cognitive functions and organization of the cerebral cortex

Question 1

what can cognition be defined as

Answer 1

anything that happens “in between” - information recombination and transformation

Question 2

where does cognition take place

Answer 2

mostly in cortex (also in cerebellum and BG)

Question 3

ex of cognition (5)

Answer 3

1. memory
2. learning
3. attention
4. executive functions
5. “consciousness”

Question 4

what is the cortex

Answer 4

wrinkled, 2D sheet of layered neurons

Question 5

why is the cortex wrinkled

Answer 5

to fit everything

Question 6

what can tertiary and associative cortices be defined as

Answer 6

regions of cortex where injury causes cognitive deficits that cannot be explained by impairment of sensory or motor functions alone

Question 7

inputs of primary and higher-order sensory areas

Answer 7

primary: thalamic sensory relay nuclei (like LGN)
higher-order: other thalamic nuclei and lower-order areas of sensory cortex

Question 8

RFs of primary and higher-order sensory areas

Answer 8

primary: small RFs
higher-order: larger RFs

Question 9

map of neuronal arrangement in primary and higher-order sensory areas

Answer 9

primary: precise map of sensory receptor surface
higher-order: imprecise maps of array of peripheral receptors

Question 10

effect of injury to primary and higher-order sensory areas

Answer 10

primary: simple sensory loss
higher-order: deficits of perception and cognition + intact detection of sensory stimuli

Question 11

connectivity of primary and higher-order sensory areas with other areas

Answer 11

primary: limited connections to other cortical areas
higher-order: connected to nearby unmodal areas & distal areas in frontal and limbic lobes (far away)

Question 12

information flow in nervous system

Answer 12

sensory organs + BG/cerebellum -> thalamus <-> sensory cortices + motor cortices + association cortices
brainstem modulatory inputs -> association cortices <-> sensory cortices + motor cortices

Question 13

what kind of connections bw sensory or motor cortices and association cortices

Answer 13

cortico-cortical association fibers

Question 14

how is sensory information processed; how is each modality processed

Answer 14

in series; in parallel

Question 15

how does information change when brain areas go up in hierarchy (3)

Answer 15

information more abstract, more distant from peripheral sensors, complexity increases

Question 16

flow of goal-directed behavior information in the frontal lobe

Answer 16

associative cortex -> M3 -> M2 -> M1 -> movement

Question 17

flow of sensory information in the cortex

Answer 17

1 -> 2 -> 3 -> associative cortex

Question 18

what is bottom-up processing

Answer 18

sensory -> associative cortex -> motor

Question 19

principles of organization of functional areas in cortex (3)

Answer 19

1. all areas fall into a few functional categories
2. areas in a category occupy discrete, continuous portion of cortical sheet
3. areas that are functionally related occupy neighboring sites

Question 20

number of layers in the (a) neocortex (b) archicortex (c) paleocortex

Answer 20

(a) 6
(b) 4
(c) 3

Question 21

organization of inputs and outputs of cortical layers

Answer 21

each layer has primary source of inputs and primary output target; each layer has different inputs and outputs

Question 22

types of connections in layers of cortex

Answer 22

1. vertical axis - bw layers
2. horizontal axis - within layer (interneurons)

Question 23

which aspects did brodmann use to organize the cortex into areas (3)

Answer 23

1. cell density, cell size
2. cortical thickness
3. laminar size

Question 24

what do brodmann’s cytoarchitecture areas represent

Answer 24

regions of the brain with similar cell type layering

Question 25

which techniques showed that cytoarchitectonically different regions were also functionally different (3)

Answer 25

1. neurological cases (stroke or injury) 2. in-vivo electrophysiology in animals 3. neurosurgical patients (penfield and MC stimulation)

Question 26

modern neuroscience studies in humans (3)

Answer 26

1. neuropsychological testing (lesion patients) 2. functional neuroimaging (EEG, fMRI) combined with psychological tasks 3. neuromodulation (stimulate or inhibit while patient does psychological task)

Question 27

unique features of association cortices (3)

Answer 27

1. thalamic nuclei (input to association cortices) 2. information that arrives from thalamus is already processed by sensory and motor areas 3. majority of input is from corticocortical connections

