Week 2: Chapter 15 - The temporal lobes

Question 1

Where are the temporal lobes located in the brain?

Answer 1

Below the lateral (Sylvian) fissure and in front of the occipital cortex.

Question 2

What key structures are included in the temporal lobes?

Answer 2

Limbic cortex, amygdala, hippocampal formation, and widespread connections throughout the brain.

Question 3

What does the lateral surface of the temporal cortex process?

Answer 3

Auditory information and visual object and face recognition via the ventral visual stream.

Question 4

What is the function of the inferotemporal cortex?

Answer 4

Visual processing, especially object and face recognition.

Question 5

What is the role of the superior temporal sulcus (STS)?

Answer 5

Multisensory integration (vision, hearing, touch) and connection with frontal, parietal, and limbic regions.

Question 6

Which areas are part of the medial temporal region?

Answer 6

Hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, perirhinal cortex, subiculum, and fusiform gyrus.

Question 7

What is the function of the parahippocampal cortex?

Answer 7

Memory and spatial processing.

Question 8

What is the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) involved in?

Answer 8

Attention, memory, language, social cognition, and social decision-making.

Question 9

What brain regions does the temporal cortex send outputs to?

Answer 9

Frontal and parietal association areas, limbic system, and basal ganglia.

Question 10

What structure connects the left and right temporal lobes?

Answer 10

Corpus callosum.

Question 11

What structure connects medial temporal regions like the amygdala?

Answer 11

Anterior commissure.

Question 12

What is the function of the Hierarchical Sensory Pathway?

Answer 12

Stimulus recognition; part of ventral visual and auditory streams.

Question 13

What does the Dorsal Auditory Pathway do?

Answer 13

Guides movement in response to sound; locates sounds in space.

Question 14

What is the role of the Polymodal Pathway?

Answer 14

Stimulus categorization through multisensory integration in the STS.

Question 15

What does the Medial Temporal Projection support?

Answer 15

Long-term memory via the perirhinal, entorhinal cortices, hippocampus, and amygdala.

Question 16

What does the Frontal-Lobe Projection influence?

Answer 16

Movement control, short-term memory, and emotional regulation.

Question 17

How did Kravitz et al. (2013) redefine the ventral stream?

Answer 17

As a network of at least six cortical and subcortical pathways contributing to perception, memory, emotion, and decision-making.

Question 18

What is the function of the Occipitotemporal–Neostriatal Pathway?

Answer 18

Habit and skill learning through projections to the neostriatum.

Question 19

What role does the Inferotemporal–Amygdala Pathway play?

Answer 19

Emotional evaluation of visual stimuli.

Question 20

What does the Inferotemporal–Ventral Striatum Pathway assess?

Answer 20

Stimulus valence or motivational/reward value.

Question 21

What is the function of projections from the inferotemporal cortex to the medial temporal cortex?

Answer 21

Support for long-term memory formation.

Question 22

What does the Inferotemporal–Orbitofrontal Pathway contribute to?

Answer 22

Decision-making based on object-reward associations.

Question 23

What is the function of the Inferotemporal–Ventrolateral Prefrontal Pathway?

Answer 23

Object-related working memory and visual information manipulation.

Question 24

What are the major functions of the temporal lobe?

Answer 24

Integration of sensory input, emotional response, memory, and spatial navigation.

Question 25

What structures are included in the temporal lobe relevant to the functions of the temporal lobe?

Answer 25

Primary auditory cortex, secondary auditory and visual areas, amygdala, and hippocampus.

Question 26

What sensory roles does the temporal lobe serve?

Answer 26

Processes auditory input, visual object recognition, and long-term storage of sensory info.

Question 27

What pathway supports object recognition and categorization?

Answer 27

The ventral visual stream, including the inferotemporal cortex.

Question 28

What structure is crucial for cross-modal matching of auditory and visual stimuli?

Answer 28

The superior temporal sulcus (STS).

Question 29

What deficit arises from temporal lobe damage in sensory processing?

Answer 29

Impaired stimulus identification and categorization despite intact detection and location.

