Neuroscience and Cognition Flashcards
What are Brodmann’s areas?
Parcelations (i.e. divisions) of the neocortex based on cytoarchitecture originally proposed by Korbinian Brodmann.
What is the function of the hippocampus?
It is the area of the brain normally associated with navigation and episodic memory. Modern theory suggests it helps consolidate cortical memory.
In the context of DNA and protein synthesis, what is the difference between transcription and translation?
Transcription is the process that sequences RNA on the basis of DNA.
Translation is the creation of a protein from RNA.
What is a Golgi stain?
A method for staining neurons so that their dendritic and axonic structure can be distinguished in a microscope.
PS: In the Golgi stain, only 10% or so of the neurons are stained, it is a stochastic process.
What is fMRI?
“functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging”: A method of visualizing the activity of the brain using the BOLD (blood oxygenation level-dependent) signal.
What is cognition?
The ability of an animal to meaningfully interact with their environment.
Or also:
The process by which the sensory input is transformed, stored, recovered, and used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition
What is studied by the field of epigenetics?
The expression or inhibition of particular genes according to environmental and developmental influences.
What is the default network?
The network of brain regions that is active when a person is not engaged into any specific cognitive task.
What are “animal models”?
The idea that animals and humans have analogue systems and thus findings from animals translate into findings for humans.
What is the EEG?
Electro-Encephalo-Gram, a method to record electrical signals originating from the cerebral cortex (outer layers of the brain).
The signal originates in synapses due to synchronous firing of Pyramidal cells.
Which brain region is thought to respond to fear?
Amygdala
What is the difference between an instinct and a reflex?
An instinct is a meaningful sequence of movements triggered by specific stimuli, without previous training.
A reflex is shorter, typically only one stimulus-movement response.
What is the ‘critical period’?
The critical period is a maturational stage in the lifespan of an organism during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to certain environmental stimuli.
If, for some reason, the organism does not receive the appropriate stimulus during this “critical period” to learn a given skill or trait, it may be difficult, ultimately less successful, or even impossible, to develop certain associated functions later in life.”
Examples:
- Early: Sight
- Late: Language
What is cognition?
Cognition is the process by which the sensory input is transformed, stored, recovered, and used.
Which school of thought believes that behavior is decided by internal processes?
Cognitive Psychology
Which school of thought rejects introspection as a method of scientific inquiry?
Behaviorism
Tolman, Ritchie, and Kalish (1946) conducted an experiment on response vs place learning in rats. They divided the rats into two groups. One group learned the representation of the maze and the other group learned a simple behavioral response (turning to the left).
Which group learned faster?
The group that learned the representation was faster than the group that learned the response.
However, if the maze had a roof (the landmarks in the room were not visible to rats), the group that learned a response was faster.
Take-away message: the type of learning that can occur depends on the availability of cues.
What do we visualize with the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique?
We visualize the diffusion gradients of water in the brain.
This gives us the orientation of white matter tracts (cortico-cortical connections, cortico-subcortical connections), and therefore is crucial for the study of brain circuits.
Theta waves on an EEG readout are associated with…
Deep relaxation and meditation
What is a connectome?
A comprehensive map of neuronal wiring in the brain
Going from small to large, what are the some of the levels of analysis with which we research the brain?
Molecules, synapses, single neurons, networks, behavior, society
