Quiz 1 - Cognitive Neuroscience

Content for quiz 1

Mind-body problem

How a physical substance (like the brain) could give rise to mental processes such as thinking, remembering, feelings, etc

Dualism

the mind and the body are separate

Dual-aspect theory

The mind and the body are separate, but they explain the same processes

Reductionism

tendency to reduce thoughts and emotions down to physical brain states

Phrenology

Differences in personality can be measured by measuring the bumps and indentations in the skull

Functional Specialization

Specialized areas in the brain have different functions

Barrett and Satpute 2013

Cognitive function of the brain can be understood as networks that can reorganize depending on the task the brain is trying to achieve

Electrical Signaling

Action potential is a sudden change in the electrical properties in the neuronal membrane in an axon

Chemical Signaling

The release of neurotransmitters from the pre synaptic neuron into the post synaptic cleft, then into the dendrites of the post synaptic neuron

Neuronal Coding

The rate of response relates to the informational code of that neuron

Mental representation

How properties in the outside world are copied by cognition

Neural representation

How properties in the outside world are relayed as chemical and electrical signals in neurons

Single-cell recordings

Used to measure neural activity in one neuron through action potentials and electrical activity. Measured in APs per second. invasive

EEG

Used to count the number of electrical potentials in the brain in a non-invasive way

Neural coding - Local representation

all the information about a stimulus/event is carried in one neuron (similar to grandmother cells)

Neural coding - Fully distributed representation

All the information about a stimulus/event is carried in ALL of the neurons of a given population of neurons

Neural Coding - Sparse distributed representation

All of the information about a stimulus/event is carried in only a small proportion of the neurons (most accurate)

Rate Coding

The rate of response in which neurons send electrical signals/APs

Temporal/synchronous coding

Increase in synchronization of neural activity seen in APs in response to a stimulus. Synchronization in spikes of neurons

Oscillation-based analysis

two neurons with a synched up firing sequence can enhance their ability to communicate with one another, and can further implicate functional specialization

Event-related potentials (ERPs)

measures brain response to an event or stimuli, and then is averaged over many events to account for random neural activity

Mental chronometry

Measures the timing of cognition to infer the speed and duration of mental processes in the brain. measures response time (RT) to an event and compares it to other RTs across conditions

Endogenous ERP components

related to the sensory stimuli/event

Exogenous ERP components

related to the task that is happening itself

Structural Imaging types

CT and MRI

Computerized Tomography

x-rays used to diagnose tumors and stuff, mostly for bone structure

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Uses strong magnets and radio waves to show high detailed images of soft brain tissue and brain structure

Functional Imaging

Designed to measure temporary changes in the brain such as blood flow, metabolism, and chemical activity

Voxel-based morphometry

Technique used to measure differences in white and grey matter concentration

Diffusion Tenor Imaging

Measures diffusion of water in APs to find the concentration of white matter present in an area

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Measures amount of oxygen levels in blood flow to the brain

BOLD

Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent