms of autism this is not functioning properly)
2) recognize emotions: amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex (same circuitry that produces emotion in us recognizes it in others)
- facial cues are concentrated centrally in eyes, nose, and mouth
- gaze scan’s another person’s face in triangle; amygdala controls/directs eye gaze within the triangle (individual w/ amygdala damage spends little time looking at eyes and does not methodically scan face, but still stares b/c fusiform facial area still working)
- mirror neuron system and insula are important in emotional comprehension by imitative behaviors
- primary auditory cortex, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and frontal cortex are important in understanding parsody of speech

Question 10

Describe the importance of mirror neuron system in emotional comprehension of social cognition:

Answer 10

• mirror neurons important in imitation, imitative learning, and understanding emotions of others
• pathway: ventral visual area provides visual input (posterior sector of superior temporal sulcus) > posterior mirror neurons identify motor action > anterior mirror neurons identify goal of action
• this circuit is also believed to interact w/ limbic structures via the insula

Question 11

Describe the importance of understanding parsody of speech in emotional comprehension of social cognition:

Answer 11

1) primary auditory cortex req for basics of sound processing, including identity of pitch, loudness, and other characteristics of sound
2) info is sent to right posterior superior temporal sulcus (along w/ other acoustical info from secondary auditory processes), info is pieced together in terms of meaning of loudness, pitch, etc. of vocalization
3) judgement of emotional stimulus is determined in frontal cortex

Question 12

Describe the importance of theory in mind in proper functioning social cognition:

Answer 12

• main pathway: amygdala has connections to medial temporal lobes (memory, sensory processing) and orbitofrontal areas (sensory, emotional processing)
• acessory pathways: language believed to serve as scaffold for TOM (less important w/ age) and executive functioning (frontal lobes)
• likely that emotion comprehension is required for theory of mind to exist

Question 13

Compare and contrast the functions of the anterior mirror neuron system, posterior mirror neuron system, and posterior sector of superior temporal sulcus:

Answer 13

• posterior sector of superior temporal sulcus: provides visual input that we work with
• posterior mirror neuron system: identifies the motion
• anterior mirror neuronal system: identifies the purpose of the motion

Question 14

Describe the structures involved in decision making and what their specific roles are:

Answer 14

• stimulus encoding system: orbitofrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and striatum; evaluates the evidence available in making the decision, predicts consequences of actions
• action selection system: anterior cingulate cortex; learns and encodes the subjective value of results, also involved in error detection
• expected reward system: basal ganglia, amygdala, insular cortex (processes social emotions), and intraparietal cortex (somatosensory processing and planning/intent); predicts expected reward, makes decisions w/ ambiguous risks
• decisions in which risks are explicit relies most heavily on stimulus encoding system
• decisions in which risks are unknown rely most heabily on expected reward system and action selection system