Neurophysiology of Higher Cognition

Question 1

What are the four components, in order, of the language pathway?

Answer 1

• conceptual pathway
• mediational pathway
• implementation pathway
• speech

Question 2

What pathway develops first in humans?

Answer 2

conceptual pathway

Question 3

What is determined by the conceptual pathway?

Answer 3

what concepts you are trying to communicate

Question 4

What is the purpose of the mediational pathway?

Answer 4

relays information from the conceptual pathway to the implementation pathway

Question 5

What brain areas are involved in the language implementation pathway?

Answer 5

Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas

Question 6

Which part of the language pathway is the last to develop in humans?

Answer 6

speech

Question 7

What language characteristic to babies younger than 6 months display?

Answer 7

• language universalists

- no distinction b/w relevant and irrelevant phenomes

Question 8

What happens in the language development of an infant aged 6-9 months?

Answer 8

-begin eliminating irrelevant phenomes

Question 9

What do a child’s first words (around age 1) indicate about their language development?

Answer 9

-all irrelevant phenomes have been lost

Question 10

During the language acquisition phase, are different languages learned using the same pathway or different pathways for each new language?

Answer 10

-same pathway

Question 11

After the language acquisition phase had ended, when adults learn a new language, which area of the brain is responsible for this learning?

Answer 11

-area adjacent to Broca’s Area

Question 12

What do the neural circuits for recognizing emotions in others have in common with the neural circuits used for producing our own emotions?

Answer 12

They are the SAME neural circuits.

Question 13

What parts of the brain are responsible for recognizing a face as something special?

Answer 13

• posterior superior temporal sulcus

- fusiform gyrus

Question 14

What role does the amygdala play in Emotion Comprehension?

Answer 14

-amygdala controls eyes and directs the gaze to the eyes, nose, and mouth triangle (particularly eyes)

Question 15

What type of neurons fire during imitation when you do sthg and you see someone else do the same thing?

Answer 15

mirror neurons

Question 16

Define prosody.

Answer 16

• study of tune and rhythm of speech

- how these features contribute to meaning

Question 17

What is the role of the primary auditory cortex in prosody?

Answer 17

-identifies pitch, loudness, and other characteristics of sound consciously

Question 18

What is the role of the right posterior superior temporal sulcus in prosody?

Answer 18

-interprets the meaning of the pitch, loudness, speed, etc. of the speech

Question 19

What is the role of the frontal cortex in prosody?

Answer 19

-judgement of the emotional stimulus

Question 20

Define Theory of Mind

Answer 20

ability to understand the mental states (beliefs, desires, and intention) of others and appreciate how these differ from our own

Question 21

What parts of the brain operate Theory of Mind?

Answer 21

• amygdala
• medial temporal lobes
• orbital frontal area

Question 22

What is the function of the posterior superior temporal sulcus during imitation?

Answer 22

-provides the visual input

Question 23

What is the function of the anterior mirror neuronal system during imitation?

Answer 23

-identifies the purpose of the motion

Question 24

What is the function of the posterior mirror neuronal system during imitation?

Answer 24

-identifies the motion

Question 25

What decision-making system operates when the risks are known?

Answer 25

stimulus encoding system

Question 26

What decision making systems operate when the risks are ambiguous?

Answer 26

- expected reward system | - action selection system

Question 27

What does the Stimulus Encoding System do?

Answer 27

-evaluates the evidence available in making a decision

Question 28

What parts of the brain operate the stimulus encoding system?

Answer 28

- orbitofrontal cortex - ventromedial prefrontal cortex - striatum

Question 29

What the Expected Reward System do?

Answer 29

-predicts the expected reward

Question 30

What parts of the brain operate the Expected Reward System?

Answer 30

- basal ganglia - amygdala - insular cortex - intraparietal cortex

Question 31

What is the role of the insular cortex in the Expected Reward System?

Answer 31

-involves the emotions in decision-making

Question 32

What is the role of the intraparietal cortex in the Expected Reward System?

Answer 32

-planning and intent of the decision

Question 33

What does the Action Selection System do in decision making?

Answer 33

- learning from mistakes | - encoding results

Question 34

What part of the brain operates the Action Selection System?

Answer 34

anterior cingulate cortex