Exam 1 Flashcards
(58 cards)
What is Brain Theory (explained by Gazzaniga et al. and Kolb and Whishaw)
- all behavior is a result of and is modulated by the
brain - Fluorenes - aggregate field theory where whole
brain participates in behavior vs franz joseph gall
and localizationism - Thomas Willis was one of the first people to explain
that damage to brain structure was linked to
behavioral deficits (he began theorizing how the
brain
transfers information) - Kolb - brain is the source of behavior
Gall (1800) hypothesized that the size of a given brain area is related to the amount of skill a person has in a certain field or capacity. Has modern brain science falsified this hypothesis.
- the idea that size of brain area can indicate function is still very popular and is being studied today
- Gall’s theorized that they brain area grew bigger, resulting in bumps on the head which is not really true
- there are brain areas that are seen to grow with more use and resulting higher capacity for a certain skill
example: person who plays an instrument likely has a larger area of their brain dedicated to the motor skill that instrument requires
- modern imaging has shown that one process is not limited to one brain area so instead of seeing a growth in area size, we may see a strengthening of those connections
You have been assigned the task of explaining the history of neuropsychology to a high school psych class. You are limited to discussing the work of 3 prominent founds of the field. Who would you choose and why?
- Ribot
- worked with working memory and vision
- he made the distinction between anterograde and retrograde memory impairments
- theorized that the most recent memories are the ones that are most vulnerable in memory loss due to brain damage
- also made the distinction between declarative and nondeclarative memory by looking at patients with amnesia
- laid the groundwork for other memory researchers like Wernicke - Broca
- studied and localized speech production to 3rd gyrus of the left frontal lobe
- suggested lateralization language to the left hemisphere
- did all these studies in Tan, who he was observing and studying externally only - Gall
- studied localization of function and theorized that areas areas of the brain coordinating with skills people were good at grew in size
–this was partially true, as it did not grow the physical dimensions of the skull but rather the brain density increased
- his theories that behaviors and functions were a result of the brain and brain signaling aligns with the ‘brain theory’
- he suggested that the cortex sends signals to the spinal cord, instructing the muscles to move
What is ‘phrenology’? As a scientific approach, how does phrenology differ from modern fMRI approaches?
- scientific approach created by Gall where the bumps on the skull are studied and thought to indicate an increase in the size of brain area under it
- specific areas of the brain coordinated with specific traits, behaviors, and skills
- bump on head = larger area underneath = higher amount of trait that area related too
- modern fMRI looks at functional connectivity, connectivity maps, and where activity is centralized for some task
- when people make conclusions about fMRI studies that are not fully empirically supported, the result is oversimplification of some function or trait to one specific area of the brain
How did materialism help address the “mind-body problem”?
- mind body problem - what is the relationship between mind and body and how the intangible aspects (thoughts, emotions) are embedded/intertwined with the physical matter of our brain/body
- materialism - rational behavior can be fully explained by the nervous system and biological functions
- materialism suggests that all of our intangible qualities and our mind is a result of the biological processes of our nervous system
- does not point to one brain area that is responsible for the mind’s abilities
Who are the various professionals that study the brain? how are their fields similar and different?
Neurologist - treat and diagnose head injury
Neuropsychiatrist - work in psychiatry to work with mental disorders; study brain and behavior relationship
Neurosurgeon - surgery on brain and nervous system; medical doctors/clinician
Psychologist - focus on behavior; can study this without understanding the brain on a molecular level
Neuroscience - work in research and education to study and teach the nervous system (book definition should include cognitive work)
It could be argued that Uiowa is a ‘ground zero’ for the fields of cognitive neuroscience and clinical neuropsychology. Why? How did leaders like Antonio Damasio, Hanna Damasio, and Arthur Benton contribute to this legacy.
Hanna - anatomical expert, started the idea of using lesion information
Antonio - studied behavior and now does consciousness
- Arthur Benton had first neuropsychology lab
- they started the Iowa patient registry which is now used around the world by a number of different people
- they have all trained a number of very successful researchers
- facilitated communication between medical doctor and researcher
- created many tests and assessments that are still used today
Lashley’s theory of mass action states that “the amount of loss is, on average, closely proportional to the amount of cortex destroyed.” His theory of equipotentiality states that “the memory trace is located in all parts of the functional area, and various parts are equipotential for its maintenance and activation.” In light of what we have learned about memory and the brain since Lashley’s time, are these to principles still correct?
Mass action
- the size of the lesion is proportional to the loss of functionality
- still true, especially with amnesia patients
- not true always for children who get hemispherectomies
- plasticity is a huge factors
- Jackson suggested that the rate of development was more predictive about of the seriousness of the deficit rather than how much the brain was actually damaged
Equipotentiality
- if you lose 1/60th of your visual cortex, you are still able to do the basic job of the cortex because the function is shared throughout whole system
- memory is implicated in a number of tracts and areas but not necessarily equally
- certain structures play a bigger role in certain types of memory so it is hard to say and generalize to one idea of memory such as a memory trace
Is neuropsychological assessment still a valuable method for measuring and localizing brain dysfunction (given availability of brain imaging techniques like CT, MRI, and PET) Why or why not?
Yes
- in the past, neuropsychological assessment has shown dysfunction, even if imaging tools show no problem and negative results
- when an assessment is done, the neuropsychologist can give immediate feedback after analyzing all the information plus they get a better understanding of the patient’s behavior in general - yes imaging takes less time for the patient but it yields less information about the patient
- neither should be used alone to diagnose or treat something
- neuropsychological assessment can help predict disorders and outcomes of cognitive impairment
Benton and Tranel noted that patients with brain damage show a remarkable degree of recovery of function over time. What factors are most likely involved in such recovery?
