Perception and Neuropsychology Flashcards

1
Q

Sensation

A

Process by which sense organs receive and transmit information

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2
Q

Perception

A

Brain’s processing and interpretation of information

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3
Q

Absolute threshold

A

Lowest intensity at which a stimulus is detected 50% of the time

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4
Q

Neural implementation

A
  1. Sensory organs absorb energy
  2. Energy is transduced into a neural signal
  3. The neural signal is sent throughout the brain, where further processing takes place
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5
Q

Cornea

A

Outer area of the eye, focuses the image

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6
Q

Choroid

A

Middle area of the eye, transports waste away from the eye

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7
Q

Iris

A

Inner area of the eye, controls the pupil; amount of light let in

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8
Q

Lens

A

Inner part of the eye, focuses image onto the back of the retina; contracts and expands as needed to look close or far away

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9
Q

Congenital cataracts (born with cataracts)

A

Even after removing faulty cataracts, people remain blind (critical period for vision)

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10
Q

Vitreous humor

A

Inner part of eye, provides nutrients and removes waste

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11
Q

Retina

A

Inner part of eye, transduces electromagnetic energy into a neural signal

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12
Q

Cones (photoreceptors)

A

High-resolution system, daytime, found on the fovea

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13
Q

Rods (photoreceptors)

A

Low-resolution system, nighttime, situated peripherally; MORE NUMEROUS THAN CONES AND MORE SENSITIVE TO LIGHT !!

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14
Q

Gyrus

A

Ridge on the surface of the brain, surrounded by fissures known as ‘sulci’

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15
Q

Occipital lobe and vision

A

Serves one sensory modality (vision), while frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes are all multi-modal

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16
Q

Mishkin & Undergleider 1982

A

Double dissociation; temporal lobe damage resulted in impaired object discrimination, while parietal lobe damage resulted in impaired landmark discrimination

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17
Q

Ventral stream pattern perception

A

Lets you know what things are

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18
Q

Dorsal stream spatial location

A

Where things are

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19
Q

Parietal lobe

A

Helps us orientate ourselves

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20
Q

Temporal lobe

A

Helps us to interpret information

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21
Q

What activates retinal ganglion cells?

A

Spots of light or dark maximally activate the retinal ganglion cells

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22
Q

Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN cells) are activated by:

A

Spots of light

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23
Q

What activates V1 cells?

A

Lines activate V1 cells

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24
Q

What activates beyond V1 (far reaches of the ventral visual stream)?

A

Jagged features

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25
Q

Area TE/IT (situated in far reaches of visual system) is activated by…?

A

Activated by facial profiles, processes complex features

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26
Q

Retinotopic mapping

A

Point-to-point mapping of the external world onto the retina, lateral geniculate nucleus, and V1 (cells have a highly specific function that they do not work outside of); NO retinotopic mapping beyond V1 !!

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27
Q

Where in the visual system is retinotopic mapping present?

A

Before and in V1

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28
Q

Receptive field of the retina

A

Area of the retina which, when stimulated by light, causes a change in the neural activity of the cell

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29
Q

Centre-surround architecture

A

Enhances contrast/ view of image

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30
Q

Lateral inhibition

A

Visual process in which the firing of a retinal cell inhibits the firing of surrounding retinal cells

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31
Q

Temporal retina

A

Temporal retina fibres come out of the eye and ‘swap’ sides (example: temporal retinal fibres of the left eye look at the right visual field)

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32
Q

Nasal retina

A

Fibres come out of the eye and ‘stay’ on their side (example: nasal retina fibres from the right eye look at the right visual field)

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33
Q

What side of the brain looks at the left visual fields of both eyes?

A

Right side

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34
Q

What side of the brain looks at the right visual fields of both eyes?

A

Left side

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35
Q

Right-monocular blindness

A

Result of a severed optic nerve of the right eye, blind in the right eye

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36
Q

Bitemporal hemianopia

A

Result of a severed optic chiasm, both outer temporal visual fields are damaged

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37
Q

Left-homonymous hemianopia

A

Result of severed optic track, blindness in both left fields; any cut after the optic chiasm and up to the primary visual cortex will cause left-homonymous hemianopia

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38
Q

What does damage to the primary visual cortex result in (vision)?

A

Left-homonymous hemianopia and macular sparing (central vision is spared)

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39
Q

Patient D.B. (blindsight)

A

5% of visual information goes directly from the eyes to the dorsal pathway on the way to the parietal lobe; this is why D.B. can tell you where something is, although he cannot identify what the object is

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40
Q

Area V5

A

Visual motion area (function of cells in that area is to tell the next station in the visual system that something is moving)

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41
Q

Achromatopsia

A

Absence of colour vision, occurs as a result of damage to V4 (involved in colour perception and situated laterally on the outside area of the cortex) and nothing else

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42
Q

Akinetopsia

A

Absence of motion vision, occurs as a result of damage to V5

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43
Q

Visual agnosia

A

Inability to identify an object

44
Q

Apperceptive agnosia

A

Failure of object recognition due to a failure of visual perception, due to partial damage to occipital lobe; associated with scotomas

