Cognitive Functions Flashcards
(72 cards)
1
Q
Which side of the body does the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex connect to?
A
Mainly the right side of the body
2
Q
Which side of the body does the right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex connect to?
A
Mainly the left side of the body
3
Q
Which muscles are controlled by both hemispheres?
A
Trunk muscles and facial muscles
4
Q
What half of the visual field does the left hemisphere see?
A
The right half of the visual field
5
Q
What half of the visual field does the right hemisphere see?
A
The left half of the visual field
6
Q
From which ear does each hemisphere get slightly stronger auditory information?
A
From the contralateral ear
7
Q
Are taste and smell crossed or uncrossed in the brain?
A
Uncrossed
8
Q
How does each hemisphere receive taste information?
A
From both sides of the tongue
9
Q
How does each hemisphere receive smell information?
A
From the nostril on its own side
10
Q
Lateralization
A
Division of labor between the two hemispheres
11
Q
The left and right hemispheres exchange information through _____.
This enable each hemisphere to process information from both sides and coordinate movement on both sides.
A
sets of axons called the corpus callosum , the anterior commissure, the hippocampal commissure, and a couple of other small commissures
12
Q
Which hemisphere has larger planum temporal?
A
Left hemisphere
- predisposed to dominate for speech
- ordinarily it gradually suppresses the speech capacity of the right hemisphere
13
Q
Explain about human vision
A
The left half of each retina connects to the left
hemisphere
- Sees the right visual field
The right half of each retina connects to the right hemisphere
- Sees the left visual field
Half of the axons from each eye cross to the opposite side of the brain at the optic chiasm (where they cross)
14
Q
How is auditory system organized?
A
Each ear sends the information to both sides of the brain
But each hemisphere pay more attention to the ear on the opposite side
15
Q
Epilepsy
A
A condition characterized by repeated episodes of excessive synchronized neural activity
16
Q
Treatment for epilepsy
A
- anti-epileptic drugs
- surgery for cutting the corpus callosum
- surgery to remove the focus where seizures begin in the brain
17
Q
What is split-brain syndrome?
A
Those who have undergone surgery to the corpus callosum
18
Q
Effects of split-brain syndrome
A
- maintain their intellect and motivation
- walk and talk normally
- struggle to use the hands together on tasks that they have not previously practiced
- can use the two hands independently in ways that other people cannot
- Have difficulty naming objects briefly viewed in the left visual field
- Because the left side of the brain is dominant for language in most people
19
Q
Why is the left brain considered as interpreter?
A
Tendency to invent and defend explanations for actions
- important for speech
20
Q
Role of right hemisphere
A
- More adept at comprehending spatial relationships
- More responsive than the left is to the emotional tone of communication (gestures, tone of voice)
21
Q
Effect of damaged right hemisphere
A
- difficulty finding their way around even in familiar areas
- usually fail to understand humor and sarcasm
22
Q
What happens if the right hemisphere is inactivated?
A
Can describe traumatic or emotional experiences, but do not remember feeling the emotion
23
Q
What distinguishes human language from other species’ communication?
A
Productivity - the ability for improvising unlimited combinations of signals to represent new ideas
24
Q
Cause of Williams Syndrome
A
Loss of a gene that influences connections and myelin formation in the brain
25
Characteristics of Williams syndrome
- have intellectural impairment
have difficulty with attention, numbers
- difficulty w visuomotor skills (copying a drawing), and spatial perception (finding their way home
26
Language acquisition device is ____
A built-in mechanism for acquiring language
27
How does language evolved?
Language may have evolved from gestural communication
28
People apparently have a sensitive period for language learning early in life. Explain
The ability to master a foreign grammar declines steadily after about age 17 to 18
Deaf children who do not get an opportunity to learn sign language when they are young are permanently disadvantaged at learning any type of language
29
What is Broca's aphasia?
AKA nonfluent aphasia
When brain damage impairs language production
30
Effects of Broca's aphasia
- have difficulty speaking and writing
- find prepositions, conjunctions, and other grammatical connectives especially difficult
- fail to understand speech when its meaning depends on complex grammar
- impaired on all uses of language, including gestures and sign language
31
Which part of the brain does language learning relies on?
Several parts of the cortex, including the right hemisphere, parts of the thalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebellum
32
What is Wernicke's aphasia?
AKA fluent aphasia
- have trouble understanding speech
- could speak and write, but language comprehension is poor
- Difficulty recalling the names of objects (anomia)
33
Dyslexia
Impairment of reading by someone with adequate vision, motivation, cognitive skills, and educational opportunity
- More common in boys and disease such as stroke or dementia
- Linked to several identified genes
- May caused by premature birth or exposure to hazardous chemical
34
35
Variation in dyslexia
Some have problems with poor auditory memory
Some have impaired eye movements
36
What is visual word form area?
A special area of the temporal cortex, adjacent to the area most responsible for facial recognition
- more active in the left hemisphere
- As people learn to read, this area becomes highly responsive to written words
37
How does visual word form area respond in people w dyslexia?
- responds less strongly than average to words
- more strongly than average to other objects
38
The FOXP2 gene differs between which two groups?
Humans and chimpanzees
39
Dualism
the belief in a nonmaterial mind that exists
separately from the body
40
Monism
The idea that mental activity is inseparable from brain activity
Categories of monism:
1. Materialism: everything that exists is physical or material
2. Mentalism: only the mind really exists, and the physical world could only exist if the mind were aware of it
3. Identity position: mental processes and certain kinds of brain processes are the same thing in different terms
41
What is the hard problem referring to in consciousness?