Question 28

corticocortical connections within same hemisphere and interhemispheric

Answer 28

within same hemisphere: U shaped fibers & long association fibers interhemispheric: long association fibers through CC

Question 29

important sources of innervation to subcortical nuclei (4)

Answer 29

1. cholinergic 2. dopaminergic 3. noradrenergic 4. serotoninergic

Question 30

functional specialization of association areas (3)

Answer 30

1. parietal - attention & perceptual awareness 2. temporal - categorization, recognition, semantic memory 3. frontal - planning and regulation of behavior (decision making and behavioral inhibition)

Question 31

parietal association cortex important for (2)

Answer 31

1. attention 2. awareness of body and stimuli around it

Question 32

parietal association cortex integrates (4)

Answer 32

somatic, visual, acoustic and vestibular sensory information

Question 33

what aspect of motor control is the parietal association cortex involved in

Answer 33

motor control of the eyes and the extremities

Question 34

intraparietal sulcus involved in control of (3)

Answer 34

1. ocular movements 2. reaching and grasping of the upper extremities 3. spatial working memory

Question 35

where does intraparietal sulcus project to (3)

Answer 35

premotor area, frontal eye fields and prefrontal area

Question 36

inferior parietal lobule and precuneus project to (2)

Answer 36

parahippocampal and entorhinal cortices

Question 37

inferior parietal lobule and precuneus important for

Answer 37

long-term memory formation (hippocampal function)

Question 38

special neuron found in parietal association cortex

Answer 38

attention sensitive neurons

Question 39

lesion in parietal association cortex

Answer 39

hemineglect: lesion in right parietal lobe only, ignore everything on left side (spatial awareness)

Question 40

lateral temporal association cortex

Answer 40

auditory association cortex (including wernicke's area)

Question 41

ventral temporal association cortex

Answer 41

'what' pathway -> recognition of sensory stimuli (faces, words, objects)

Question 42

lesion in ventral temporal association cortex

Answer 42

agnosia

Question 43

what is agnosia

Answer 43

see features, don't know what it is (can't associate meaning to object)

Question 44

what does anterior pole of temporal association cortex store (3)

Answer 44

representation of knowledge, semantic memory, meaning

Question 45

temporal association cortex strong connection to

Answer 45

limbic system -> emotion and memory

Question 46

anterior temporal association cortex lesion

Answer 46

associative agnosia -> don't know meaning

Question 47

posterior temporal association cortex lesion

Answer 47

apperceptive agnosia -> can't copy

Question 48

lesion in FFA (right temporal lobe)

Answer 48

prosopagnosia -> can't recognize faces

Question 49

lesion in VWFA (left temporal lobe)

Answer 49

alexia

Question 50

highly specialized areas in ventral surface of temporal association cortex (2)

Answer 50

1. FFA 2. VWFA

Question 51

frontal association cortex integrates (4)

Answer 51

sensory, motor, parietal and temporal cortices

Question 52

frontal association cortex important for (4)

Answer 52

1. appreciation of self in relation to the world 2. selection 3. planning 4. execution of appropriate behavior (social context)

Question 53

damage in frontal association cortex causes

Answer 53

change in character/personality

Question 54

ex of functional deficits from lesioned frontal association cortex (4)

Answer 54

1. cognitive disabilities 2. impaired restraint 3. disordered thought 4. inability to plan appropriate action

Question 55

dorsolateral frontal association cortex important for

Answer 55

short-term memory

Question 56

what is working memory

Answer 56

information hold onto for short amount of time to use it, will forget it

Question 57

ventromedial frontal association cortex important for

Answer 57

value and decision making

Question 58

short-term memory and value + decision making are processed where in frontal association cortex

Answer 58

short-term memory -> dorsolaterally value + decision making -> ventromedially

Question 59

orbital and ventromedial limbic association cortex connected to ... and important for ...

Answer 59

amygdala and hippocampus; emotional processes

Question 60

hippocampal formation of limbic association cortex important for

Answer 60

formation of long-term memories and transfers them to neocortex

Question 61

where are emotional processes and long-term memories processed in limbic association cortex

Answer 61

emotional processes -> orbital and ventromedially (amygdala and hippocampus) long-term memories -> hippocampal formation