45
Q

Scotomas

A

Series of small blindspots; viewing the world through a ‘peppery mask’

46
Q

Dorsal simultagnosia

A

Failure of object recognition due to a spatial perceptual impairment (can recognise objects, but not more than one at a time - CANNOT see multiple objects), occurs due to damage to the parietal lobe

47
Q

Ventral simultagnosia

A

Failure of object recognition due to a complex perceptual impairment (beyond V1); can recognise objects but not more than one at a time, BUT can see multiple objects

48
Q

Associative agnosia

A

Difficulty understanding the meaning of what you are seeing, occurs due to damage beyond V1

49
Q

Bottom-up theory

A

When you look at an object, you break the object down into its constituent parts and then build it back up to gain recognition of what the object is

50
Q

Top-down theory

A

See bigger picture and then ‘hypothesis test’

51
Q

Depth perception: Binocular clues

A

We have two forward-facing eyes (the visual fields of the eyes often overlap); convergence (eyes moving closer together as the object of interest moves closer); binocular disparity (two eyes see different things)

52
Q

Motion parallax

A

Things that are closer to the viewer appear to be moving faster

53
Q

Relative height/ location

A

Things that are closer to the horizon tend to be further away from you

54
Q

Linear perspective

A

As two parallel lines get further away, they get closer together

55
Q

Interposition

A

An object that overlaps another is perceived to be closer to the viewer

56
Q

Texture gradient

A

Texture gradient will appear denser as it gets further away

57
Q

Relative size

A

Objects that are close to viewer appear larger, objects that are farther away appear smaller

58
Q

Depth perception: Monocular clues

A

Can be seen in a still image (relative size, texture gradients, interposition, perspective, relative height = ‘pictorial’ depth cues); motion parallax (things that are closer to us appear to be moving faster)

59
Q

Perceptual constancies

A

Our perception of a familiar object stays constant, even when the object’s retinal image changes

60
Q

Size constancy

A

When an object’s retinal image size changes due to distance, but our perception of the object’s size remains the same

61
Q

Subjective contours

A

Perceived contours/ edges where there is no physical contour in the image

62
Q

Ponzo illusion

A

Top object perceived as larger than bottom one, even though they are both the same size (to do with background: converging lines)

63
Q

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

A

Short wavelength cones sensitive to blues, medium wavelength cones sensitive to greens/ yellows, and long wave-length cones that are more sensitive to reds; doesn’t explain why colour blindness occurs in pairs or why you get colour after-effects

64
Q

Opponent-process theory

A

Occurs just beyond the cones in the retina, in the bipolar and ganglion cells; you might have a blue-yellow opponent cell (retinal ganglion cell that fires more to blue and fires less to yellow, or that does the opposite; responses occur as a pair)

65
Q

René Descartes

A

First person to attempt to localise brain function

66
Q

Gall & Spurzheim (1800s): Phrenology

A

Correlated bumps and depressions on the skull with certain faculties

67
Q

Broca & Patient Tan 1861

A

Left-frontal lobe of the brain known as Broca’s area and damage to it results in Broca’s aphasia (difficulty with the motor aspects of speech)

68
Q

Wernicke 1874

A

Damage to the left-temporal area of the brain (Wernicke’s area) results in Wernicke’s aphasia - affected individuals can speak normally, but struggle to comprehend speech

69
Q

Fritsch & Hitzig 1870

A

Discovered that the brain is an electrical structure

70
Q

Key anatomy of the temporal lobe

A
  1. Lateral surface (superior, middle, and inferior temporal gyrus; known collectively as the ‘visual ventral stream’), medial surface (medial temporal lobe)
  2. Middle and inferior temporal gyrus make up the ventral stream
  3. Superior temporal gyrus is all auditory (auditory cortical region of the brain)
  4. Medial temporal lobe (cortical tissue that’s wrapped up around the inside of the brain)
71
Q

Damage to right-medial temporal lobe results in…

A

Visual memory impairments

72
Q

Damage to left-medial temporal lobe results in…

A

Impaired verbal memory

73
Q

Patient H.M. and multiple memory systems

A

Skill-learning remains intact for individuals with damage to the medial temporal lobe, supports multiple memory systems theory: declarative memory affected by damage to the area, while non-declarative memory is spared despite damage to the area

74
Q

Patient H.M. and memory consolidation

A

Found that memory is not stored in the medial temporal lobe; rather, the medial temporal lobe is responsible for consolidating memories in your brain

75
Q

Effects of damage to the parietal lobe:

A

Impairments in processing spatial information:
1. Impairments in integrating sensory information
2. Impairments in the control of movement
3. Impairments in guiding movements to points in space
4. Impairments in abstract concepts
5. Impairments in directing attention

76
Q

Effects of left-parietal damage:

A
  1. Agraphia (difficulty writing)
  2. Acalculia (difficulty organising information spatially)
  3. Right/ left confusion
  4. Dyslexia (difficulties with reading, etc.)
  5. Difficulty drawing details
77
Q

Effects of right-parietal damage:

A
  1. Difficulty in recognising unfamiliar views of objects
  2. Difficulty in drawing (overall shape)
  3. Contralateral neglect (damage to the right parietal lobe → neglect the left)
78
Q

Is contralateral neglect perceptual or post-perceptual?

