the parietal lobes

Question 1

identify the name of the border between the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe

Answer 1

central sulcus

Question 2

identify the name of the border between the occipital lobe and the parietal lobe

Answer 2

parieto-occipital fissure

Question 3

identify the name of the border between the temporal lobe and the parietal lobe

Answer 3

lateral sulcus

Question 4

identify the two parts of the parietal lobe

Answer 4

1/ postcentral gyrus

2/ posterior parietal lobe

Question 5

describe the postcentral gyrus

Answer 5

• contains the central sulcus
• contains postcentral sulcus

Question 6

describe the posterior parietal lobe

Answer 6

• behind postcentral gyrus
• top part = superior parietal lobe
• intraparietal lobe = separates the superior parietal lobe with the inferior parietal lobe
• bottom part = inferior parietal lobe

Question 7

identify major functional subdivisions of the parietal lobe

Answer 7

• primary somatosensory cortex (S1)
• posterior parietal cortex
• Intraparietal sulcus and superior parietal lobule
• Right inferior parietal lobule
• Left anterior parietal lobule
• Left posterior inferior parietal lobule

Question 8

explain the function of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1)

Answer 8

• main role = processing sensory information (touch, pain, perception of awareness, NOT thermal regulation)
• input = from thalamus and motor cortex
• output = motor cortex and posterior parietal cortex

Question 9

outline Penfield and Boldrey (1937) study into the primary somatosensory cortex

Answer 9

• inserted electrodes in somatosensory cortex of epileptic patients
• stimulated different parts of the somatosensory cortex
• recorded sensations reported by patients
• led to somatotopic map

Question 10

what has studying the somatosensory cortex led to research in?

Answer 10

• learning more about brain reorganisation
• especially after injuries
• phantom limbs and phantom pain after amputation

Question 11

describe what phantom limbs are

Answer 11

• sensations in limbs that are no longer there

Question 12

outline a study looking into functional reorganisation

(Kolasinski et al., 2016)

Answer 12

• functional reorganisation of primary somatosensory cortex can occur within 24 hours
• shown in Kolasinski et al. (2016)
• stuck little finger and ring finger together
• waited 24hrs and conducted fMRI
• found that activity in little finger and ring finger overlapped in fMRI

Question 13

explain the function of the Intraparietal sulcus and superior parietal lobule

Answer 13

• main function = vision for action
• is there an object that I can interact with?
• where is body in relation to object?
• anterior areas = main role in coding hand-centred (hand movement)
• posterior areas = main role in coding vision-centred coordinate system

Question 14

explain Bálint syndrom

Answer 14

• an inability to visualise more than one object in the visual field at a time

Question 15

explain optic ataxia

Answer 15

deficit in visually guided reaching movement (grasping)

Question 16

explain oculomotor apraxia

Answer 16

• looking straight at something
• then something comes into peripheral field
• difficulty going to that periphery
• difficulty voluntarily shifting fixation to other objects

Question 17

explain simultanagnosia

Answer 17

• impaired ability to perceive multiple items in visual display
• not being able to see things as a whole
• i.e.: can see trees but not a forest

Question 18

what pathway is there a problem with if people experience Balint Syndrome?

Answer 18

dorsal stream problem
(where/how pathway)

Question 19

what other cognitive functions might derive from the principles of the Intraparietal sulcus and superior parietal lobule?

Answer 19

visuospatial working memory
- link to representing location of objects, coding what is relevant

mental rotation/imagery
- link to manipulating objects

arithmetics
- link to moving eyes/hands to count
- spatial layout

Question 20

explain the function of the right inferior parietal lobule

Answer 20

• detect noticeable events in the environment
• and then shifting attention to noticeable event

Question 21

outline evidence from Singh-Curry & Husain (2009) on the role of the right inferior parietal lobule

Answer 21

• suggests that detection and encoding from salient/novel events = bottom-up processing
• role of RIPL = sustaining attention on current task goals whilst simultaneously encoding salient events
• allows task-sets to be rapidly reconfigured to deal with new challenges

Question 22

what does lesions in the RIPL show?

Answer 22

• lesions causes hemispatial neglect
• reduced awareness of stimuli on one side of space, even though there may be no sensory loss.

Question 23

explain the function of the left anterior inferior parietal lobule

Answer 23

• use objects in appropriate way
• pantomime object use (miming object use)

Question 24

how did Reynaud et al. (2016) explain the role of the LAIPL?

Answer 24

• suggested the role of the LAIPL was understanding tool-use actions

Question 25

what does lesions to the LAIPL lead to?

Answer 25

• apraxia with possible impairments

apraxia impairments effects:
- imitation of gestures

• communicative gestures
• real tool use (might not use tool how it was intended)

Question 26

explain the function of the left posterior inferior parietal lobule

Answer 26

• detect salient events in one’s thoughts

Question 27

outline what Seghier (2012) lists as what the LPIPL does

Answer 27

Semantic processing.

Reading and comprehension.

Default mode processing (mind wandering).

Number processing.

Memory retrieval.

Theory of mind.

Question 28

what does Cabeza et al. (2012) suggest about the LPIPL?

Answer 28

• we have bottom-up attention to internally generated stimuli
• RIPL relies on bottom-up processing information from environmental stimuli

Question 29

identify a difference in bottom-up processing between the LPIPL and the RIPL

Answer 29

• bottom-up attention for internally generated stimuli
• bottom-up attention for environmental stimuli