Cognitive Exam 1

Action potential

Propagated electrical potential responsible for transmitting neural information and communication between neurons

Axon

Part of the neuron that transmits signals from the cell body to the synapse

Brain imaging

Techniques such as fMRI that produce images representing brain activity in response to cognitive tasks

Broca’s aphasia

A condition caused by damage to Broca’s area that involves labored ungrammatical speech and difficulty understanding some sentences

Broca’s area

An area in the frontal lobe associated with language production

Cell body

Part of a cell that contains mechanisms that keep the cell alive and can receive information from other neurons

Cerebral cortex

The 3-mm-thick outer layer of the brain responsible for higher mental functions

Cognitive neuroscience

The field concerned with studying the neural basis of cognition

Connectome

The structural description of the network of elements and connections forming the human brain

Cortical equipotentiality

The idea that the brain operates as an indivisible whole rather than through specialized areas

Default mode network

A network of structures active when a person is not involved in specific tasks

Dendrites

Structures that branch out from the cell body to receive electrical signals from other neurons

Distributed representation

The process in which a specific cognition activates multiple brain areas

Double dissociation

A situation in which one person shows one type of single dissociation and another person shows the opposite type

Experience-dependent plasticity

A mechanism that causes neurons to develop based on the type of stimulation an organism has received

Extrastriate body area

An area in the temporal cortex activated by pictures of bodies and body parts but not faces or other objects

Feature detectors

Neurons that respond to specific visual features such as orientation or size

Frontal lobe

The lobe at the front of the brain involved in language thought memory and motor functioning

Functional connectivity

The extent to which neural activity in separate brain areas is correlated

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

A brain imaging technique that measures changes in blood flow in response to cognitive activity

Fusiform face area

An area in the temporal lobe containing many neurons that respond selectively to faces

Hierarchical processing

Processing that progresses from lower to higher brain areas

Levels of analysis

The idea that a topic can be understood by studying it at several different levels of a system

Localization of function

The location of specific functions in specific brain areas

Microelectrodes

Small wires used to record electrical signals from single neurons

Multidimensional

The idea that even simple experiences involve combinations of different qualities

Nerve fibers

Parts of neurons that transmit signals from the cell body to the synapse

Nerve impulse

An electrical response propagated down the length of an axon also called an action potential

Nerve net

A network of continuously interconnected nerve fibers

Neural circuit

A group of interconnected neurons responsible for neural processing

Neural network

Connected groups of neurons or nervous system structures

Neuron doctrine

The idea that individual neurons transmit signals and are not continuously linked with other cells

Neuron

A specialized cell that receives and transmits information in the nervous system

Neuropsychology

The study of the behavioral effects of brain damage in humans

Neurotransmitter

A chemical released at the synapse in response to incoming action potentials

Occipital lobe

The lobe at the back of the brain that is primarily responsible for analyzing visual information

Parahippocampal place area

An area in the temporal lobe containing neurons selectively activated by indoor and outdoor scenes

Parietal lobe

The lobe at the top of the brain responsible for sensations caused by skin stimulation and some visual information

Population coding

Neural representation of a stimulus through the firing pattern of many neurons

Principle of neural representation

The principle that everything a person experiences is based on representations in the nervous system

Prosopagnosia

A condition caused by damage to the temporal lobe that involves an inability to recognize faces

Receptors

Specialized neural structures that respond to environmental stimuli

Recording electrode

A thin glass or metal probe that picks up electrical signals from single neurons

Reference electrode

An electrode used with a recording electrode to measure differences in electrical charge

Resting-state fMRI

The fMRI response recorded when a person is at rest and not performing cognitive tasks

Resting-state functional connectivity

A method for determining functional connectivity by comparing resting-state fMRI activity in separated structures

Resting potential

The difference in charge between the inside and outside of a nerve fiber when it is at rest

Seed location

The brain area associated with a specific cognitive or motor task that serves as the reference area for resting-state functional connectivity

Sensory code

How neural firing represents various characteristics of the environment

Sparse coding

Neural coding based on the pattern of activity in a small group of neurons

Specificity coding

The representation of a specific stimulus by neurons that respond only to that stimulus