A

Information is getting in, just not being acknowledged (post-perceptual rather than perceptual)

79
Q

Ego-centred neglect

A

Neglect the a certain side of something in relation to the body’s axis

80
Q

Object-centred neglect

A

Body axis does not matter; certain side of object is neglected, regardless of where the individual’s body is

81
Q

Driver et al. 1994

A

Found that there was an object-based component to neglect

82
Q

Damage to motor and premotor cortex results in:

A
  1. Loss of fine movements, strength, and speed
  2. Broca’s aphasia
83
Q

Word fluency test

A

Found that individuals with a damaged prefrontal cortex had reduced output in the test (loss of divergent thinking)

84
Q

Divergent thinking

A

Process of creating multiple solutions/ approaches to a problem

85
Q

Convergent thinking

A

Finds one well-defined solution to a problem

86
Q

Damage to the frontal lobe (prefrontal cortex):

A
  1. Does not impair convergent thinking
  2. DOES impair divergent thinking
  3. Impaired response inhibition
87
Q

Wisconsin card sorting test (impairments in response inhibition)

A

Individuals without prefrontal cortex damage quickly adapt, while individuals with prefrontal cortex damage continue to repeat previously rewarded behaviour, despite being consistently told that their responses are wrong

88
Q

Stroop interference test

A

Impacted individuals with prefrontal cortex damage more than those without

89
Q

Lhermitte (1983, 1985): Environmental dependency syndrome

A

Individuals with prefrontal cortex damage use the objects for intended purpose, regardless of context

90
Q

Phinneas Gage

A

Severed optic nerve and acquired damage to frontal lobe; personality changed and executive function was damaged

91
Q

Sound waves

A

Variations in the density (pressure) of air

92
Q

Amplitude

A

Vertical size of the sound waves; that is, the amount of compression and expansion of the molecules in the conducting medium

93
Q

How is sound processed in the ear?

A
  1. Soundwaves travel through auditory canal to the eardrum (tympanic membrane)
  2. Soundwaves vibrate eardrum → vibrations are sent to three tiny bones (ossicles) in the middle ear and amplified
  3. Amplified vibrations sent to cochlea in the inner ear (divided by basilar membrane and containing thousands of tiny hair cells that function as sound receptors)
  4. When sound waves strike eardrum, fluid inside cochlea is set into motion → bending of hair cells triggering the release of NTs into the synaptic space between the hair cells and the neurons of the auditory nerve → nerve impulses sent to the temporal lobe’s auditory cortex
94
Q

Loudness

A

Coded by both the rate of firing in the axons of the auditory nerve and the specific hair cells that are sending messages

95
Q

Theories for how pitch is encoded:

A
  1. Frequency theory, in which the firing rate of the fibres matches the frequency of the sound waves being encoded
  2. Place theory, in which cells in particular locations in the cochlea encode specific frequencies
96
Q

Conduction deafness

A

Results from damage to the structures in the ear that impairs the conduction of sound waves to the cochlea

97
Q

Nerve deafness

A

Caused by damage to the receptors in the cochlea or auditory nerve

98
Q

How does the visual system carry out sensation and perception?

A

All of the visual system carries out sensation and perception, but early on in the system is largely sensation while later on is more perception

99
Q

How does light flow through the eye?

A

From the ganglion cell layer to the bipolar cell layer, to the photoreceptor layer

100
Q

How are images processed from the eye to beyond?

A

Fibres come out of the eye and go to the lateral geniculate nucleus (situated in ventral and dorsal streams) –> go from there to V1 (primary visual cortex)

101
Q

Hermann grid illusion

A

Illusion causes viewer to see black dots because in the fovea, cells are packed more tightly (entire receptive field falls inside the centre of ‘centre and surround’) –> when foveating, there is no distinction between centre and surround; evidence for lateral inhibition

102
Q

Damage to primary auditory cortex (A1) on the superior temporal gyrus results in:

A

Deafness, and in certain cases deaf hearing, auditory agnosia (inability to recognise/ differentiate between sounds) and Wernicke’s aphasia (inability to interpret sounds)

103
Q

Damage to superior temporal gyri results in:

A
  1. Deafness (bilateral damage to A1)
  2. Auditory agnosia
  3. Wernicke’s aphasia
104
Q

Damage to middle and inferior temporal gyri results in:

A
  1. Achromatopsia
  2. Akinetopsia
  3. Ventral simultagnosia
  4. Associative agnosia
105
Q

Complete damage to occipital lobe results in:

A

Blindness and blindsight

106
Q

Partial damage to occipital lobe results in:

A

Apperceptive agnosia