Cognition and Personality

Question 1

What are the 3 streams of information that occur after a visual stimuli has been detected?

Answer 1

Visual information is processed by the occipital lobe
Dorsal stream- ‘where’ is fast
Anterior stream-
Ventral stream- ‘what’ is energy demanding

Question 2

What are the ‘executive functions’ of the brain?

Answer 2

Attention, working memory, reasoning and problem solving

Question 3

What is ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ thinking?

Answer 3

Bottom up= focuses on interpreting sensory information in real-time. Does not require previous knowledge
Top down= the interpretation of incoming information based on prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations

Question 4

How long does short term memory last?

Answer 4

Around 10s

Question 5

What are the two types of long term memory?

Answer 5

Implicit (procedural) and explicit (declarative)

Question 6

What is implicit memory

Answer 6

It does not require the conscious or explicit recollection of past events or information e.g. like riding a bike

Question 7

What are the 4 types of explicit memory?

Answer 7

• Semantic memory- knowledge about facts
• Episodic memory- remembering events
• Autobiographical- remembering our life
• Visual memory- photographic memory

Question 8

What mainly controls the advanced thinking?

Answer 8

Pre-frontal cortex

Question 9

What are the two areas that working memory is held?

Answer 9

The pre-frontal cortex and the episodic buffer in the parietal lobe

Question 10

What is working memory?

Answer 10

Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily

Question 11

What is the episodic buffer?

Answer 11

In the parietal lobe, it is a temporary store that integrates information from the other components and maintains a sense of time, so events occur in a continuing sequence

Question 12

What structure is important for long term memory?

Answer 12

The hippocampus- It is necessary for the process of encoding short term memory into long term, particularly episodic or autobiographical

Question 13

Where is the hippocampus?

Answer 13

Deep in temporal lobes

Question 14

What can happen if the hippocampus is damaged?

Answer 14

Loss of explicit memory (amnesia)

Question 15

Where are procedural memories stored?

Answer 15

Split between two areas; basal ganglia and cerebellum
Cerebellum= responsible for timing and execution of learned motor skills e.g. playing piano
Basal ganglia= repetitive movements we use frequently e.g. use of muscles grab an object

Question 16

What happens during sleep with memories?

Answer 16

During sleep the hippocampus and neocortex relay information to one another

Question 17

Where are plans for movement made?

Answer 17

Information about perception of space, audio and visual stimuli are carried to pre-frontal cortex where movement plans are made.

Question 18

Where do bottom up goals and top down goals come from?

Answer 18

Bottom up goals= limbic system
Top down goals= prefrontal cortex (high thinking)

Question 19

What is the limbic system?

Answer 19

The limbic system is the part of the brain involved in our behavioural and emotional responses, especially when it comes to behaviours we need for survival: feeding, reproduction and caring for our young, and fight or flight responses

Question 20

What are the structures within the limbic system?

Answer 20

The hypothalamus, nucleus accumbent, median forebrain bundle, ventral segmental area and the amygdala

Question 21

Where do negative and positive emotion arise from

Answer 21

Amygdala is more associated with negative emotion
The reward area (nucleus accumbens, medial forebrain bundle and ventral segmental area) associated with positive emotion

Question 22

What is salience?

Answer 22

The limbic drive to invest perceptual resource in significant stimuli
The salience network is a collection of regions of the brain that select which stimuli are deserving of our attention.

Question 23

What is the dorsal stream of visual information?

Answer 23

Fast
From occipital lobe to parietal lobe
‘Where’

Question 24

What is the anterior stream of visual information?

Answer 24

saliance system or the ‘so what’ pathway. Tries to decide if the stimuli is interesting enough to invest in

Question 25

What is the ventral stream of visual information?

Answer 25

From occipital to temporal
Energy expensive
‘What’

Question 26

What happens if the limbic system and/or the prefrontal cortex find a stimuli worth investing in?

Answer 26

There are two responses;
1. The limbic system activates the hippocampus- if stimuli is useful important to make a memory of it
2. The attention control system is also activated, which tells the ventral stream it is worth investing in

Question 27

What is entityfication?

Answer 27

Trying to distinguish something that is a coherent object in the world from other things

Question 28

What is the dynamic hypothesis testing theory?

Answer 28

• We have a best guess about what reality is
• We commit to a goal
• We hypothesise how to achieve that goal (in pre-frontal cortex)
• We act
• There is dynamic monitoring of whether the goal is getting closer or further away
• Continue this until we reach the goal

Question 29

What neurotransmitter results in positive emotion?

Answer 29

Dopamine

Question 30

What structures in the brain release dopamine and what does this target?

Answer 30

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is produced in the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, and hypothalamus of the brain. Reaches frontal cortex

Question 31

What neurotransmitter are pathways for fear moderated by?

Answer 31

Come from the amygdala and are moderated by glutamate

Question 32

What are two scales to measure cognition?

Answer 32

MMSE- limited value other than in advanced dementia
Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination III (total score out of 100- useful to chart over time)

Question 33

What are the ‘big 5’ traits in personality?

Answer 33

Openness
Conscientousness
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

Question 34

What is the ‘negative’ trait out of the big 5?

Answer 34

Neuroticism, high would be tense, moody, anxious, sensitive, prone to negativity

Question 35

What acronym does the big 5 spell?

Answer 35

OCEAN

Question 36

What structures are contained within the salience system?

Answer 36

This network consists of the following brain regions: the dorsal anterior cingulate, the insula and the amygdala