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), emerged due to improvements in technology eg fMRI and PET scans

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, speech fluid but say nonsense words

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

Question 6

What did Tulving do

Answer 6

Using tasks that required the use of episodic and semantic memories, he was able to show how these different types of LTM may be located on opposite sides of the PFC

Question 7

What is brain fingerprinting

Answer 7

The use of computer generated models that are designed to ‘read’ the brain so allows mind mapping techniques, could be used to analyse brain wave patterns of eyewitnesses to determine whether they are lying in court