Neuro 47: Frontal cortex Flashcards
(25 cards)
6 Mjr functions of the frontal cortex
“Executive Functions”
- planning
- reasoning
- awareness –> of yourself (there are diff types)
- judgement
- problem solving
- decision making
Dorsal pathway: regions involved? nature of info? inputs? outputs?
- regions involved: temporoparietal regions
- nature of info: logical
- inputs: visual, auditory, & somatosensory
- outputs: motor results of planning –> behavior
Ventral pathway: regions involved? nature of info? inputs? outputs?
- regions involved: temporolimbic regions
- nature of info: emotional
- inputs: limbic & somatosensory
- outputs: behavior or visceral
Focused attention
- there is constant reflexive attention–> need to suppress this to be able to focus on something else
- the dorsolateral frontal cortex plays a role in this
- average adult can sustain attention for 50 min
Reflexive attention
- constant attention system going on from the occipital, parietal and temporal cortexes
- constantly attending to the environment
Focused visual attention
-attention to visual stimuli is initiated in the frontal eye fields (superior to broca’s area)–> sends info to the parietal cortex which has a spatial map –> sends signal to superior colliculi to cause goal directed visual scanning
Stroop effect
- shows a conflict btwn different sources of info
- ex. the word “blue” written in a yellow color
- this is used to test focused visual attention
Impairment in the attention system
- results in what appears to be short term memory loss
- as we age we start losing the ability to pay attention
- you cant remember what you dont pay attention to
Wokring memory
- allows you to store info no longer present in the envi for a short period of time: verbal, visual/spatial, facial images. objects
- can manipulate or transform this info to guide behavior
- on average you can store 8-9 bits of info at a time here
- usually assessed using a delayed response
- the frontal cortex plays a role in the “delay” period
- info is stored in the parietal cortex
Visual working memory
- center is in the right dorsal frontal cortex
- circuit needs to be intact for an image to remain in short term memory
Spatial working memory
- where we store info about our surroundings
- impossible to separate visual/spatial memory from spatial memory b/c that relies so much on our visual input
- found anterior to the frontal eye fields
Verbal/object working memory
- we remember objects better if they have a name
- necessary for analytical reasoning (so found superior to it)
- found anterior to broca’s area –> which makes sense
Analytical reasoning
- used to manipulate visual/object working memories
- ex. both used for solving puzzles
Orbital frontal cortex
-communicates btwn the ventromedial and the dorsolateral cortex
Ventromedial cortex
- primary role = social processing
- interpretation of emotion occurs here
- lots of connections with the limbic, hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens
Hippocampus & the ventral pthwy
-part of the ventral pathways b/c emotion plays a role in making events memorable
Insula & the ventral pthwy
- part of the ventral pathway
- plays a mjr role in taste
- connected to the stomach
- in lower animals it is necessary to make emotion-food-memories
- in humans it causes a visceral response to emotion
4 Functions of the ventral tracts that deal with the executive fctns of the cortex
- ability to use cues to predict future rewarding or adverse events
- ability to be flexible and change one’s path in response to changing envi conditions
- autobiographical memory = being able to sequence events
- olfactory processing –> related to empathy/emotion
Wisconsin card sorting test
- cards have various number of shapes and colors on them
- ask them which of the 4 cards matches with one on top of the pile
- tell the pt they are right no matter what they pick
- then after a few times tell them they are wrong
- once they make a new pattern tell them they are right again
- repeat
- test their ability to make changes to their pattern = flexible
Occipitofrontal region
- primary task is to integrate the emotional info from the ventromedial cortex with the logical info from the dorsolateral cortex
- when this is damaged a person has trouble making decisions
What are the 4 different kinds of awareness?
- basic = info about your general physological (emotional) state
- info about your abilities and disabilities –> lack of this = anosognosia
- info about hunger, thirst, and body temp
- info about self esteem and self image
Sx of lesions in the left side dorsolateral PFC
-depression like sx
Sx of lesions in right side dorsolateral PFC
-mania and risk taking
Sx of lesions to orbitofrontal cortex
-impaired decision making