Question 30

What is the role of the amygdala in the temporal lobe?

Answer 30

Links sensory input with emotional meaning and mediates physiological responses.

Question 31

What happens if the affective system is damaged?

Answer 31

Inappropriate or dangerous behavior due to failure to emotionally respond to stimuli.

Question 32

What structure supports spatial navigation and memory?

Answer 32

The hippocampus.

Question 33

How does the hippocampus aid in avoiding threats like a snake?

Answer 33

Encodes spatial environments and enables re-routing via memory.

Question 34

What social function is the STS critical for?

Answer 34

Interpreting biological motion (e.g., gaze, facial expressions, body posture).

Question 35

What is “theory of mind” and how is it linked to the STS?

Answer 35

The capacity to infer others’ intentions, supported by the STS.

Question 36

How does the STS respond to combined auditory and visual stimuli like speech?

Answer 36

It shows heightened activity, integrating mouth movements with vocal sounds.

Question 37

What effect does STS damage have on social perception?

Answer 37

Impaired ability to process biological motion and reduced social awareness.

Question 38

What did Perrett’s research show about STS neurons?

Answer 38

They are selective for features like facial expression, gaze, and movement direction.

Question 39

Which visual stream is associated with the temporal lobe?

Answer 39

The ventral stream.

Question 40

What did Hasson et al. (2004) discover during natural film viewing?

Answer 40

Synchronized activation in the temporal lobe in response to audiovisual content.

Question 41

What do FFA and PPA respond to?

Answer 41

FFA to faces, PPA to places/scenes.

Question 42

What did Tanaka find about neurons in the inferotemporal cortex?

Answer 42

They respond to complex features and are organized in columns.

Question 43

How does experience affect visual selectivity in the temporal lobe?

Answer 43

Training enhances neuronal responsiveness to specific shapes.

Question 44

What did Fuster and Jervey find regarding visual working memory?

Answer 44

Neurons in the inferotemporal cortex maintain activity after a stimulus disappears.

Question 45

Why are faces considered special visual stimuli?

Answer 45

They convey social info and are processed with high accuracy and speed.

Question 46

What brain areas are part of the face-perception system?

Answer 46

Fusiform face area (FFA), occipital face area, and temporal lobe regions.

Question 47

What does the Thatcher illusion demonstrate?

Answer 47

Our sensitivity to upright facial configuration.

Question 48

What does Haxby’s model propose?

Answer 48

A core system for identity and expression, and an extended system for emotion and speech cues.

Question 49

How does face perception show hemispheric asymmetry?

Answer 49

Right temporal lesions impair recognition more than left lesions.

Question 50

Why do people often dislike photos of themselves?

Answer 50

They differ from the mirror-reversed image we’re used to seeing.

Question 51

What deficits follow left temporal lobe damage?

Answer 51

Verbal memory loss and speech sound processing deficits.

Question 52

What deficits follow right temporal lobe damage?

Answer 52

Face recognition problems and difficulties in music and nonverbal memory.

Question 53

What does bilateral damage to the temporal lobes cause?

Answer 53

Severe memory and emotional impairments, worse than unilateral damage.

Question 54

What auditory symptom is rare despite bilateral auditory cortex damage?

Answer 54

Cortical deafness (rare); auditory hallucinations are more common.

Question 55

What does temporal-lobe damage impair regarding speech perception?

Answer 55

Discrimination of rapid sound changes—patients say “people speak too fast.”

Question 56

What is the deficit in temporal order of sounds?

Answer 56

Requires longer gaps (up to 500 ms) to detect sound order vs. 50–60 ms in healthy individuals.

Question 57

Which hemisphere is most affected in speech sound discrimination?

Answer 57

Left temporal lobe.

Question 58

What condition results from inability to recognize spoken words despite intact hearing?

Answer 58

Word deafness.

Question 59

Do temporal lobectomies cause major visual field loss?

Answer 59

No, but they impair complex visual processing and recognition.

Question 60

What kind of visual test reveals deficits after right temporal lobectomy?

Answer 60

McGill Picture-Anomalies Test (e.g., painting in a monkey’s cage).

