Conciousness

hemispatial neglect

a failure to attend to stimuli on the opposite side of space to a brain lesion

supramodal

Highest level of processing

Not directly linked with sensory or motor functions

Found in prefrontal, perisylvian, limbic system

Simultagnosia

inability to perceive more than one object at a time

optic ataxia

spatial disorientation in which the patient is unable to accurately reach for objects using visual guidance

oculomotor apraxia

a severe difficulty in voluntarily steering visual gaze toward specific targets

smooth pursuit eye movements

eye movements made to track a moving object or to track a stationary object while the head is moving

saccade

A rapid movement of the eye between fixation points

salience

refers to the importance or significance of a stimulus or event

premotor theory of attention

shifts of attention and preparation of goal-directed action are closely linked because they are controlled by shared sensory-motor mechanisms

visual search

A task in which participants are asked to determine whether a specified target is present within a field of stimuli.

pop out stimuli

stimuli that draw attention to themselves

conjunction target

A target in a visual search task that is characterized by having a unique combination of two visual features. Because the time taken to find a conjunction target increases linearly with the number of distracters, its detection is thought to require serial focused attention to each item till the specified target is found.

feature integration theory

the idea that focused attention is not required to detect the individual features that comprise a stimulus, but is required to bind those individual features together

binding problem

how features are linked together so that we see unified objects in our visual world rather than free-floating or miscombined features

illusory conjunction

a perceptual mistake where features from multiple objects are incorrectly combined

guided search

Attention is restricted to a subset of possible items based on information about the item's basic features (e.g., color or shape)

saliency maps

areas of an image that are more likely to be attended to based on perceptual characteristics like hue, contrast, orientation and intensity

default mode network

a set of brain regions that is more hemodynamically active during rest than during tasks

covert attention

shifting attention from one place to another while keeping the eyes stationary

overt attention

shifting attention from one place to another by moving the eyes

wakefulness

high levels of sensory awareness, thought, and behavior

awareness

knowledge or perception of a situation or fact

self-awareness

A self-conscious state in which attention focuses on oneself. It makes people more sensitive to their own attitudes and dispositions

binocular rivalry

The competition between the two eyes for control of visual perception, which is evident when completely different stimuli are presented to the two eyes

reentrant activity

attention related signals are sent back down to the same low level sensory areas that they were initially activated in

blindsight

a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it

coma

state of profound unconsciousness

Persistent Vegitative state

a type of coma in which the patient exhibits alternating sleep and wake cycles, however due to severe damage to the certain areas of the brain m the person in unconscious even when appearing to be awake.

irreversible brain death

omplete and permanent loss of all brain function, including the brain stem

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.

frontal cortex

brain region that regulates personality and goal-directed behavior

parietal cortex

Provides higher levels of sensory information, such as map of the external world, that is important for planning and carrying out movements; spatial reasoning and processing sensations

intraparietal sulcus

the end of the dorsal stream of the visual association cortex; involved in perception of location, visual attention, and control of eye and hand movements

frontal eye fields

area of the prefrontal cortex responsible for moving the eyes to attend to visual stimuli

temporoparietal junction

The point in the brain where the temporal and parietal lobes meet. It plays a role in shifting attention to a new location after target onset.

ventral frontal cortex

involved in working memory and may analyze the novelty by comparing stimuli over short periods of time

reticular activating system

the part of the brain that is involved in attention, sleep, and arousal

locus coeruleus

A small area of the brain that seems to be active in the regulation of emotions. Many of its neurons use norepinephrine.

raphe nuclei

a string of nuclei in the midline of the midbrain and brainstem that contain most of the serotonergic neurons of the brain