Cognitive Neuroscience (extension of cognitive)

Question 1

What is cognitive neuroscience

Answer 1

Study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes which can be investigated post mortem and through brain imaging)

Question 2

Phineas Cage case study

Answer 2

-iron rod blasted through his head causing his personality to undergo drastic changes
-experienced damage to his frontal lobe which controls personality and impulse control

Question 3

What is Broca’s aphasia

Answer 3

Difficulty with language production due to damage to the left frontal lobe in the Broca’s area

Question 4

What is Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 4

Causes major impairment to language comprehension due to damage to the Wernicke’s area in the left temporal lobe

Question 5

Possible applications of cognitive neuroscience

Answer 5

-development of scanning imaging techniques to locate different types of memory in different areas of the brain, leads to development of treatments for memory problems
-study mental processes in patients with depression/OCD or children with autism or dyslexia
-use of computer modelling to develop voice recognition programmes
-create computer simulations to test theories about mental processes eg attention, memory and problem solving