Question 61

What test shows poor facial recognition in right temporal lobe patients?

Answer 61

Mooney Closure Test.

Question 62

Which brain region processes social visual cues like body language?

Answer 62

Superior temporal sulcus (STS).

Question 63

What kind of social signal might a patient with right temporal damage misinterpret?

Answer 63

Subtle gestures like someone glancing at a watch.

Question 64

What is impaired in auditory and visual input selection after temporal-lobe damage?

Answer 64

The ability to filter and select relevant stimuli.

Question 65

What does the dichotic listening test assess?

Answer 65

Auditory selective attention and hemispheric dominance.

Question 66

How does left temporal damage affect dichotic listening?

Answer 66

Reduced performance; impaired right-ear (left-hemisphere) processing.

Question 67

How does right temporal lobe damage affect visual selection?

Answer 67

Impaired attention in both visual fields.

Question 68

What categorization ability is impaired by left temporal damage?

Answer 68

Grouping familiar objects or words into meaningful categories.

Question 69

What test might a patient fail due to categorization deficits?

Answer 69

Naming animals after hearing the category “animal”.

Question 70

Which region is crucial for nested category processing (e.g., duck as bird, animal)?

Answer 70

Posterior left temporal lobe.

Question 71

How does temporal-lobe damage affect context usage?

Answer 71

Inability to interpret stimuli based on context (e.g., misreading word “fall”).

Question 72

What test reveals this context deficit?

Answer 72

McGill Picture-Anomalies Test.

Question 73

What memory type is impaired after medial temporal damage?

Answer 73

Long-term memory, especially conscious recall.

Question 74

What condition results from bilateral medial temporal damage?

Answer 74

Anterograde amnesia.

Question 75

What kind of memory does the left temporal lobe support?

Answer 75

Verbal memory (e.g., words, stories).

Question 76

What kind of memory is impaired after right temporal lobe damage?

Answer 76

Nonverbal memory (e.g., faces, tunes, shapes).

Question 77

What emotional response can be triggered by anterior/medial temporal stimulation?

Answer 77

Intense emotions like fear.

Question 78

What is the “temporal-lobe personality”?

Answer 78

Traits like: * Pedantic speech * Egocentricity * Perseveration * Paranoia * Religious preoccupation * Aggressiveness

Question 79

After which side’s lobectomy is personality change more common?

Answer 79

Right temporal lobectomy.

Question 80

What sexual behavior change occurs after bilateral temporal damage?

Answer 80

Intensified or disinhibited sexual behavior.

Question 81

Is altered sexual behavior seen after unilateral damage?

Answer 81

No, typically only after bilateral damage.

Question 82

What does the Dichotic Listening Test assess?

Answer 82

Auditory processing and hemispheric lateralization of language function.

Question 83

What does the Visual Object and Space Perception Battery evaluate?

Answer 83

Object recognition and spatial awareness in visual perception.

Question 84

What is the most widely used test for verbal memory?

Answer 84

Wechsler Memory Scale-IV.

Question 85

What do the Paired Associates and Logical Memory subtests measure?

Answer 85

Verbal recall through word-pair learning and story recall, respectively.

Question 86

Why are verbal memory tests important in assessing temporal lobe function?

Answer 86

They help isolate memory impairments from general attention problems.

Question 87

What test is most effective for assessing nonverbal memory?

Answer 87

Rey Complex Figure Test.

Question 88

How is the Rey Complex Figure Test administered?

Answer 88

The patient copies a complex figure, then reproduces it from memory after 45 minutes.

Question 89

What limitation does the Rey Complex Figure Test have?

Answer 89

Performance can be affected by motivation or depression, not just memory.

Question 90

What does the Token Test evaluate?

Answer 90

Language comprehension abilities.

Question 91

What is a limitation of the Token Test?

Answer 91

It can detect language impairment but cannot localize the lesion within the left hemisphere.

Question 92

Is it likely for a patient with temporal-lobe damage to score normally on all tests?

Answer 92

No, it’s highly unlikely that they would perform normally on all these assessments.