Exam essay revision

Question 1

What psychological functions does your essay focus on?

Answer 1

Language, memory and execuitve control.

Question 2

What is the study of language in the brain?

Answer 2

Neurolinguistics

Question 3

What does lateralization refer to?
a) neurocgnitive functions working seperately
b) neurocognitive functions under the main control of a particular hemisphere
c) neurocognitive functions not working correctly

Answer 3

b) neurocognitive functions under the main control of a particular hemisphere

Question 4

What is meant by memory?

Answer 4

Encoding, storing and retrieval.

Question 5

What are the neurological bases of memory when change occurs? change in…

M, C and B areas of the brain

Answer 5

Mollecular, cellular and broader areas of the brain.

Question 6

Name 4 examples of high-level cognitive processes

WM, T-D E A, TS, PS

Answer 6

1) Working memory
2) top-down endogenous attention
3) task switching
4) problem solving

Question 7

How do we gain knowledge about speech and language functions? what do we study?

Answer 7

studying patients with neurological disorders such as epilepsy.

Question 8

What is epilepsy and its main symptom? how many people does it effect in the UK?

Answer 8

A brain disorder that causes recurring seizeures effecting 9 in every 1000 people in the UK.

Question 9

What is the main form of epilepsy and what is it charachterised by?

Answer 9

Temporal lobe epilepsy, characterised by lesions in the temporal lobe.

Question 10

If lesions in the temporal lobe develop early on in chilhood, what does the brain do to manage this?

F Reo and Aty L of brain functions.

Answer 10

The lesions can lead to functional reorganisation and atypical laterilastion of brain functions.

Question 11

What did the Springer et al 1999 language study look into and in what kind of participants?

Dom

Answer 11

Language dominance in epilepsy patients and neurologically normal subjects.

Question 12

What was the Springer et al 1999 language study’s main finding?

atypical language dominance

Answer 12

atypical language dominance is more frequent in epilepsy patients than cognitively normal subjects

Question 13

What were the two types of tasks used in the Springer et al 1999 language?

C task and S D task

Answer 13

Control task and a semantic decision task.

Question 14

In the springer et al 1999 study on language what machine was used and what for?

f

Answer 14

fMRI to examine the localisation of brain function.

Question 15

In the Springer et al 1999 study on language What percent of subjects showed right hemispheric dominace from the CN and Epileptic groups?

Answer 15

CN - 0%
Epilepsy - 6%

Question 16

In the Springer et al 1999 study on Language what percent of subjects showed bilateral langauge representation for both groups?

Answer 16

CN - 6%
Epilepsy - 16%

Question 17

What did the Springer et al 1999 study provide further insight to?

L of B F, Flexibile can A + D

Answer 17

Localisation of brain function and how flexible the brain is and how it can adapt and develop.

Question 18

What did the Springer et al 1999 study on Language demostrate a clear example of the brain doing?

Answer 18

The brain allowing for regular congitive function under irregular circumstances by modifying the hemispheric location of langauage.

Question 19

Name a common disease of the brain, how many dementai cases does it accoutn for

Answer 19

Alzheimers disease, 60-70% of all demntai cases.

Question 20

What is Alzheimers dissease?

Answer 20

A type of dementia associated with a progressive decline in brain functioning most notably impacting memory.

Question 21

In alzheimer’s patients what is the typical progression of atropy?

Answer 21

Medial temporal lobes, progressing to the parietal lobes and eventually the frontal lobes.

Question 22

What does atrophy in the brain cause in AD patients? (what are the main syptoms)

Changes in M + P, Increased difficulty completed D-D T and M L

Answer 22

Changes in mood and personality, increased difficulty completing day to day tasks and memory loss.

Question 23

What is Autobiographical memory?

a memory system of E that C an Individuals P H

Answer 23

A memory system of episodes that constitute an individuals personal histroy.

Question 24

What did Philippi et al 2015’s study focus on?

Answer 24

emotional autobiographical memories

Question 25

What did Philippi’s 2015 study on autobiographical memories hypothosise?

Answer 25

A deficit of AbM would exist in Alzheimer’s patients and that this would be related to the degree of atrophy in the hippocampus and amygdala.

