Section 5 - Attention Physiology Flashcards

1
Q

what is blindsight? (L12)

A

when you see things but are not consciously aware of it

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2
Q

the difference between blindsight hemianopia and spatial-neglect hemianopia? (L12)

A

blindsight is a sensory deficit, where as spatial-neglect is an attentional deficit.
- people with blindsight know they have a problem and know they aren’t seeing something, but people with spatial-neglect have anosognosia, they are not aware of the deficit and believe nothing is wrong

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3
Q

what is the most common cause of spatial neglect? (L12)

A

stroke damage to the right parietal cortex

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4
Q

how many brain cells die every minute of lack of blood to the brain? (L12)

A

about 1.9 million brain cells

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5
Q

what is the most common stroke? (L12)

A

blockage - ischemic stroke - at 85%

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6
Q

what occurs in an ischemic stroke? (L12)

A

a piece of plaque breaks off, something is sent to retrieve it but there is a blood clot so blood can get blocked off in an artery

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7
Q

what occurs in hemorrhagic stroke? (L12)

A

a weak section of artery wall balloons and bursts, letting blood leak into the brain

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8
Q

what are 5 signs of stroke? (L12)

A

weakness, trouble speaking, vision problems, headache, dizziness (WTVHD)

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9
Q

what causes spatial neglect? (L12)

A

parietal cortex damage (most cases on the left side)

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10
Q

what is sematoparaphrenia? (L12)

A

spatial neglect that extends to the persons body, delusion that a paralyzed limb does not belong to their body

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11
Q

can spatial neglect occur with sounds? (L12)

A

yes

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12
Q

list 3 diagnostic tests for spatial neglect (L12)

A
  • line cancellation test
  • line drawing test
  • line bisection test
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13
Q

what is extinction with mild neglect? (L12)

A

shown something in left visual field, and they can identify it, but if there is an item in the left and the right, they have problems identifying the objects on the left –> awareness of the object on the right extinguishes their perception of the object on the left

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14
Q

is neglected stimuli processed? (L12)

A

the meaning of neglected stimuli is processed unconsciously

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15
Q

describe the study that showed that spatial neglect can occur with mental images (L12)

A

asked to imagine Milan, Italy -> could give a very detailed description of the right side, but were missing information on the left side

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16
Q

describe the study that showed that spatial neglect can be object-based (L12)

A
  • took longer to connect dots on left side than right side
  • some of the spatial neglect on the left hemifield gets carried over to the right
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17
Q

Peggy Palmer’s stroke in parietal lobes and drawing a daisy from memory demonstrates that… (L12)

A
  • shows it is a problem with consciousness
  • attention is being pushed over by one attention system over to the right side
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18
Q

what are the 2 accounts of spatial neglect? (L12)

A
  • right hemisphere is attention center
  • dynamic hemisphere imbalance
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19
Q

which hemispheres attend to both the right and left hemispheres, and which only attends to the right visual hemifield? (L12)

A

the right hemisphere attends to the right and left hemifields, and the left hemisphere only in the right visual hemifield

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20
Q

what is the dynamic imbalance hypothesis? (L12)

A

the right hemisphere damage results in dominant left hemisphere (and right side bias)

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21
Q

can we lessen left hemisphere dominance (spatial neglect) ? If so, how? (L12)

A

yes we can, temporarily, by weakening the left side to be more in balance with the right side/hemisphere.
- through caloric stimulation by pouring ice water in left ear
- with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to induce neglect

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22
Q

what is simultagnosia? how does it occur? (L12)

A

problem recognizing objects if there is more than one object in the field (one symptom of Balint’s syndrome).
- this is really rare because damage must occur to both hemispheres in the parietal cortex

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23
Q

what do the right and left parietal cortex mediate? (L12)

A
  • right parietal cortex mediates global processing
  • left parietal cortex mediates local processing
24
Q

what is attentional dyslexia? (L12)

A

associated with left parietal cortex
- patients with left parietal damage
- could read well but impaired ability to report single letters
- errors due to mislocations

25
Q

how much of head injuries are concussions? (L11)

A

85%

26
Q

what are the most common causes of concussions for different age groups? (L11)

A

children - falls
teenagers - sports & recreation
middle-aged adults - transportation accidents
elderly adults - falls

27
Q

what does mTBI stand for? (L11)

A

mild traumatic brain injury, also known as concussion

28
Q

3 tests used to diagnose attention deficit disorders (L11)

A
  • Trail making test (TMT)
  • Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT)
  • Test of Attentional Performance (TAP)
29
Q

do helmets prevent concussions? (L11)

A

not fully, but they can reduce the severity of concussions (stop skull from cracking), or reduce concussion risks (mouthguards)

30
Q

what is/happens during a concussion? (L11)

