Cognitive neuroscience, Banich & Compton - chapter 11 Executive function and Higher-Order thinking

Flashcards based on chapter 11 of Cognitive Neuroscience by Banich and Compton, 2018

Executive Functions

Higher-order cognitive abilities that allow for goal-directed behavior, flexible thinking, and adaptation to novel situations.

Frontal Lobe Damage

Frequently leads to deficits in executive functions, particularly when connections between the frontal lobes and other brain areas are disrupted.

Controlled Processes

Cognitive processes that require conscious effort and attention.

Automatic Processes

Cognitive processes that are well-learned and occur without conscious effort.

Contention Scheduling

A cognitive system that enables automatic processing based on learned schemas.

Supervisory Attentional System

A cognitive system that directs attention and guides action in novel or complex situations, often impaired in frontal lobe damage.

Environmental Dependency Syndrome

A condition in which behavior is excessively influenced by environmental cues, often seen in patients with frontal lobe damage.

Perseveration

The tendency to repeat the same action or thought over and over, even when it is no longer appropriate, common in frontal lobe damage.

Goal-Centered Processing

The idea that executive functions are organized around the pursuit of goals and involve creating a hierarchy of subgoals.

Multiple Demand System

A network of brain regions, including the frontal lobes, that is active during a wide range of demanding cognitive tasks.

Unity and Diversity Model

A model proposing that executive function consists of both a common factor (maintaining task goals) and specialized factors (task switching, updating working memory).

Three-Subprocess Model

A model suggesting three basic subprocesses underlying executive function: initiating and sustaining a response, task-setting, and monitoring.

Psychological Inertia

Difficulty initiating actions or behaviors, often seen in patients with damage to the medial prefrontal cortex.

Attentional Set

The process of focusing attention on task-relevant information, maintained by the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Frontopolar Cortex (BA 10)

Involved in maintaining multiple task sets simultaneously.

Switch Cost

The cognitive effort required to switch between tasks.

Error-Related Negativity (ERN)

An ERP component associated with error detection, linked to the anterior cingulate cortex.

Error Positivity (Pe)

An ERP component following the ERN, reflecting conscious awareness of an error, linked to the insula.

Abstract and Conceptual Thinking

The ability to think about concepts and ideas that are not tied to specific sensory experiences, often impaired in executive dysfunction.

Rules and Inference

The ability to deduce rules and make inferences based on available information, requiring coordination between frontal and posterior brain regions.

Response to Novelty

The ability to flexibly adapt behavior to new and unexpected situations, relying on the frontal lobes.

Judgment and Decision Making

The ability to make sound judgments and decisions, often impaired in patients with frontal lobe damage.

Inhibition

The ability to suppress irrelevant or inappropriate thoughts and actions, often deficient in patients with frontal lobe damage.

Go/No-Go Tasks

Tasks that require responding to certain stimuli ('go' trials) and withholding responses to others ('no-go' trials), used to assess inhibitory control.

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC)

Plays a crucial role in working memory, planning, and decision-making, crucial for inhibiting impulses and shifting attention.

Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex (VLPFC)

Involved in response inhibition, goal-directed behavior, and emotional regulation.

Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)

Involved in error detection, conflict monitoring, and motivation, playing a role in attentional control.

Supplementary Motor Area (SMA)

Involved in planning and sequencing of movements, especially in complex actions.

Pre-SMA

Contributes to the preparation and control of voluntary actions, particularly in situations requiring response selection or inhibition.

Insula

Plays a role in interoception, emotional processing, and error awareness.

Parietal Regions

Involved in attentional control, spatial processing, and working memory, important for executive function.