Normal Cognition Flashcards
What is the historical belief of cognition and language ?
cognition & language were believed to be related but two different things
What is current belief of cognition & language?
Language comprehension & formulation are part of the cognitive system - may not be as distinct from cognition as previously thought
What is Cognition?
Umbrella term for all higher mental processes including:
- attention
- memory
- executive function
What is Attention?
Definition: The ability to detect & respond to stimuli
What Theoretical Model of Attention is most widely referred to in SLP world?
Sohlberg & Mateer’s model (1987, 2001, 2010)
- Sustained attention - ability to maintain attention during continuous and repetitive activities
- Executive Control of Attention- includes:
- selective
- alternating
- suppression
- working memory
- divided attention
What is sustained attention?
Description: ability to maintain attention during continuous and repetitive activities
Representative Task:
Monitoring a spoken list for target words
Selective Executive Control of Attention
Description:
Selectively process information while inhibiting responses to nontarget information
Representative Task:
Listening to a spoken passage in the presence of background noise and/or distracting visual stimuli
Alternating Executive Control of Attention
Description:
Ability to shift focus between tasks, stimuli, or response sets
mental flexibility
- also includes divided attention
Task:
Switching back and forth between listening to a spoken passage and reading text
Suppression - Executive Control of Attention
Description:
Ability to control impulsive responding
Task:
Inhibiting automatic responses during a task;
“thinking before acting”
Working Memory - executive control of attention
Description:
Ability to hold and manipulate information in mind
Task:
Doing math in one’s head
Principles of Attention
Attention is:
- always defined in relation to a stimulus
- external or internal
-
modality of external stimulus should always be identified and noted
- Modalities: auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory
- may function as a prerequisite to other cognitive linguistic operations
-
capacity limitation:
- attention is a limited-capacity resource
-
Selection:
- attention involves selection of relevant stimuli (others ignored/filtered)
Why does normal variability of attention occur?
Normal Variability occurs due to :
- Modality: Auditory vs. visual attention
- Time-based variability - can decrease over time
- Effort level
Clinical translation: you may be seeing a difference rather than a disorder, since there’s alot of normal variation
What areas of the brain are devoted to attention?
Attention is essential for all cognitive functions, therefore large areas of brain are devoted to attention
- Frontal lobe (prefrontal cortex)
- Parietal lobe
- Temporal lobe
What is Memory?
Definition:
the function of the brain to store and recall information
Theoretical Models of Human Memory
-Name Two
- Stages Model
- Systems Model
What is Stages Model?
A theoretical model of human memory
- intended to describe various stages of information processing
- encoding
- storage
- retrieval
Encoding
- early processing of material to be learned
- involves strategies such as rehearsal and organization
- quality determines how well info is stored & later retrieved (e.g. depth of encoding, organization of material)
Storage
- holding of information in the memory system for future use
- short-term store temporary unless transferred to long-term store
- encoding processes occur during short-term storage
- long-term store considered to be permanent unless disrupted by pathological process
Retrieval
- pulling information from storage (long-term store) in order to use it
- delayed recall on memory tests
- may be facilitated by presentation of information in recognition formats (e.g. multiple choice, yes/no)
Describe interaction between encoding, storage
and retrieval in the stages model
-
quality of encoding impacts storage and retrieval
- information encoded deeply & associated with pre-existing knowledge is more likely to be encoded more effectively and efficiently
- Information is better recalled under conditions similar to when it was learned (context-dependent memory or domain specific memory)
- Repeated retrieval of information can increase probability of being retrieved at a later time
What is System Model of
Memory?
evolved from concerns that stage model was too simplistic & does not explain complexities of memory process
- breakdowns occur in one component of system, while others are preserved
- (e.g. patients with severe amnesia can have preserved digit span and recall of recent items, with inability to learn new material
- Memory is comprised of sets of interrelated systems and subsystems
- Types of System models
- Working memory
- long-term memory
Describe Model of Working Memory
in System Model Theory
*previously short-term; Baddeley & Hitch, 1974
- When information arrives via the sense organs (perceptually encoded), it goes to working memory
Describe model of long-term memory
in
Systems Model theory
(Squire,1992; Tulving, 1985)
Some information is consolidated into long-term memory
Types:
- Declarative/Explicit memory (conscious)
- Semantic: knowledge of facts (e.g. multiplication tables)
- Episodic: knowledge of personal experience (e.g. what you had for breakfast)
- Non-Declarative/implicit memory (unconscious)
- procedural memory : preserved learning even when you don’t recall learning it
Name two types of
Long term memory
Declarative/Explicit memory (conscious)
- Semantic: knowledge of facts (e.g. multiplication tables)
- Episodic: knowledge of personal experience (e.g. what you had for breakfast)
Non-Declarative/implicit memory (unconscious)
- procedural memory : preserved learning even when you don’t recall learning it
Memory Systems
Table
pg. 57 in book
Where are memories stored?