- neural plasticity - next tissue takes over
- recovery that is going to happen no matter what you do and how you try to treat it
- representation of remodeling - use it or lose it
- reorganization of brain and behavior - where we can adapt to situations and learn to achieve things using other routes
- learning to deal with the change
- diaschisis - where the function of an area is disrupted by a lesion to areas it is structurally and functionally connected to, these areas can gain function back over time and possibly recover completely
Define ‘clinical neuropsychology.” what are some of the main purposes of the neuropsychological examination, according to Lezak et al.
- applied science concerned with the behavioral expression of brain dysfunction used to measure complex functions reliably and against norms
- used to diagnose disorders and to separate symptoms of psychiatric disorders and neurological disorders
- to treat neurological disorders
- to identify any issues with patients home or work
The Iowa-Benton approach to neuropsychological assessment is flexible and hypothesis-driven. what does this mean
- no set lists of tests that technicians must follow, instead techs and and neuropsychologists use their judgement to select what tests should be next
- neuropsychologist will do an interview and assess the completed assignments in order to come up with feedback to provide the patient that day
- the types and order of assessments changes from person to person so they are getting an individualized procedure
a 3 year old and a 50 year old have a stroke in their left hemisphere. who will recover faster/better?
the 3 yr old - is still in the critical period for language and have higher amounts of plasticity to recover
- kennard principle - earlier the damage, the better recovery
the 50 yr old - early vulnerability hypothesis where damage done early and during the vulnerable period in their life will decrease recovery in 3 year old
In terms of the X, Y, and Z axes, what are the main directional terms used to describe these planes, and how do they compare/differ between humans and reptiles?
x - horizontal
y - coronal
z - sagittal
Reptiles
X - ventral, dorsal, superior, inferior
Y - anterior, posterior, rostral, caudal
humans above midbrain
X - anterior, posterior, rostral, caudal
Y - superior, inferior, dorsal, ventral
Humans below midbrain
X - ventral, dorsal
Y - rostral, caudal
what are the main lobes of the cerebral hemispheres and what are the landmarks that demarcate the main lobes
frontal - in front of the brain and extended to the central sulcus of rolando
central sulcus - separates frontal and parietal
Temporal - separate from the frontal lobes by the sylvian fissure
occipital - at the back of the brain, separated from the parieto-occipital sulcus
parietal - upper back of brain
what are the main differences between primary cortex, unimodal association, and heteromodal association
primary - deals with the direct, not higher order info and integrates sensory information to perceive it and motor info to make movements
unimodal - higher order processing for single sensory or motor modalities
heteromodal - integrates functions from many sensory or motor modalities
what is the difference between cortex and white matter
cortex - grey matter with mostly cell bodies and dendrites
White matter - axons and glia, mostly on the inner layers around the mid brain
what is brodmann’s map? what is the basis for the map? why is it important for neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience
Brodmann’s map - he separated and numbered the brain into 52 different parts and made note of their function
- basis of the map is that areas next to eachother are similar in function
- however, the map is in the order he parceled the brain out in
- not completely wrong - as the areas that carry similar functions go along with the number system and are locationaly close to eachother
- this is useful and used today because it can give a rough idea of how close different sections of the brain are in function
- minicolumns = neurons stacked ontop of eachother and function as a unit
- macrocolumns = larger scale columns that have associated functions to one another
who the heck would invent several different names for the most of the structures in the CNS
when imaging became popular, people began naming and identifying structures under different names and did not pay attention to neuroanatomy history
- people who kept discovering things , named them even if it was already named due to lack of communication
what is the limbic system and why has the construct of “limbic system” persisted in cognitive neuroscience. Why is it important in understanding certain brain behavior relationships like memory and emotion
Limbic system = group of structures in the mid brain that are highly connected
- includes amygdala, hippocampus, anterior thalamic nuclei, basal ganglia, cingulate gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex
Persisted because processes like memory and emotion can not be localized to just one structure of the brain and the structures of the limbic system are many of the same characteristics and work towards the same goal
what is synaptogenesis
formation of synapses and the arborization of dendrites during NS development
- starts at around 27 weeks
- reaches peak density around first 15 months after birth, then pruning begins, leaving the most efficient pathway
- synaptogenesis beings earlier in the deepest layers of the brain and continues outwards
what are the 4 leading hypothesis about how the human brain enlarged so quickly and so much
- climate changes - forced hominins to adapt to new climates and landscapes, and led to more complex food finding/handling behaviors, including the use of tools
- the primate lifestyle favored more complex nervous systems - social group size correlated with brain size and also many primates were fruit eaters and had to have a lot of skill
- brains cooling - homo skulls allow blood vessels to pass through to disperse blood flow in the brain, cooling it down in situations of stress or exercise
- Slowed maturation - neoteny = juvenile stages of predecessors become adult features of descendants - slowed maturation leads to more time for body and brain size to increase
3 primary lines of research that benefit from studying non human animals
- understanding basic brain mechanisms - many animals share a similar nervous system
- describing evolutionary and genetic influences on brain development - how our brains and subsequent behavior differ
- animal models of disease
what is the encephalization quotient and how does it help explain larger brains in humans
- quantitative measure of brain to body size rations of animals
- brain and body weights graphed onto plot comparing how far they deviate from what is expected
- under the line = smaller than expected
- over the line = larger than expected
- number of neurons relate to brain’s ability to produce complex behavior