Question 26

In Philippis 2015 study, what participants did they use?

Answer 26

18 Cognitively normal and 18 AD patients.

Question 27

In the Philippis 2015 study on autobipgraphical emotive memories what test did they use to obtain the memories?

Answer 27

MCT - modified Crovitz test

Question 28

How were the amydalar-hippocampal volumes extracted? what were they tested for?

Answer 28

using 3D T-1 weighted MRI scans. They were tested for correlations with the behavioural data obtained from the MCT.

Question 29

What were the 2 main findings of the Philippi 2015 study on autobiographical memory?

Answer 29

1) AD patients showed im[paired emoptional scores on the MCT and had a lower rate of emotional memories.
2) Positive correlations were demonstrated between the amygdalar-hippocampal volumes and emotional scored in AD patients compared to the CN group.

Question 30

Name a limitation of the 2015 Philippi et al study

Answer 30

The absence of an evaluation of the subjects emotional sates at the time of retrieval

Question 31

what could the Philippi 2015 study on emotive autobiographical memory aid in developing and what does it highlight in regards to biology?

Answer 31

it could aid in developing specialised autobiographical therapy programs using emotive stimului. It highlights the essential role of the amygdala and the hippocampus in emotive memory retrieval.

Question 32

What is is the exeutive function of ‘inhibition’?

Answer 32

The ability to overcome a subconscious and immediate response to a stimulus

Question 33

what is the executive function ‘updating (working memory)’?

Answer 33

A maintence system that is constantly updating and monitoring the input and output of information.

Question 34

Who invented the stroop task and when?

Answer 34

Stroop, J.R. 1935

Question 35

What does the stroop task measure?

Answer 35

A persons ability to inhibit a prepotent response.

Question 36

What did the Weinstein et al 2011 study want to investigate?

the association between CRF and EF

Answer 36

The association between cardiorespitory fitness and executive funtion.

Question 37

what 2 tasks did the Weinstein et al 2011 study on execuitve funtion use?

S task and SWM task

Answer 37

Stroop task and spatial working memory tasks

Question 38

What did Weinstein et al hypothesise in their 2011 study on executive function?

That higher F levels, with larger DLPFC V, with better C P

Answer 38

Weinstein et al hypothesised that higher fitness levels would be associated with larger dorsolateral prefront cortex volume which would in turn be associated with better cognitive performance.

Question 39

Who were the participants in the 2011 study by Weinstein et al on executive function?

How many? aged between?

Answer 39

142 participants aged between 58 and 81

Question 40

How were the participants examined in the 2011 study on executive function by Weinstein et al?

1)volume of gray matter
2)fitness
3)executive function

Answer 40

1) Volume of gray matter was examined in the DLPFC area using MRI scans. An Optimised voxel-based morphometry approach was used to asses the gray matter.
2) Cardiorespitory fitness levels were assesed
3) To test the cognitive capabilities and levels of executive function they had the participants perform Stroop tasks and Spatial working memory tasks.

Question 41

What were the results for the Weinstein et al 2011 study on executive function?

What were higher CRF levels associated with in regards to executive function tasks and gray matter volume?

Answer 41

The results showed higher cardiorespitory fitness levels were associated with both a better performance on the Stroop and SPWM tasks and a greater gray matter volume in several regions including the DLPFC.

Question 42

what is the Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex area of the brain associated with and why is studying this region in regards to CRF impactful?

provide a way of maintaining/improving E C against the typical D of age.
Provides data on G M D and how this is associated with the P F of E C .

Answer 42

the DLPFC is associated with many executive functions, studying the impact of cardiorespitory fitness on this region could provide a way of maintaining or improving our execuitve control against the typical deterioration of age. It also provides data on gray matter density and how this is associated with the psychological function of executive control.

Question 43

In regards to brain and behaviour, what can be deduced regarding top-down and bottom-up processing?

Answer 43

It can be deduced that physical changes in the brain such as atrophy caused by brain disorders can impact how we function, yet equally bottom-up processing shows how somatic intervention that influences change in certain behaviours, can alter the anatomy of the brain.