Test 3 (Executive Control)

Question 1

what is WM?

Answer 1

• temporary maintenance
• short-term manipulation
• capacity-limited
• associated with executive control

Question 2

baddeley model of WM

Answer 2

executive control allocates energy to one of three ‘buffers’ (phonological buffer, episodic buffer, visuospatial sketchpad) which acts bidirectionally w long term storages of language, episodic memory or visual-semantic memory
** believes WM and LTM are distinct

Question 3

cowan model of WM

Answer 3

believes executive control puts spotlight on up to 4 LTM items which can be manipulated and activated within attention

Question 4

what are simple tasks of WM?

Answer 4

digit span, word span, etc.

Question 5

why are more complex WM tasks necessary?

Answer 5

to pick apart specific part of WM process the neural correlate is associated with
1. encoding
2. delay
3. response

Question 6

STUDY: delayed response task

Answer 6

fixation point, target in external visual field, have to id location
- tests spatial WM

NEURAL CORR:
- dlPFC activity
- no success w dlPFC lesions
- activity in premotor cortex, temporal lobe, parietal lobe
*greater WM load = greater dlPFC activity

CAVEAT: what phase dlPFC active?

Question 7

STUDY: delayed match-to-sample task

Answer 7

given input, need to decide whether new cue is part of original sample
(tests delay to avoid expectation of answering to affect recall)

Question 8

STUDY: n-back test

Answer 8

to test how far back can remember
(studies dynamic encoding, delay stage)

Question 9

neural correlates of phonological WM

Answer 9

L interior frontal cortex
Broca’s area

Question 10

neural correlates of graphemic WM (word apperance)

Answer 10

L interior temporal cortex

Question 11

neural correlates of semantic WM

Answer 11

LA interior frontal cortex
LM temporal lobe

Question 12

neural correlates of spatial WM

Answer 12

dlPFC, parietal cortex (memory field, where pathway)

Question 13

neural correlates of object WM

Answer 13

temporal cortex (memory field, what pathway), FFA
STUDY: specific shapes or colors
(study shows same regions active in visual processing as SM - i.e. FFA - showing support for cowan’s model and against baddeley’s)

Question 14

domain specificity model of PFC and WM (content based)

Answer 14

PFC maintains and manipulates information and WM works in existing pathways (ex. dorsal for where, spatial WM and ventral for what, object WM)

Question 15

process-specificity model of PFC and WM

Answer 15

vlPFC maintains WM, dlPFC supports manipulating info into WM

Question 16

conflict-control model of PFC activity

Answer 16

dACC acts in error correction by signaling the dlPFC to resolve conflict

Question 17

evidence in support of process-specificity

Answer 17

study showed that dlPFC more active during delay when asked to reorganize words and vlPFC active the whole time

Question 18

STUDY: monkey on attended vs. unattended location

Answer 18

dlPFC more active in attended, maybe PFC is merely internal attention and maintenance is done elsewhere

Question 19

STUDY: object and location sensitive neurons

Answer 19

show present in dlPFC, meaning maybe not specificity, capable everywhere

Question 20

what is executive control?

Answer 20

flexible, goal-directed behavior requiring WM, selection and bias, performance monitoring

Question 21

early beliefs about cognition

Answer 21

that size was associated with intelligence (that’s why PFC proportionally larger)
WRONG: great apes have larger PFC

Question 22

Early evidence did more than physical change

Answer 22

denoted the “silent cortex”
because stimulation didn’t lead to spontaneous activity

Question 23

Phineas Gage and the new PFC

Answer 23

• demonstrated PFC relevant for reducing impulsive behavior
• demonstrated PFC important for personality

Question 24

Frontal disinhibition syndrome

Answer 24

vmPFC damage
- impulsive, manic, poor judgement

(Phineas Gage)(can perform perfectly well on cognitive tests)

Question 25

Frontal dysexecutive syndrome

Answer 25

dlPFC lesions (any kind of syndrome w dlPFC lesions) - lack of spontaneous behavior - apathy - emotional blunting - perseveration

Question 26

STUDY: PFC and WM

Answer 26

IPFC crucial for WM

Question 27

STUDY: impaired PFC lesion data

Answer 27

1. impaired WM (can't maintain sequential information) 2. impaired ability to reduce impulsive behavior 3. inability to separate action from knowledge 4. apathy

Question 28

the role of dlPFC

Answer 28

effects cortical motor and sensory association areas, important for WM and reducing spontaneous behavior and personality lesions = emotional blunting

Question 29

STUDY: Wisconsin card sorting task and dlPFC lesions

Answer 29

not able to change rules of the game E: role of dlPFC in dynamic WM

Question 30

STUDY: stroop task w dlPFC lesions

Answer 30

not able to change visual cues from semantic cues E: unable to change between input and override tendencies

Question 31

STUDY: tower of london w dlPFC lesions

Answer 31

can't figure out how to do it E: unable to maintain and execute a goal

Question 32

STUDY: environmental dependency syndrome

Answer 32

type of frontal dysexecutive syndrome: inappropriate activity for context (ex. drinking doctor's coffee) E: no dlPFC activity, struggle to act in a context-correct manner

Question 33

role of vmPFC

Answer 33

emotion regulation, reducing activity of amygdala, inhibit behavior associated with reward obtaining lesions = manic behavior

Question 34

basal ganglia loops

Answer 34

neural circuits facilitated by the cortex (motor, prefrontal, limbic areas)