exam 3 Flashcards
Explain how to reliably stress out a human subject.
Trier social stress test: experimental procedure designed to induce psychosocial stress
Participants are informed about a task and given 5-10 minutes to prepare a speech
Participant is asked to deliver a speech in front of a panel of intimidating judges
Participant is given impossible math task under time pressure (the participants are judged harshly, and evaluated the whole time)
Name and locate the parts of the HPA axis.
The HPA axis comprised of the hypothalamus (produces CRH–excitatory effect on pituitary), pituitary gland (produces ACTH–excitatory effect on adrenal), and adrenal gland (produces cortisol–immediate negative feedback loop on hypothalamus and pituitary)
Define what cortisol is and its major function.
Cortisol is a glucocorticoid, meaning it is a glucose-regulating steroid produced in the adrenal cortex. It primarily controls energy availability: it helps in synthesizing glucose for energy, inhibiting inflammatory responses and bone growth, regulating electrolyte balance, stimulating stomach acid, and decreasing insulin sensitivity
Provide at least two pieces of evidence that debunk the claim that cortisol is the stress hormone.
- Cortisol primarily controls energy avalibility: synthesises glucose for energy.
- cortisol releases in response to many things not only stress: Pregenancy, aging, during summer.
Identify what IS the stress hormone and the path by which it is released in response to a stressor.
Adrenaline is the stress hormone and is released through a second, faster pathway: Hypothalamus → Spinal cord (sympathetic projections) → Adrenal medulla → Epinephrine & norepinephrine
Give examples of acute and chronic stressors.
Acute stress happens, then it’s done. Examples include new challenges, presentations, and lifting heavy weights
Chronic stress happens over and over. Examples include annoying bosses and long commutes
List at least 2 major effects of chronic stress on the brain/body.
Decreased volume of brain regions (PFC, hippocampus), increased cell death, impaired memory, decreased sleep, supresion of growth factors
Explain what biofeedback and neurobiofeedback are.
Biofeedback- technique that trains individuals to control bodily processes that are normally involuntary, such as heart rate, muscle tension, skin temperature, and breathing.
Neurobiofeeback- focuses specifically on brain activity. It trains individuals to self-regulate their brain wave patterns.
Both can help to de-stress
Give a reasonable definition of language.
Language is a system of communication involving a lexicon and a grammar
Identify the major brain areas involved in the act of reading a word and saying it aloud.
Visual cortex (receives written words as visual stimulation) → Angular gyrus (transforms visual representations into auditory code) → Wernicke’s area (interprets auditory code) → Broca’s area (controls speech muscles via motor cortex) → Motor cortex (word is pronounced)
Predict how a person with a split brain would process linguistic and non-linguistic stimuli presented at different locations in their visual field.
For a split-brain patient, if information is processed on the left side, they can say it
If information is processed on the right side, they can’t say it, but they can draw it
Give examples of the major deficits seen in the following types of aphasia: anomic, Wernicke’s, Broca’s, global, primary progressive.
Anomic aphasia (or logopenic aphasia) impairs the ability to remember words
Wernicke’s aphasia impairs the ability to understand, but not to speak
Broca’s aphasia impairs the ability to speak, but not to understand
Global aphasia impairs the ability to both understand and speak
Primary progressive aphasia is a neurodegenerative language disorder with gradually increasing impairments
Outline some training activities that might help in treatment for aphasia.
If aphasia is stroke-related, it can be treated by language-based therapies
Name the single biggest language-related difference between the brains of humans and other primates.
While humans have a complex bundle of white matter connecting Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas, called the arcuate fasciculus, other primates don’t
Describe what has happened in the brain in cases of dyslexia.
People with dyslexia have increased blood flow in the angular gyrus in the left hemisphere. This typically leads to difficulty reading, but not listening
List four ways that people use the term “consciousness”.
“Big C” Consciousness: Used by philosophers, refers to the hard problems of consciousness
“Little c” consciousness: “The patient has regained consciousness”
Attention: “Be conscious of…”
Awareness: “I’m conscious of…”
Define the function of the following networks and name/identify the major brain structures involved in each: default mode network, salience network, and control network.
The default mode network consists of the brain areas commonly identified as functionally connected during resting state activity. This includes the medial PFC, the hippocampal formation, the temporal cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex, and the inferior parietal lobe
The salience network is identified as the brain areas important in sustaining attention. This includes the dorsomedial PFC, the dorsolateral PFC, and the posterior parietal cortex
The control network is identified as the brain areas important in the detection of stimuli. This includes the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and amygdala
Explain what researchers mean when they use terms like top-down/bottom-up or covert/overt attention.
Top-down (endogenous) attention: specifically trying to pay attention to something
Bottom-down (exogenous) attention: something in the external world captures your attention
Covert attention: paying attention without orienting your sensory organs (paying attention to your peripherals)
Overt attention: paying attention by orienting your sensory organs (looking at something)
Describe the effects of attention on neuronal activity.
Attention boots neural activity
Describe the symptoms of hemispatial neglect and some of the major brain areas often implicated in this disorder.
Hemispatial neglect results in reduced awareness of one side of space (typically the left), often without damage to the primary sensory system
Define the neural correlates of consciousness and at least two types of tests researchers might use to study them in the lab using control subjects.
Neural correlates of consciousness: the minimal change necessary to become aware of something
Masking: watching screen coupled with noise and flash of a stimuli, then back to noise
Binocular rivalry: blue and red in eyes, brain would average them, but really you see them separately
Bistable images: image of nothing and then turns into dalmatian, vasel face
List at least three major hypotheses about where in the brain consciousness might reside.
Awareness in the front: thinking of yourself is correlated with frontal activity; stimulation in the PFC impair metacognition
Awareness in the back: people with brain damage still have a sense of self (Patient R); minimally conscious vs. vegetative states show greater differences in the back of the brain
Awareness in the claustrum: the claustrum is one of the most well-connected brain structures; people with claustrum damage report confusion, delusion, hallucinations, delirium, paranoia, religious visions, delusional jealousy, cotard delusion, and disturbed sleep
