Brain and Neuropsychology

What is cognitive neuroscience?

How the structure and function of the brain is related to our behaviour/cognition

How did people used to study localisation of function?

Someone with a physically damaged brain also had a damage function, then they are linked

What happened to Phineas Gage?

Had severe damage to his frontal lobe and developed an aggressive personality

What happened to Clive Wearing?

Had damage to his hippocampus and was unable to make any long term memories over 7 seconds

What happened to Tan?

Had damage to the Brocas area and could only say the word Tan.

What is the problem with case studies?

One person sample size

May not be applicable to all brains

What is a CT scan?

X-rays used to create black and white pictures of the brain

Pros and cons CT scan

Advantage - Highly detailed

Cheaper than fMRI and PET scans

Disadvantages - Does not show the active brain, Lots of radiation

What is a PET scan?

Radiotracer injected into the veins that are detected by gamma rays. Areas of the brain that need lots of blood can be traced

Pros and cons PET scan

Advantages - Better imaging and more deatil

Disadvantages - Still got radioactive risk

What is an fMRI?

Magnets used to measure oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in the brain. Lots of oxygen goes to active areas

Pros and cons fMRI

Advantages - No radiation

Disadvantages - Delayed to when the activity happens

AP Tulvings gold memory study

Investigate the connection between memory and brains activity/structure

Radioactive gold was injected into 6 Pps. PET scanner used to track it. Pps recall episodic/semantic/long term memories

RC Tulvings Gold memory study

Three Pps showed difference between episodic/semantic.

Semantic and episodic memories produce activity in different parts of the brain

Where did episodic memories show more activation in Tulvings 'gold' memory study?

Frontal and temporal lobes

Where did semantic memories show more activation in Tulvings 'gold' memory study?

Parietal and occipital lobes

AO3 Tulvings gold memory study

Used a PET scan, objective evidence

Very small sample size, two of which were him and his wife.

Hard to focus on one type of memory and there may be overlap

Three Pps showed inconsistent brain activity. May not have reliable results

What is neurological damage and what does it do?

Neurons in the brain are destroyed, as well as the functions they perform

What is a stroke?

A blood vessel bursting in the brain or a clot blocking the brains blood supply

What is a brain lesion?

Damaged tissue in the brain

What area will cause paralysis if damaged?

The motor cortex at the top of the brain, contralateral

What area will affect decision making if damaged?

Frontal lobe

What area will affect emotion if damaged?

Limbic system/amygdala

What does contralateral mean?

Each hemisphere controls the opposite half of the body

What is the outside layer of the brain?

Cortex/grey matter.

Where is the temporal lobe?

Bottom of the cerebrum

What does the temporal lobe do?

Understanding/producing spoken language

Where is the frontal lobe?

Front, right at the top

What does the frontal lobe do? (list)

Thought, memory, social behaviour, planning, problem solving

Where is the parietal lobe?

Middle top, behind frontal

What does the pariteal lobe do?

Process touch and organise information in the brain

Where is the occipital lobe?

Right at the back

What does the occipital lobe do?

Process visual information

Where is the cerebellum?

Top of the spine, under the cerebellum

What does the cerebellum do?

Controls balance and co-ordination

What is localisation of function?

The idea that certain parts of the brain perform certain abilities

Where is the motor cortex?

Back of the frontal lobe

What does the motor cortex do?

Controls voluntary movement

Where is the somatosensory cortex?

Front of the pariteal lobe

What does the somatosensory cortex do?

Detects sensation from around the body

Where is the visual cortex?

Occipital lobe

What does the visual cortex do?

Processes visual information

Where is the auditory cortex?

Temporal lobe

What does the auditory cortex do?

Process sound information

Where is Wernickes area?

Left temporal lobe

What does Wernickes area do?

Understanding speech

Where is Brocas area?

Left temporal lobe

What does Brocas area do?

Controls speech production

What was Penfields Montreal procedure?

A treatment for epilepsy which involved destroying nerve cells where the fits originated

What did patients experience in the Montreal procedure?

They were conscious and electrically stimulated their brain. They reported sensations when parts of the brain were stimulated

AP Penfields Montreal study

investigate how electrical stimulation of the brain affects patients

Record the areas stimulated with the sensations experienced

How many patients was Penfields Montreal procedure conducted on?

1132 patients

RC Penfields Montreal study

Same area stimulated yeilded same results in different people

Many functions are localised, memories are stored in the interpretive cortex

What did Penfield call the interpretive cortex?

Part of the temporal lobe that produced memories when stimulated

What part of the brain produced visual and physical sensation? montreal

Occipital, visual

Somatosensory, physical

AO3 Penfields Montreal study

Findings confirmed in modern studies on healthy brains

Interpretive cortex and memory was not entirely accurate.

40/520 recalled memories from the interpretive cortex being stimulated

What does a sensory neuron do?

Detects sense info, PNS to CNS

What does a relay neuron do?

Receive info from sensory neurons and sends it to motor neurons

What does a motor neuron do?

Carries electrical signals to the effectors

What is a reflex arc?

Sensory, relay and motor neurons working to allow the body to respond quickly to danger without needing the brain

What is synaptic transmisson?

How electrical signals get turned into chemical signals so they can bridge the gaps between dendrites

What is a neurotransmitter?

Chemicals released by neurons. Triggers the receptor

What is an excitatory neurotransmitter?

One that makes the post-synaptic cell more likely to fire

What is an inhibitatory neurotransmitter?

One that makes the post-synaptic cell less likely to fire

How does summation work?

Both inhibit and excite neurotransmitters fire, so the excitatory has to reach a threshold for the cell to fire

What is Hebbs theory of learning?

New neuronal connections are made in our brain when we learn. Neuroplasticity, cell assembly

What is neuroplasticity?

Growth of synaptic cells due to repeated firing

What is a cell assembly?

Groups of neurons that fire together to make neural pathways

"Fire together, wire together"

AO3 Hebbs theory

Application, students can use growth mindsets and rehearsal

Backed by observed neurons growning in labs

Reductionist, learning is not just synaptic cells

What makes up the CNS?

Brain + Spinal cord

What does CNS stand for and do?

Central nervous system, Information processing

What makes up the PNS?

ANS + SNS

What does PNS stand for and do?

Peripheral nervous system, Messenger neuron network

What does ANS stand for and do?

Autonomic nervous system, Controls involuntary organs/glands

What does SNS stand for and do?

Somatic nervous system, Controls voluntary muscles

What is the ANS made up of?

Sympathetic ANS + Parasympathetic ANS

What does the sympathetic ANS do?

Fight or flight

What does the parasympathetic ANS do?

Rest and digest

What is the James-Lange theory of emotion?

Event - Physiological response - Brains interpretation - Emotion

Emotion comes after physiological responses

AO3 James-Lange theory of emotion

Explains why controlling physical responses like crying can work to help control emotions

Some emotions have similar responses

Simplistic, different emotions have different brain processes.