Week 3 lecture Flashcards
What is the central nervous system?
brain and spinal cord
What is the peripheral nervous system?
head neck and body
What does the peripheral nervous system divide into?
somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system
What does the autonomic nervous system divide into?
sympathetic and parasympathetic
How can we measure the peripheral nervous system?
Electromyography (EMG): muscle contractions
Skin conductance response: sweat response
Pupillometry
How could we measure someone’s behaviour during a task?
Performance accuracy
Performance during a task: response time
Observational measures: e.g., frequency of behaviour, specific action, looking patterns
In the _______, patients with brain damage are examined to determine which brain structures are damaged and how this influences the patient’s behaviour.
lesion method
How does emotion perception interact with face perception and reaction time?
Neutral faces can be slower to recognize and process because they lack strong emotional cues. Without a clear emotional signal, the brain might need additional context or time to interpret the expression, which can delay reaction times.
People generally recognize and respond to happy faces more quickly than neutral faces.
What is the preferential-looking paradigm?
A research method is used to study infant perception by presenting two different stimuli and measuring which one the infant looks at longer. This helps determine visual preferences and cognitive abilities.
What is the habituation paradigm?
A research method used to study infant perception and learning by repeatedly presenting the same stimulus until the infant’s attention decreases. After habituation, a new stimulus is introduced to see if the infant shows renewed interest, indicating they can distinguish between the old and new stimuli.
Neurons that respond to similar information are often grouped together: __________
functional specialization
what is the neurons also organized
as clusters metaphor?
Airport metaphor
In the brain, neurons are organized into clusters or hubs, which can be seen as the airport terminals
Hubs (terminals) can be vulnerable to disruptions. If one terminal is overwhelmed or has a problem, it can affect the entire airport’s operations, similar to how a crucial neural hub might impact brain function if it’s damaged or overloaded
How can we grow the neural system at the neuron level?
Tuning: Refining neural connections for better efficiency.
Enhancing the myelin on axons for faster signal transmission.
what does “Use it or Lose it” refer to?
Connections that are not used often become weaker and may be eliminated
What is sulci?
indentations on the surface of the brain
