Flashcards for Exam
Lesion technique
- actual physical damage to the brain
- the person Tan helped scientists discover that certain areas of the brain was important for language
TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)
- temporary interference with a certain part of the brain
- ie) the person can still do the action but does not have fine control
EEG (Electroencephalogram)
- brain activity creates magnetic fields that are measured by electrodes
- can identify specific patterns of response to a given stimulus
PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography Scan)
identifies active areas of brain by looking at (radioactive) glucose consumption (hot spots)
- areas of brain that are active light up
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- like an x-ray; helps see structures by giving picture of brain
- can help us see structures like tumors
fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
- watches activity of brain over time and associates it with behaviour
3 Main Divisions of the Brain
- Forebrain - sensory processing, higher reasoning, and endocrine structures
- Midbrain - auditory and visual processing, motor movement
- Hindbrain - autonomic function (respiratory rhythms and sleep patterns
Forebrain structures
- Thalamus - info relay station; all senses except smell pass through it
- Basal ganglia - wrapped around thalamus; for motor control and learning
- pathways:
direct - excitatory effect on motor behaviour
indirect - inhibitory effect on motor behaviour - Limbic system - behvioural and emotional responses
- Amygdala: emotions and evaluations of threat (damaged - docile, stimulated - aggressive)
- Hippocampus: forms memories
- Hypothalamus: maintains homeostasis (major control center) - Cerebrum - divided into two hemispheres (each with four lobes) connected by corpus callosum
- Frontal: movement and decision making
- Parietal: somatosensory processing
- Temporal: auditory and memory
- Occipital: visual perception
Hindbrain structures
Medulla - controls vital processes like heartbeat and breathing
Pons - controls sleep wake cycle
Cerebellum - balance and movement
Ataxic Cerebral Palsey
- cerebellum is damaged; motor disorder
Aphasia
- damage to Broca’s area (in frontal cortex - can’t produce words)
- damage to Wernicke’s area (in temporal lobe - can’t comprehend speech)
Agnosia
- damage to specific sensory area
ex. Prosopagnosia - inability to identify faces
Alzheimer’s disease
- death of ACh neurons in hippocampus and frontal cortex
Unilateral Neglect Syndrome
- damage to cortex; issue of awareness on one side
Split Brain
- corpus callosum severed; no communication between hemispheres
Structures of Eye
Iris
Cornea
Pupil
Lens
Ciliary muscles
Retina
Optic nerve
Optic disc
Iris - gives colour & dilates/shrinks pupil
Cornea - transparent covering of eye
Pupil - hole in iris for light to enter
Lens - bends light (accomodation)
Ciliary muscles - changes lens shape for focus
Retina - contain photoreceptors
Optic nerve - transmits signals to visual cortex
Optic disc - blind spot; where optic nerve connects to retina
Depth perception: Monocular cues
info of depth and distance from a single retina
Accomodation: lens changes shape to focus on near/dist. objects
Motion parallax: nearby objects seem to move faster than more distant
ones
Pictorial:
a. Interposition-object blocking the other is perceived as closer
b. relative size-assuming 2 objects of similar size; the smaller image is more distant
c. linear perspective-the more 2 parallel things converge, the further they seem to be
d. texture-close objects have more visible texture than distant objects
e. shading-use of light to see if object is coming toward/receding away
- light hits bottom: receding
- light hits top: approaching
Depth perception: Binocular cues
info of depth and distance from both retina
Convergence: both eyes rotate inward to focus on object
Retinal disparity: diff. in image location of object seen by left and right eyes
Sleep Stage 1-2
-non REM sleep
-irregular theta waves
-sleep spindles (brief bursts of activity 2-5 times/min.) and k complexes (bursts of activity once a min.) appear
Sleep Stage 3-4
-non REM sleep
-called slow wave sleep
-slow, regular, high amplitude delta waves
-waves are biphasic: one period of neural inhibition and one period of excitation
Sleep Stage 5
-REM sleep: Rapid Eye Movement sleep
-desynchronized beta waves
-body paralyzed, eyes move side to side
-time of dreams
4 Types of Learning
Habituation - a decline in responsiveness after repeated presentations of a stimulus
Classical conditioning - an association between 2 stimuli
Operant conditioning - an association between a behaviour and a consequence
Observational learning - imitating someone else’s behaviour
Classes of Forgetting: Comission
Misattribution - the remembered source of info is wrong
Suggestibility - info that was misremembered was suggested by outside source
Bias - memories changed based on influence of knowledge and beliefs
Persistence - recalling a memory that is unwanted (ex. PTSD)
Classes of Forgetting: Omission
Absentmindedness - info was no encoded to begin with
Interference:
a. retroactive interference - new info interferes with old
b. proactive interference
- old info interferes with new
Blocking: whether or not he cues you have available are enough to help us remember a piece of info