Structural connectivity

The brain’s wiring diagram created by nerve axons connecting different areas

Synapse

The space between the end of an axon and the cell body or dendrite of the next neuron

Task-related fMRI

The fMRI response to a specific cognitive task

Temporal lobe

The lobe on the side of the brain involved in language memory hearing and vision

Test location

The brain area whose activity is compared with the seed location to determine functional connectivity

Time-series response

The way the response recorded by fMRI changes over time

Track-weighted imaging

A technique for determining brain connectivity by detecting how water diffuses along nerve fibers

Visual cortex

The area in the occipital lobe that receives signals from the eyes

Voxel

Small cube-shaped areas in the brain used to analyze data from brain scanning experiments

Wernicke’s aphasia

A condition caused by damage to Wernicke’s area involving difficulty understanding language and fluent grammatically correct but incoherent speech

Wernicke’s area

The area in the temporal lobe associated with understanding language

Levels of analysis in cognitive neuroscience

A topic can be understood by studying it at multiple levels of a system

Behavioral analysis

Studying behavior to understand a phenomenon

Physiological analysis

Studying what is happening inside the body that allows a cognitive process to occur

Nerve net theory

The early idea that interconnected neurons formed a nearly continuous network for transmitting signals

Neuron doctrine versus nerve net

The neuron doctrine states that individual nerve cells transmit signals and are not continuously connected

Action potential and neurotransmitter

The action potential is the electrical component of neural communication while neurotransmitters are the chemical component

Action potential firing rate

Increasing stimulus intensity increases firing rate rather than the size of the action potential

Low-intensity stimulus

A stimulus associated with slower neural firing

High-intensity stimulus

A stimulus associated with faster neural firing

Synaptic transmission

The process in which neurotransmitters are released across the synapse to stimulate the next neuron

Neural representation

The way neural activity represents information about the world

Hubel and Wiesel experiments

Experiments showing that specific visual neurons respond to specific types of stimulation

Visual cortex neurons

Neurons that respond to simple stimuli such as oriented bars

Temporal lobe neurons

Neurons that respond to more complex visual stimuli

Face-responsive neurons

Neurons in parts of the temporal lobe that respond to faces

Hierarchical organization of perception

Perception progresses from simple stimuli in lower brain areas to increasingly complex stimuli in higher brain areas

Specificity coding example

A single specialized neuron represents a specific object person or concept

Grandmother cell theory

The early theory that individual neurons could represent a specific person or concept

Population coding principle

Many neurons can create different firing patterns to represent many different stimuli

Sparse coding principle

An object can be represented by a small group of active neurons while most neurons remain silent

Experience-dependent plasticity

Brain structure and neural responses can change based on experience

Blakemore and Cooper finding

Kittens exposed only to vertical stimuli developed neurons that responded best to vertical shapes

Neuropsychology and localization

Brain damage can reveal which brain areas are associated with specific functions

Occipital lobe function

Vision

Parietal lobe function

Touch temperature and pain

Temporal lobe function

Hearing taste and smell

Frontal lobe function

Coordination of information received from the senses

Double dissociation purpose

It helps identify functions controlled by different parts of the brain

Fusiform face area function

Responds specifically to faces

Prosopagnosia and FFA

Damage to the fusiform face area can cause an inability to recognize faces

Parahippocampal place area function

Responds specifically to indoor and outdoor scenes

Extrastriate body area function

Responds specifically to pictures of bodies and body parts

Distributed processing

The idea that most conscious experiences involve activity in many regions of the brain

Localization and distributed representation

Distributed representation complements rather than contradicts localization of function

Multidimensional cognition

Cognitive experiences involve multiple qualities and therefore activate multiple brain regions

Neural networks and cognition

Neural networks are groups of neurons or structures connected structurally and functionally

Structural connectivity

Describes physical connections between brain areas through axons

Track-weighted imaging and structural connectivity

Track-weighted imaging measures connectivity by detecting water diffusion along nerve fibers