Module 33 (sexual motivation), Neuropsychology

Question 1

neuropsychology

Answer 1

studies the structure and function of the brain as they relate to specific psychological processes and behaviors

Question 2

neuropsychology (departmental fields covered)

Answer 2

clinical and experimental fields of psychology

Question 3

neuropsychology goals

Answer 3

aims to study, assess, understand, and treat behaviors directly related to brain functioning

• understand the mind and brain by studying people who have suffered brain injury or neurological illness

Question 4

visual agnosia

Answer 4

impairment of recognition of visually presented objects

• NOT due to a deficit in vision (acuity, visual field, and scanning are intact), language, memory, or low intellect

Question 5

types of visual agnosia

Answer 5

apperceptive agnosia

associative agnosia

Question 6

apperceptive agnosia

Answer 6

Like blindness results in profound difficulties on a patient’s ability to recognize visually presented info (perceptual processing affected)

• generally have damage near left OCCIPITAL lobe

Question 7

symptoms of apperceptive agnosia

Answer 7

• difficulty copying (redrawing) geometric shapes and letters no depth perception
• unable to identify objects, picture naming impaired, but can still recognize objects through other methods

Question 8

associative agnosia

Answer 8

results in an impairment in recognition or assigning meaning to a stimulus that is accurately perceived

usually accompanied by other complex neuropsychological problems due to the nature and scope of the injury

Question 9

associative agnosia symptoms

Answer 9

• unable to identify the object, features, or function
• can distinguish objects though (copy/redraw accurately) or categorize as well
• may retain semantic knowledge of the items
• could be category-specific : impairment limited to specific classes of stimuli; only living or non-living things

Question 10

associative agnosia physical problems

Answer 10

generally attributed to damage to the left anterior TEMPORAL lobe
- can also be caused by stroke, brain tumor, carbon monoxide poisoning

Question 11

akinetopsia (motion blindess)

Answer 11

extremely rare neuropsychological disorder in which a patient cannot perceive motion in their visual field, despite being able to see stationary objects without any problems

Question 12

akinetopsia symptoms

Answer 12

• normal spatial acuity, stereo and color vision

- cannot do visuomotor tasks (moving objects /fluid appear frozen)

Question 13

akinetopsia physical causes

Answer 13

damage in the posterior visual cortex (V5), usually caused by traumatic brain injury
- bilateral lesion, sometime unilateral lesion

Question 14

prosopagnosia

Answer 14

inability to recognize faces

- no training can restore ability to recognize faces

Question 15

prosopagnosia physical causes

Answer 15

bilateral damage to the fusiform gyrus (region of cortex on inferior surface of the brain where the occipital and temporal cortices meet)

Question 16

fusiform face area damage

Answer 16

enthusiasts unable to distinguish their own expertise; bird watchers unable to distinguish bird species etc.

Question 17

damage to orbitofrontal region of both frontal lobes (PHINEAS GAGE) symptoms

Answer 17

• emotional, motor, and cognitive changes
• strange apathy
• impulsive behavior
• no concern for past or future
• shallow emotions, less pain
• IQ largely unaffected

Question 18

prefrontal lesions symptoms

Answer 18

executive function impairments - (planning)

• unable to complete set of errands without multiple false starts, backtracking, confusion
• perseverate (continue to show a behavior repeatedly in any activity)
• reduced pain feeling

Question 19

prefrontal cortex

Answer 19

may be important for goal-directed behavior, requires prolonged attention and sensitivity to potential rewards and punishments (gages reward stimuli)

Question 20

damage to right inferior parietal cortex (hemispatial neglect)

Answer 20

unusual set of behavioral changes, called hemispatial neglect, or hemineglect

• key feature is neglect of the left side of both the body and space
  ex: people, objects left of the patient’s midline ignored, may fail to dress the left side of the body even in drawings

Question 21

anosognosia

Answer 21

denial/unawareness of own disability

associated with hemineglect – patients may adamantly maintain that they are capable of engaging in their customary activities and do not recognize the signs of hemineglect

Question 22

asomatognosia

Answer 22

lack of awareness of part of body

patients can deny ownership of their own left arm or leg rather than accepting that anything unusual is occurring

Question 23

hemispatial neglect theories

Answer 23

some investigators regard the disorder as a consequence of loss of the ability to analyze spatial patterns
- occurs with right hemisphere : implicated in analysis of spatial patterns

• LOW ROAD processing of left side –shown two pictures of a house – left side on fire would prefer to live int he house where there is no fire on the left side
  other theories: regard the syndrome as an attentional deficit

Question 24

brain and behavior frontal lobe

Answer 24

lecherous behavior and pedophilia caused by tumor on frontal lobe ((loss of executive control)

Question 25

sexual orientation

Answer 25

one's affinities as an object of sexual attraction - not necessarily sexual activity, but desires, interests, infatuations, and fantisies "identity" as heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual emerges in puberty

Question 26

sexual orientation statistics

Answer 26

exclusively homosexual (sexual activity) 3% men 1-2% women

Question 27

sexual orientation and mental health

Answer 27

previously considered psychological disorder now still puts ones at risk for anxiety and mood disorders due to stress of discrimination and isolation, and the difficulty in finding satisfying and loving relationships

Question 28

homosexuality in nature (not just humans)

Answer 28

observed in nearly 1500 species, well-documented in about 500 species

Question 29

disproved theories on sexual orientation

Answer 29

HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT: - linked with problems with parents (domineering mother, absent father, etc etc etc) - fear/hatred of opposite sex - linked with levels of sex hormones in the blood - result of abuse/molestation/seduction by adults as children - raised by same-sex parents

Question 30

fraternal birth order effect

Answer 30

being born after a brother increases likelihood of being gay

Question 31

brain and sexual orientation

Answer 31

heterosexual men have a cell cluster in the hypothalamus that on average is larger than in gay men and in women

Question 32

genetics and homosexuality

Answer 32

- fruit fly sexual orientation and behavior determined by difference in one gene - homosexuality seems to run in families and among identical twins, but sitll emerges spontaneously, even in one of a pair of twins - genes could be passed on by siblings or by people not living exclusively according to their sexual orientation

Question 33

homosexuality and gender hormones

Answer 33

same hormones may also affect sexual orientation - more vs less testosterone can result in bodies, brains, and faces with traits of the opposite sex - the sexual attraction expected of the opposite sex to one's own sex

Question 34

gay-straight trait differences

Answer 34

- spatial abilites - fingerprint ridge counts - auditory system development - handedness - occupational preferences - relative finger lengths - gender nonconformity - age of onset puberty in males - male body size - sleep length - physical aggression - walking style - on average, results between gays and lesbians fall between those of straight men and women - brain, genetic, and prenatal influences may contribute to these differences

Question 35

brain differences in sexual orientation

Answer 35

- one hypothalamic cell cluster smaller in women and gay men than in straight men - anterior commissure is larger in gay men than in straight men - gay men's hypothalamus reacts as do straight women's to the smell of sex-related hormones

Question 36

genetic influences on sexual orientation

Answer 36

- shared sexual orientation is higher among identical twins than among fraternal twins - sexual attraction in fruit flies can be genetically manipulated - male homosexuality often appears to be transmitted from the mother's side of the family

Question 37

prenatal influences on sexual orientation

Answer 37

altered prenatal hormones may lead to homosexuality in humans and other animals - right-handed men with several older biological brothers are more likely to be gay, possibly due to a maternal immune-system reaction

Question 38

wisconsin card sorting test

Answer 38

rule switch up on you but patients with prefrontal lesions or damage revert to doing the first task or something else (perseveration) repeated behavior