Neurophysiology of Higher Cognition

Question 1

Cognition requires extensive synaptic interactions between what?

Answer 1

pyramidal cells of all neocortical areas

Question 2

What are the levels of language?

Answer 2

1. language conceptual system 2. Language mediational system 3. Language Implementation System 4. Spoken language

Question 3

what acts as a relay from the conceptual system to the language implementation system?

Answer 3

the language mediational system

Question 4

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?

Answer 4

the conceptual system

Question 5

What ages recognize all sounds that might be language?

Answer 5

babies younger than 6 months

Question 6

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

Answer 6

between 6-9 months

Question 7

where is a new language coded for in adults?

Answer 7

areas adjacent to broca’s area

Question 8

what is social cognition divided into?

Answer 8

emotion comprehension and theory of mind

Question 9

what is emotion comprehension responsible for?

Answer 9

recognizing my own emotions

Question 10

What is the first step in emotion comprehension?

Answer 10

perception of facial expressions requires that we identify a face as something special

Question 11

what is the area in the brain that is responsible for storing faces?

Answer 11

the fusiform face area

Question 12

what is the second step in emotion comprehension?

Answer 12

bring in the emotional component

Question 13

what anatomical substrates bring in the emotional component in emotion comprehension?

Answer 13

the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex

Question 14

the facial details that cue us as to what emotion we are seeing in another person are concentrated how?

Answer 14

in a triangle containing the eyes, nose, and mouth

Question 15

what is responsible for controlling the use of the eyes and directs the gaze to that triangle when looking at human faces?

Answer 15

the amygdala

Question 16

an individual with damage to the amygdala would have difficulty doing what?

Answer 16

looking at that triangle of emotion

Question 17

when do mirror neurons fire?

Answer 17

when you do something and when you see someone else do that same action

Question 18

what areas are necessary to imitate other people’s motions?

Answer 18

the ventral visual system, the posterior mirror neuron system, and the anterior mirror neuron system

Question 19

what is the ventral visual system’s (the posterior sector of the superior temporal sulcus) role in imitating other’s motions?

Answer 19

it provides the visual input

Question 20

what is the posterior mirror neuron’s role in imitating other’s motions?

Answer 20

it identifies the motor action

Question 21

what is the anterior mirror neuron’s role in imitating other’s motions?

Answer 21

it identifies the goal of the action

Question 22

the circuit for imitating is believed to interact with limbic structures via what?

Answer 22

the insula

Question 23

what is prosody?

Answer 23

tune and rhythm of speech

Question 24

what is the first step in the perception of prosody?

Answer 24

the primary auditory cortex is required for the basics of sound processing

Question 25

what is the second step in the perception of prosody?

Answer 25

the information from the primary auditory cortex is sent to the right posterior superior temporal sulcus

Question 26

what occurs in the right posterior superior temporal sulcus?

Answer 26

we begin to piece together the meaning of the loudness and pitch

Question 27

what is the third step in perception of prosody?

Answer 27

the information from the right posterior superior temporal sulcus is then sent to the frontal cortex

Question 28

what occurs in the frontal cortex during perception of prosody?

Answer 28

the judgement of the emotional stimulus is determined

Question 29

what does the core pathway of theory of mind require?

Answer 29

the amygdala, the medial temporal lobes, and the orbitofrontal areas

Question 30

what serves as the scaffold of theory of mind and is considered an accessory pathway?

Answer 30

language

Question 31

when we talk about decision making, there are three general areas that are involved. What are they?

Answer 31

stimulus encoding area, action selection area, and the expected award system

Question 32

what anatomical structures are involved in the stimulus encoding system?

Answer 32

orbitofrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the striatum

Question 33

what is the purpose for the stimulus encoding system?

Answer 33

it evaluates the evidence available in making the decision - “i can’t buy this i dont have the money

Question 34

what anatomical structures are involved in the action selection system?

Answer 34

the anterior cingulate cortex

Question 35

what is the role of the action selection system?

Answer 35

it learns and encodes the subjective value of the results- “was this good or bad” it also is involved in error detection

Question 36

what anatomical structures are involved in the expected reward system?

Answer 36

basal ganglia, amygdala, insular cortex, intraparietal cortex

Question 37

what is the role of the expected reward system?

Answer 37

it predicts the expected reward “im going to buy this because it will make me happy”

Question 38

what system is involved with decisions with known risks?

Answer 38

stimulus encoding system

Question 39

what system is involved with decisions with ambiguous risks?

Answer 39

the expected award system and the action selection system

Question 40

what system is responsible for predicting the consequences of actions?

Answer 40

the stimulus encoding system

Question 41

what system asks “what are the rewards?”

Answer 41

the expected award system

Question 42

what system is responsible for learning from mistakes and encodes the results?

Answer 42

the action selection system