Chapter 2: Cognitive Neuroscience – Flashcards
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Cognitive Neuroscience
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study of the physiological basis of cognition
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Levels of analysis
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refers to the idea that a topic can be studied at a number of different ways, with each approach contributing its own demonstration to our understanding
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What is studied in behavioral and psychological?
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the mind and the brain is studied
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Nerve net theory
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it was believed that the neurons where a continuous complex pathway for conducting signals uninterrupted through the network
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Neuron Doctrine
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the idea that individual cells transmitted signals in the nervous system and they are not continuous like the nerve net theory
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Dendrites
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a neuron's bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body
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Axon
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Neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neuron or to muscle glands
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Myelin sheath
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axons are encased in fatty tissue layer that insulates them and speeds their impulses
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Receptors
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neurons that pick up information from the environment, located in the eye, ear, and skin
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Axons are also known as
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nerve fibers
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Neuron
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a nerve cell; basic building block of the nervous system
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Action potential (EEG)
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neural impulse; brief electrical charge that travels down an axon
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Threshold
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level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
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Synapse
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the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron
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Neurotransmitter
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a chemical that is released in the synapse
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Serotonin
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mood, sleep, pain, emotion, appetite, memory
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Dopamine
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the chemical plays a role in movement, attention, learning, and emotion
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A decrease in dopamine can lead to...
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Parkinson's disease, tumors, and decreased mobility
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An increase in dopamine
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is said to increase chances of schizophrenia (NOT PROVEN YET), and developing bipolar
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Principle of neural representation
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states that everything a person experiences is based NOT on direct contact with stimuli, but on representations in the person's nervous system
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Retina
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layer of neurons that lines the back of the eye
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Visual cortex
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area at the back of the brain that receives signals from the eye
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Feature detectors
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responding to specific stimulus features such as orientation, movement, and length
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Hierarchy processing
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progression from lower to higher areas of the brain
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Single-cell recoding methods
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determine what neurons respond to, inserting micro-electrodes on or near axons to measure electrical charge from neg to pos
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Sensory coding
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refers to how neurons represent various characteristics of the environment
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Specific coding
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an object could be represented by the firing of a specialized neuron that responds only to that object
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Population coding
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representation of a particular object by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons
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Sparse coding
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occurs when a particular object is represented by a pattern of firing of only a small number of neurons, with the majority of neurons remaining silent
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Brocas
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impaired hearing; damage to left of frontal lobe
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Wernickes
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impaired understanding; damage to the temporal lobe
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Prosopagnosia
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an inability to recognize faces
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Fusiform face area (FFA)
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specific area underside the temporal lobe that faces can activate
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Parahippocampal place area (PPA)
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activated by pictures of indoor and outdoor scenes; increased activation can occur when viewing pictures both of empty rooms and rooms that are completely furnished
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Extrastriate body area (EBA)
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activated by pictures of bodies and parts of bodies but not by faces
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Neural circuits
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are groups of interconnected neurons that can result in a neuron that responds best to a specific stimulus
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If the intensity of a stimulus that is presented to a touch receptor is increased, this tends to increase the ________ in the receptor's axon.
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rate of nerve firing
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Which part of the brain is important for touch?
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Parietal lobe
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Brain-imaging techniques cannot determine what?
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the structure of individual neurons
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A specific person's face is represented
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in the nervous system by the firing of a group of neurons each responding to a number of different faces
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Distributed representation
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idea that specific cognitive function activate many areas of the brain