- Temporal Lobe & Hippocampus -
- important for storage of new memories & retrieal of existing memories
- Frontal lobe & subcortical structures -
- encoding of information & retrieving through their role in “executive” or “supervisory” functions (e.g. attention, organization; temporal memory)
- retrieval process is mediated by frontal lobe
- cortical & subcortical area associations trigger retrieval of memories
- Multiple long-term memory sites
- especially in integration areas of temporo-parietal lobes that are implicated in verbal and visual memory
Modality Specificity:
Verbal vs. Visual memory
- Left hemisphere -
- verbal memory & lexical information
- Right hemisphere -
- visual memory,
- topographical memory,
- non-verbal information
What is Executive Function?
Set of cognitive processes important in goal-directed and purposeful behavior
- Assists with :
- planning
- organizing
- initiating
- adapting
in a flexible manner, as situation demands
Theoretical Models of
Executive Function
Many theories:
- components of executive function not mutually exclusive
- they interact & overlap
- general agreement about primary cognitive processes comprising executive function
The action of beginning a goal-directed task
Initiation
Identifying the problem, generating potential solutions,
choosing a solution, and
evaluating the outcome
problem-solving
Ability to change a course of action or thought
based on the shifting demands
of a situation
Mental flexibility
Setting objectives & determining a course of
action for achieving those actions
Planning
Being able to discern the potentially good
and harmful aspects of a situation,
and act in a way that makes sense
Judgement
The ability to select appropriate responses and suppress
unwanted actions
Inhibition
The process of forming conclusions, judgements
or inferences from facts or premises
Reasoning
the regulation of one’s thoughts, emotional responses,
actions & motivations in order to behave
in an expected way for a given situation
self-regulation
awareness & understanding of one’s own
thoughts and skills and how you learn information
Meta-cognition
Key concepts of
Executive Function
-
Cognitive processing: every task we perform requires activation of cognitive processes
- automatic processing: effortless, rapid, unconscious, uses fewer resources
- controlled processing: slow, effortful, conscious, uses more resources
- Regulation of cognitive resources: each cognitive process takes up some of the resources
Neuroanatomy
of
Executive Function
- Executive functions are associated with the frontal lobes and their connections
- Prefrontal area is divided into subsections:
- Dorsolateral
- Ventrolateral
- Orbitofrontal
- Dorsomedial
- Ventromedial
Dorsolateral
Executive Function Neuroanatomy
Connections (superior to inferior)
- Parietal cortex
- Caudate nucleus
- Global pallidus
- Substantia nigra
- Thalamus
Functions
- Monitors and adjusts behavior using working memory and executive functions
Consequences of Lesions:
- Executive function deficit
- Disinterest/emotional reactivity
- Decreased attention to relevant stimuli
Ventrolateral
Executive Function
Neuroanatomy
Connections (superior - inferior):
- Temporal cortex
- Amygdala
- Posterior cingulate
- parahippocampal gyrus
- inferior parietal lobe
Functions:
- Response inhibition
- Goal appropriate response selection
- Attention conrol
- Vigilance
Consequences of Lesions:
- Emotional dysregulation
- poor attention
- poor vigilance
Orbitofrontal
Executive Function
Neuroanatomy
Connections (superior-inferior):
- temporal, parietal
- insula
- globus pallidus caudate nucleus
- substantia nigra
- amygdala
- thalamus
- cerebrocerebellar circuit
Function:
- Personality
- Emotional input
- social behavior
- suppresion of distracting signals
Consequences of Lesion:
- emotional liability
- disinhibition
- distractibility
- social inappropriateness
Dorsomedial
Executive Function
Neuroanatomy
Connections (superior-inferior):
- temporal, parietal
- caudate nucleus
- global pallidus
- substantia nigra
- cingulate thalamus
Functions:
- arousal
- motivation
- initiation of activity
Consequences of Lesions:
- Apathy
- decreased drive/awareness
- Akinetic-abullic syndrome
- mutism
Ventromedial
Executive Function
Neuroanatomy
Connections:
- Amygdala
- Temporal lobe
- Prelimbic cortex
Functions:
- Emotional control
- empathy
Consequences of Lesions:
- impaired judgement
- inappropriate social behavior
Age Related Changes
to Cognition
- some cognitive abilities improve with age (i.e. vocabulary)
- others decrease with time
- Processing speed
- Attention
- Memory
- Executive function
Age related changes in
processing speed
refers to speech with which cognitive activities are performed
- begins to declien in third decade of life & continues throughout life
- many cognitive changes reported in healthy older adults are due to slowed processing
Age related changes in Attention
- sustained attention - little decline with age
- executive control - (selective & alternating attention) = more noticeable decline
Age related changes in
Memory
most common complaint with aging
- may be from slowed processing/reduced selective attention (inability to ignore relevant information)
- Declarative memory (explicit)
- episodic memory - decline throughout life
- semantic memory - decline later in life
- Nondeclarative memory (implicit)
- remains unchanged across the lifespan
Age related changes
in
Executive function
- concept formation
- abstraction
- inhibition and mental flexibility
- decline with age, especially after age 70
- Verbal & mathematic reasoning decline starting around 45
- ability to appreciate similarities and reason about familiar material = stable throughout life
