W2_lec2 Flashcards
What are the 3 tools used in cog NEUR?
- neural recordings
- lesion studies
- neuroimaging
Draw a flowchart of the NS including the following terms
a) CNS
b) PNS
c) Spinal cord
d) brain
e) somatic NS
f) ANS
g) SNS
h) PNS
i) brain stem
What is the difference b/w an MRI and an fMRI?
functional MRI measures the blood flow changes (a marker of activity) in the brain on top of producing an image of the brain
What two sys are associated w/ the following terms?
a) fight or flight
b) rest and digest
a) SNS - sympathetic NS
b) PSNS - parasympathetic NS
For neural recordings, microelectrodes inserted into the neural tissue can measure local field potentials. What does this mean?
it can measure the electrical activity in a group of neurons by summing up the electrical activity in each indiv neuron.
wrt neural recordings what are cat brains used for and why?
visual cortex b/c they have good vision
Hubel + Wiesel record the activity of the visual cortex w/in a cat that is staring at a line that is continuously rotating. They notice a sudden spike in activity that quickly falls. At what line position does the activity spike?
when the line is perfectly vertical
What does an ECoG = electrocorticography measure?
the electrical activity from large areas of the cortex
What are the benefits (2) and limitations (3) of neural recordings?
B
1. the neural activity can be directly measured
2. can be used to find the fxnal specificity of certain neural groups
L
1. typically used on animals over humans
2. typically involves animal sacrifice
3. hard to analyze large-scale networks w/in the brain
T or F - humans share many aspects wrt their brain other species
T
Describe animal models
studying the fxnal properties of animal brains as a means to inform us more about human brains
In the water maze experiment, a rat is placed in a dish of water w/ a platform. Rats dislike water so they will attempt to hop onto the platforms naturally. The researcher lesioned different parts of the rat’s brain to see which region affected the rat’s spacial mem (ability to remember where the platform is). Which brain region should the researcher lesion in order to achieve her goal?
the hippocampus
T or F - all lesions are permanent
F - there are reversible lesions
Describe a reversible lesion. What tool is involved?
it’s a temp lesion that uses a frozen cryoloop to cool down the cerebral cortex as a means of deactivating that specific region. It is temp b/c it can be warmed back up and still fxn once more
Describe neuropsych? Who is the most famous subject for this?
a) the study of psychological impairments following neural injury in humans
b) Phineas gage = pol pierced his brain taking a chunk of his frontal lobe
after some brain injuries such as a stroke ppl end up w/ Aphasia. What is this condition and what are the two types?
a) injury that produces language deficits
1. Broca’s = inability to execute words properly
2. Wernicke’s = produce a word salad (speaks gibberish)
T or F - Wernicke’s aphasia is very frustrating for both the speaker and the listener as someone with this condition can understand speech and speak themselves but they are unable to produce proper responses.
F - someone w/ Wernicke’s aphasia is not aware that they are speaking gibberish
Describe prosopagnosia. What brain region is associated w/ this disorder?
face blindness - damage in the FFA (fusiform face area)
T or F - ppl w/ prosopagnosia are unable to socialize due to being unable to distinguish ppl form each other
F - they cannot distinguish their faces but can distinguish using other features such as clothes, hair, voice, etc
What is the strength of lesion studies?
it can prove causal roles of particular brain regions to certain cog fxns
What are the limitations of lesion studies? - 2
- naturally-occurring lesions are messy = doesn’t cleanly cut only one region
- final re-organization = the brain when injured uses cortical plasticity to take over the damaged connection making it hard to tell if that part did cause a certain fxn or not
