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The Computing Brain 2020 > Week 2.5 - Animal Behaviour and Cognition > Flashcards

Week 2.5 - Animal Behaviour and Cognition Flashcards

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1
Q

What are Brodmann’s areas?

A

Parcelations (i.e. divisions) of the neocortex based on cytoarchitecture and lesion studies originally proposed by Korbinian Brodmann.

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2
Q

What is the function of the hippocampus?

A

It is the area of the brain normally associated with navigation and episodic memory.

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3
Q

What is transcription?

What is translation?

A

Transcription is the process that sequences RNA on the basis of DNA.

Translation is the creation of a protein from RNA.

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4
Q

What is a Golgi stain?

A

A method of staining entire neurons so that they can be visualized in a microscope.

Only 10% or so of the neurons are stained, it is a stochastic process.

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5
Q

What is fMRI?

A

A method of visualizing the activity of the brain using the BOLD (blood oxygenation level-dependent) signal.

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6
Q

What are place cells?

A

Cells in the hippocampus that are active when an animal occupies a particular place in space.

These cells are thought to act as cognitive representations (cognitive maps) of specific locations in space.

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7
Q

What are grid cells?

A

Cells in the entorhinal cortex (entry point to the hippocampus) that encode a ‘metric’ that is ‘distance’ in the world.

Below you see firing rate maps of a place cell (left) and grid cell (right). Maps correspond to an overhead view of the chambers. Dark pixels represent a high average firing rate; yellow pixels are 0 spike/sec firing rates.

Cylinder 3 ft diameter; rectangle 4ft x 5 ft. Grid Cell data courtesy of EunHye Park.

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8
Q

What is cognition?

A

The ability of an animal to meaningfully interact with their environment.

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9
Q

What is studied by the field of epigenetics?

A

The expression or inhibition of particular genes according to environmental and developmental influences.

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10
Q

What is the default network?

A

The network of brain regions that is active when a person is not focused on the outside world.

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11
Q

How can we measure default networks?

A

Using fMRI

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12
Q

What are some of the limitations of using animal models?

A

(1) It is difficult to assess mood changes in animals (if we are studying mood disorders)
(2) Behavioral tests are often not specific enough
(3) Rodents might react differently to medications compared to humans
(4) Mood disorders are polygenic and multifactorial, making it impossible to use the transgenic method to model them

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13
Q

Which cells are thought to produce the most EEG signals from the cerebral cortex?

A

Pyramidal cells

This is because they are well-aligned and fire together

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14
Q

What are some of the medical uses of EEG?

A

(1) It can be used to monitor patients with epilepsy
(2) It can be used to measure the state of consciousness (e.g., comatose state)

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15
Q

What is excitotoxicity?

A

Damage (and potentially death) of nerve cells as a function of pathologically high levels of neurotransmitters (e.g., glutamate)

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16
Q

In her lecture, professor Badura talked about a method called accumulating towers, where a mouse observes a virtual reality scenario with towers appearing to the left and right.

What is the dependent variable (variable under observation) in this experiment?

A

Working memory in mice

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17
Q

Indicate whether each of these sentences is true or false:

(1) The core of each neuromodulatory system has a lot of neurons
(2) Each neuron can influence many others
(3) Neurotransmitters are released into the extracellular space
(4) Neurons that produce modulatory neurotransmitters are mostly in the cortex

A

(1) False
(2) True
(3) True
(4) False

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18
Q

Where does the serotonin system project to?

A

(1) Cortex
(2) Spinal cord

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19
Q

What are the sites of origin of the dopamine system?

A

(1) substantia nigra
(2) ventral tegmental area

(image source: Wikipedia)

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20
Q

What are the main functions of the dopamine system?

A

(1) Motor function
(2) Reward/punishment
(3) Problem-solving
(4) Planning

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21
Q

What is the site of origin of the serotonin system?

A

Raphe Nuclei (in the brainstem)

22
Q

What are the main functions of the serotonin system?

A

(1) Mood regulation
(2) Sleep
(3) Arousal
(4) Sensory processing
(5) Pain modulation

23
Q

Nowadays, we look at emotion in terms of a spectrum.

What are the two dimensions of this spectrum?

A

(1) Valence
(2) Arousal

Ex. Anger would be classified as a combination of negative valence and high arousal

24
Q

Which brain region has been shown to increase its activity in response to fearful faces?

A

Amygdala

25
Q

What is the difference between an instinct and a reflex?

A

An instinct is a sequence of movements.

A reflex encompasses only one movement.

26
Q

Which of the following has the shortest sensitive (critical) period?

(a) Language development
(b) Sight development
(c) Higher cognitive function development

A

(b) Sight development

27
Q

What is cognition (in neuroscience terms)?

A

Cognition is the process by which the sensory input is transformed, stored, recovered, and used.

28
Q

Which school of thought believes that behavior is decided by internal processes?

A

Cognitive Psychology

29
Q

Which school of thought rejects introspection as a method of scientific inquiry?

A

Behaviorism

30
Q

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?

A

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.

31
Q

What do we visualize with the tensor imaging technique?

A

White matter

32
Q

Damage to which area causes fluent aphasia (fluent but non-sensical language production)?

A

Wernicke’s Area

33
Q

Damage to which area causes non-fluent aphasia (effortful, agrammatical speech production)?

A

Broca’s Area

34
Q

What are some of the limitations of defining brain regions responsible for behavior?

A

(1) Inter-individual variability in functional parcellation
(2) Depending on the technique used, the results of parcellation will be different
(3) Intra-individual variability - the result of parcellation may change from one instance to the next

35
Q

What is the difference between a strain and a species?

A

A strain is a subtype within a species.

A species is a group of animals consisting of organisms capable of exchanging genes (interbreeding).

For example, mice from two different strains can interbreed, while two different species can not.

36
Q

What type of medication is Prozac (Fluoxetine)?

A

SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor)

37
Q

Which species would we employ to study neocortical functioning?

(a) Zebrafish
(b) Fruitflies
(c) Rats

A

(c) Rats

38
Q

Beta waves on an EEG readout are associated with…

A

wakeful, alert consciousness

39
Q

Delta waves on an EEG readout are associated with…

A

deep sleep

40
Q

Theta waves on an EEG readout are associated with…

A

Deep relaxation and meditation

41
Q

Alpha waves on an EEG readout are associated with…

A

relaxed, calm state

42
Q

What is the role of the hypothalamus in the Papez circuit?

A

Behavioral expression of emotion

43
Q

What is the role of the cingulate cortex in the Papez circuit?

A

“Emotional coloring” of experience

44
Q

How does the cingulate cortex affect the hypothalamus in the Papez circuit?

A

Via the hippocampus and the fornix

45
Q

What is a connectome?

A

A comprehensive map of neuronal wiring in the brain

46
Q

Why are rodents used in science?

A

homologous system of interest

genetics (and manipulation)

availability

size

cost and maintenance

47
Q

What are the different levels at which we can inspect the brain?

A

Molecular level, synaptic level, physiology of single cells, network level, and cognitive neuroscience

48
Q

Is the following correct:

fMRI is used to assess intracranial hemorrhage.

A

No: (f)MRI is slower than CT, and time is of the essence for patients with stroke.

49
Q

What were the limitations of research into Brodmann’a areas?

A

(1) Based only on cytoarchitecture
(2) Simplistic studies - only one input-output was observed

50
Q

Outline a neural path for word repetition according to the Wernicke-Geschwind model.

A

Auditory cortex → Wernicke’s Area → Angular Gyrus → Broca’s Area → Primary motor cortex

The Computing Brain 2020 (21 decks)

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