A

it is the brain rocking back and forth within your cranium (doesn’t have to be hit really hard)

31
Q

what are some early signs of concussions? (L11)

A
  • headache
  • confusion and disorientation
  • retrograde and anterograde amnesia
  • nausea and vomiting
  • motor problems and incoordination
32
Q

sex difference for concussion susceptibility? (L11)

A

there is a sex difference in data, interpreted as women are more susceptible
- some say it is honesty
- some say genetic difference

33
Q

what happens to axons when you get a concussion? (L11)

A

they font break, but its damage to the myelin wrapped around the axon that contributes to the dysfunction after a stroke

34
Q

what kind of test do you want to get for a concussion? (L11)

A

a DTI - diffusion tensor imaging, because its much more sensitive to diffuse axonal injury (more than CT or MRI)

35
Q

what are some effects of TBI on attention? (L11)

A
  • poor concentration and lack of mental energy (brain fog)
  • increased interference by distractors
  • slower detection of targets during search
  • divided attention capacity impaired
  • increased Stroop interference
  • higher frequency of action slips
  • reduced activation of executive attention areas
  • mental slowing
36
Q

what is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)? (L11)

A

it is triggered by repetitive head trauma and can become progressive widespread in brain and get more severe with aging

37
Q

after how many concussions should you stop the sport that is getting you concussions? (L11)

A

3 concussions

38
Q

frontal cortex and executive function are primarily associated with executive attention deficits, including/related to … (L11)

A
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Huntington’s disease
  • Schizophrenia
  • Diet
39
Q

positive aspects of attention deficit disorder (ADD)? (L11)

A

include being creative, fun, calm in a crisis

40
Q

common characteristics about ADD

A
  • lack of inhibition
  • uneven attention span
  • can be transmitted genetically
  • varies from underfocusing to hyperfocusing
  • often treated with stimulants (that increase neurotransmitter levels in prefrontal cortex)
  • current debate about over-diagnosis
41
Q

possible causes and treatment of ADD (L11)

A

causes - pre-natal smoking, gluten?, pesticide (glyphosate)
treatment - cannabis

42
Q

ADD hypothesis (L11)

A
  • suppressed frontal lobe activity
  • disruption of attentional filtering by thalamus (thalamus has filtering role)
  • disruption of right hemisphere function
  • underproduction of certain neurotransmitters (maybe dopamine)
  • but current theories focus on single brain area (or single brain chemical)
43
Q

what are attention’s critical brain areas? (L10)

A
  • Reticular activating system (RAS): arousal
  • superior colliculus: eye movements
  • pulvinar: attention engagement/filtering out distractions
  • anterior cingulate cortex: stroop effect
  • frontal cortex: executive control area
  • parietal cortex: possibly most critical, attentional dysfunction
44
Q

what are the attention-related neurotransmitters? (L10)

A
  • Dopamine - regulating
  • Serotonin - arousal and alerting, but they decrease when attention is shifted
  • Norepinephrine - arousal
  • Acetylcholine - reorienting
45
Q

how does inhibition of return (IOR) happen? (L10)

A

2 locations are presented in sequence (2 cues and then a target appears at cue 1, 2, or uncued). first cued location inhibits locating targets at that spot, you can respond faster to targets at the uncued spot than the cued location. IOR facilitates visual search and foraging (probably for efficiency we dont go back to somewhere we have already inspected)

46
Q

Inhibition Of Return (IOR) involves which important brain part (1/6)? (L10)

A

the superior colliculus

47
Q

what is the role of the pulvinar in the thalamus? (L10)

A

the pulvinar is related to attentional selection –> if damaged it is more difficult to filter out distractors and to focus on the target

48
Q

what is contralateral activation? (L10)

A

attending to things on the opposite side

49
Q

cortical areas are likely to be more closely related to _____, subcortical are more likely to to be related to ______. (L10)

A

goal-driven; stimulus-driven

50
Q

superior parietal lobule (SPL) is involved with _____? (L10)

A

task-switching

51
Q

what are the three attentional networks by Posner? (L10)

A

Orienting, executive, alerting

52
Q

the 2 stages Corbetta proposed in the frontoparietal orienting network (L10)

A

dorsal network - involves frontal eye fields, visual areas,, happens contralaterally (opposite)
ventral orienting network - only active in right hemisphere, VFC providing input to TPJ

53
Q

what age is out attention skill/capacity fully developed? (L10)

A

age 10

54
Q

the three attentional processes that are good at all ages and dont fall off. (L10)

A

visual search (parallel preattentive), attention shift (stimulus-driven), Inhibition of return

55
Q

what is the last in first out principle? (L10)

A
  • stimulus-driven (sensory-based) attentional processes are the first to fully develop and the last to deteriorate
  • goal-driven (cognitive) attentional processes are the last to fully develop and the first to deteriorate