Neurophysiology of Higher Cognition Flashcards
Cognition requires extensive synaptic interactions between what?
pyramidal cells of all neocortical areas
What are the levels of language?
- language conceptual system 2. Language mediational system 3. Language Implementation System 4. Spoken language
what acts as a relay from the conceptual system to the language implementation system?
the language mediational system
what provides the concepts underlying our language. For example, the noun mediation area receives input from the ventral visual pathway and provides us with the names of things?
the conceptual system
What ages recognize all sounds that might be language?
babies younger than 6 months
when do babies start to have a brain change and they start to recognize the specific language sounds of their native language. Babies drop the use of phenomes that don’t occur in their language
between 6-9 months
where is a new language coded for in adults?
areas adjacent to broca’s area
what is social cognition divided into?
emotion comprehension and theory of mind
what is emotion comprehension responsible for?
recognizing my own emotions
What is the first step in emotion comprehension?
perception of facial expressions requires that we identify a face as something special
what is the area in the brain that is responsible for storing faces?
the fusiform face area
what is the second step in emotion comprehension?
bring in the emotional component
what anatomical substrates bring in the emotional component in emotion comprehension?
the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex
the facial details that cue us as to what emotion we are seeing in another person are concentrated how?
in a triangle containing the eyes, nose, and mouth
what is responsible for controlling the use of the eyes and directs the gaze to that triangle when looking at human faces?
the amygdala
an individual with damage to the amygdala would have difficulty doing what?
looking at that triangle of emotion
when do mirror neurons fire?
when you do something and when you see someone else do that same action
what areas are necessary to imitate other people’s motions?
the ventral visual system, the posterior mirror neuron system, and the anterior mirror neuron system
what is the ventral visual system’s (the posterior sector of the superior temporal sulcus) role in imitating other’s motions?
it provides the visual input
what is the posterior mirror neuron’s role in imitating other’s motions?
it identifies the motor action
what is the anterior mirror neuron’s role in imitating other’s motions?
it identifies the goal of the action
the circuit for imitating is believed to interact with limbic structures via what?
the insula
what is prosody?
tune and rhythm of speech
what is the first step in the perception of prosody?
the primary auditory cortex is required for the basics of sound processing
what is the second step in the perception of prosody?
the information from the primary auditory cortex is sent to the right posterior superior temporal sulcus
what occurs in the right posterior superior temporal sulcus?
we begin to piece together the meaning of the loudness and pitch
what is the third step in perception of prosody?
the information from the right posterior superior temporal sulcus is then sent to the frontal cortex
what occurs in the frontal cortex during perception of prosody?
the judgement of the emotional stimulus is determined
what does the core pathway of theory of mind require?
the amygdala, the medial temporal lobes, and the orbitofrontal areas
what serves as the scaffold of theory of mind and is considered an accessory pathway?
language
when we talk about decision making, there are three general areas that are involved. What are they?
stimulus encoding area, action selection area, and the expected award system
what anatomical structures are involved in the stimulus encoding system?
orbitofrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the striatum
what is the purpose for the stimulus encoding system?
it evaluates the evidence available in making the decision - “i can’t buy this i dont have the money
what anatomical structures are involved in the action selection system?
the anterior cingulate cortex
what is the role of the action selection system?
it learns and encodes the subjective value of the results- “was this good or bad” it also is involved in error detection
what anatomical structures are involved in the expected reward system?
basal ganglia, amygdala, insular cortex, intraparietal cortex
what is the role of the expected reward system?
it predicts the expected reward “im going to buy this because it will make me happy”
what system is involved with decisions with known risks?
stimulus encoding system
what system is involved with decisions with ambiguous risks?
the expected award system and the action selection system
what system is responsible for predicting the consequences of actions?
the stimulus encoding system
what system asks “what are the rewards?”
the expected award system
what system is responsible for learning from mistakes and encodes the results?
the action selection system