The hard problem is the question of why consciousness exists at all
42
Explain flash suppression
you may be unable to see a stationary dot
while other dots are flashing around it
43
Binocular rivalry
- slow and gradual shifts of the eye sweeping from one side to another
- Shows that switching to each stimulus is accompanied by a shift in a pattern of activity over a large portion of the brain
44
Importance of cerebral cortex in consciousness
- Activity in the cerebellum is not conscious, although it has more neurons and synapses than the cerebral cortex.
- A key feature of the cerebral cortex is its reciprocal connections that compare and integrate different types of information
45
How do cortical connections differ from cerebellar connections?
The cortex has many reciprocal connections that enable areas to send messages and receive feedback
46
Explain phi phenomenon
- occurs when we see a dot in one position alternating with a similar dot nearby
- Appears as if the dot is moving back and forth
- Second position changed perception of what
occurred before
47
What is loss of consciousness?
- marked by decreased overall activity, decreased dopamine input to parts of the cortex
- decreased connectivity between the thalamus and cortex
48
Describe people in an unresponsive wakefulness
Alternate between sleep and wakefulness
- even when awake, they demonstrate no purposeful behaviors
- some state have indicated consciousness, such as by brain responses when instructed to imagine playing tennis
49
How to recover consciousness?
By increasing connectivity between subcortical and cortical areas, and then by increased activity in the cortex
50
Inattentional blindness
@ change blindness
If something in a complex scene changes slowly or changes while you blink your eyes, you are unaware of it unless you are paying particular attention to the object that changes
51
Bottom-up process
Arises from a new stimulus
Eg. Something runs past suddenly, grabbing our attention
- overlap those for top-down attention
52
Top-down attention
It is intentional
Eg. When looking for someone in a crowd, checking one face after another
1. It depends on parts of the prefrontal and parietal cortex that facilitate responsiveness in thalamus
2. Which modifies responses in the primary sensory cortices
3. Neural responses to the attended stimuli increase and responses to other stimuli decrease
53
54
Stroop effect
The difficulty of ignoring words & saying the color of ink
- enhance the activity in the color-vision areas of the cortex
- decrease the activity in the areas responsible for identifying words
Prefrontal cortex is important in controlling attention!
55
Damage to the right hemisphere causes spatial neglect. Explain
Spatial neglect - a tendency to ignore the left side of the body, the left side of objects, much of what they hear in the left ear, and much of what they feel in the left hand, especially in the presence of any competing sensation from the right side
- effects are most pronounced early after a stroke or other damage
56
How to overcome spatial neglect?
By increasing attention to the neglected side
- Look left while feeling an object with the left hand
- Crossing the hands in front of the body
57
What are the two types of decisions?
Factual
- To answer such questions, you weigh the evidence
One of value
- Would I prefer this choice or that one
58
What happens when making factual decisions?
1. One set of cells accumulates evidence in favor of one choice
2. Another set accumulates evidence for another choice
3. A third set compares the two
59
What happens when making value decisions (based on preference)?
1. Estimate the probable outcome of each choice
2. Weigh which outcome seems better
3. Learn probabilistically over many trials, relying mainly on cells in the basal ganglia
4. Cells in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex rapidly learning new information
5. The rapid-learning prefrontal cortex can overrule the slower-learning basal ganglia
60
Functions of orbitofrontal cortex
1. Learns rules about the environment
2. Compares an expected reward to other possible choices
3. Many orbitofrontal cells changed their responses to a stimulus depending on the other choice
- respond strongly when it was the preferred choice but not so much when a better choice was available
61
Damage to orbitofrontal cortex leads to ______
poor or impulsive decision making
- can be tested through Iowa Gambling Task
62
Function of prefrontal cortex in making value decision
Prefrontal cortex updates the relative advantage or disadvantage of each possible choice
63
Factors in individual differences in decision making
1. Heart rate variability
- vagus nerve, part of the parasympathetic nervous system, controls heart rate
- greater heart rate variability, greater decision making, especially in situations of risk and uncertainty
- changes in vagus activity may indicate increased mental effort
2. Bacteria in the digestive system
- some types of intestinal bacteria produce inflammation, impair cognition
- increase the risk of psychological and neurological disorders
64
Social neuroscience
Study of how genes, chemicals, and brain areas contribute to social behavior, is a relatively new area of study
65
What happens when someone is in love?
1. Activates brain areas involved with reward
(excitatory neurotransmitter)
2. Viewing photos of your beloved also activates the hippocampus and other areas important for memory and cognition
3. Love is a combination of motivations, emotions, memories, and cognitions
66
Functions of oxytocin
1. Stimulates contractions of the uterus during childbirth
2. Stimulates breasts to produce milk
3. Promotes maternal behavior, social approach, and pair bonding in many mammalian species
4. Men & women release it during sexual activity
67
How does oxytocin affects people?
1. It increases conformity to the opinions of the in-group but not the out-group
2. Improved facial recognition by people who
were ordinarily less skilled at this ability
3. Increased trust toward in-group members
4. increased attention to possible dangers when people saw themselves as threatened
5. Enhanced fidelity to their partners
68
Explain how neurons in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex affects social behaviors.
Responding to others depending on how they treated us in the past
69
What happens when neurons in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex are disrupted?
Responding unselectively, treating equally those that had or had not been helpful in the past
70
How does neurons in the hippocampus and amygdala influence social behaviors?
By recognizing other individuals and establishing relationships with them
71
Altruism
Behavior that benefits another at a cost to oneself (it is emotionally rewarding)
- Most people tend to be more generous toward those they see as similar to themselves
72
What is frontotemporal dementia?
Frontal and temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex gradually degenerate
- usually includes the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex
- are important for evaluating possible rewards
- interpreting other people’s emotional expressions
- cause sufferers to not recognize or respond to other people’s distress reactions
- they also exhibit little interest in how others perceive them
