Chapter 1: clinical neuropsychology - a histrorical sketch

Question 1

What was the Greek and Roman view on disease?

Answer 1

The body consists of a number of elements (water, fire, blood and mucus) and if these elements were not in balance, it led to disease.

Question 2

Name the 3 souls of the Greeks

Answer 2

1. One for survival (food/water)
2. One for activities of an organism in relation to the environment.
3. A higher-order soul (wright/wrong)

Question 3

The cell theory

Answer 3

1. The first cell: for receiving information from senses.
2. The second cell: for interpreting this information.
3. The third cell: the memory.

Is now the basis of cognitive psychology.

Question 4

Physiognomy

Answer 4

The interpretation of the face or total appearance .

Question 5

Descartes divided ‘man’ into (the relfex)?

Answer 5

1. Res extensa: the body
2. Res cogitans: the mind (manager of the whole body)

Question 6

Organology / kraniology (Gall)

Answer 6

Doctrine of the skull. Alle psychological functions are innate and located somewhere on the outside of the brain (cortex). When a part of the brain is bigger, it’s more developed and reflects a psychological function. He saw loss of functions due to brain damage as proof for his theory.

Question 7

Clinico-anatomical method (Bouillaud)

Answer 7

Bouillaud tested his localisation ideas by identifying the specific deficiency symptoms in patients with focal brain injuries (like language disorder).

Question 8

The global model (Luria)

Answer 8

Luria summarised the functional architecture of the brain using 3 global classifications:
1. Anterior (output): planning and organizing actions.
2. Posterior (input): information processing from senses.
3. Subcortical (regulation): arousal and attention.

Question 9

Every mental activity involves 3 functional units (Luria):

Answer 9

1. Activation: regulation of vigilance and attention.
2. Input: cognitive information processing.
3. Output: organisation of behaviour.

Question 10

Which brain hemisphere was dominant according to Luria

Answer 10

The left hemisphere, because Luria placed emphasis on the significance of language. He said that the right hemispere was for non-linguistic tasks.

Question 11

Information processing (Luria)

Answer 11

Information is processed in 3 hierarchically organized zones: primary, secondary and teriary.

Question 12

Halstead-Reitan test battery

Answer 12

Screening instrument to examine aspects of cognitive functioning, but was aimed at brain injury.

Question 13

Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB)

Answer 13

For testing procedures of Luria.

Question 14

Geschwind

Answer 14

Made an assumption that functional centers exist in the brain and those centers are interconnected. A disruption of these connections leads to specific deficits: dissociations.

Question 15

Dissociation

Answer 15

A patient with a lesion in region X had impaired performance on task A, but not task B.

Question 16

Double dissociation

Answer 16

Using the same patient as from the dissociation and adding a patient with a lesion in region Y that has impaired the performance on task B, but not on task A.

Question 17

Hemispheric specialisation

Answer 17

Sperry researched split brain surgery and found that the right hemisphere was better than the left hemisphere at certain functions. This was the end of the left-hemisphere dominance.

Question 18

Modules (Fodor)

Answer 18

A process of which one is not aware and doesn’t have any influence on. This is based on:
- Representations: information that can be processed by the module.
- Process: the calculations and transformations that are performed ont he representations.

Question 19

4 characteristics of a module (Fodor)

Answer 19

1. Domain specific: it can only process certain information.
2. Innate.
3. Encapsulated: other processed can’t influence the module.
4. Fixed neural architecture: is autonomous and has its own neural architecture.

Question 20

Visual agnosia

Answer 20

A disorder of recognising objects. Someone is unable to recognise object, but can see and draw them.

Question 21

Serial processing (Marr)

Answer 21

The conversion of information to the next level of representation.

Question 22

Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP)

Answer 22

Information is processed parallel and distributed around the brain network.

Question 23

Typical of the connectionist models are:

Answer 23

1. Emergent properties: practice leads to the natural emergence of properties.
2. Graceful degradation: only a part of the system fails.
3. Content addressability: A small part of the information can already activate the entire memory track.

Question 24

CT scan

Answer 24

Computed tomography. It can detect lesions in brain tissue.

Question 25

MRI

Answer 25

Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Looks at blood flow to certain brain area’s.

Question 26

EEG

Answer 26

Electroencephalography. Links electrical activity to the perception of a particular stimulus characteristic.

Question 27

Broca

Answer 27

Said that the left frontal lobe area is important for speaking.

Question 28

Wernicke

Answer 28

Said that the left temporal lobe area is important for understanding words, but not for speaking itself.

Question 29

Conduction aphasia

Answer 29

When someone is able to speak and understand, but unable to repeat spoken words.

Question 30

Apperceptions (Lisauer)

Answer 30

The mental process by which a person makes sense of an idea by assimilating it to the body of ideas he or she already possesses. Linked to the brains semantic system. Is followed by mental associations.

Question 31

Associations (Lisauer)

Answer 31

Knowing what an object is used for. Linking the features of an object to knowledge about the object.

Question 32

Apperceptive agnosia

Answer 32

Deficit in de apperception stage. Inability to combine individual features into the concept as a whole. Inability to recognize objects.

Question 33

Associative agnosia

Answer 33

People who are able to copy and draw the object, but are unable to say what they drew. They can see the house, but can’t say what a house is for.