cognitive psych - cogni neuroscience

cognitive neuroscience

the field of study focusing onn the neural substrates of mental processes. it is at the intersection of psychology and nueorscience but also overlaps with physiological psychology, cognitive psychology and neuropsychology.

the brain

cognitive neuroscience is the field of study linking the ____ and other aspects of the nervous system to cognitive processing and ultimately to behavor.

thoughts, emotions, and motivation

the brain is the organ in our bodies that most directly controls our ____, ____, and ____

localization of function

specific areas of the brain that control specific skills or behaviors.

nervous system

basis for our ability to perceive, adapt to, and interact with the world around us.

7 weeks

the rudimentary brain separates into three distinct parts, front brain, midbrain, and hindbrain

first trimester

neurons and synapses begin to develop in the spinal cord

second trimester

the brain takes control of bodily functions and breathing movements begin

third trimester

the brain separates into right and left halves and continues to grow rapidly

forebrain, mindbrain, and hindbrain

these three make up the major parts of the brain

three to four week embryo

three primary brain vesicles

prosencephalon (forebrain)

mesencepphalon (midbrain)

rhombencephalon (hindbrain)

five week embryo

five secondary brain vesicles

telencephalon, diencephalon

mesencephalon

metencephalon

myelencephalon

forebrain

basal ganglia

limbic system

thalamus

hypthalamus

cerebral cortex

basal ganglia

collection of neurons crucial for motor function

dysfunction: motor deficits

involuntary movements, changes in posture and muscle tone, and slowness of movement

possible health problem are parkinson disease and hungtinton disease

limbic system

emotion, motivation, memory, and learning

adapt to the environment

central interconnect structures

• septum

• amygdala

• hippocampus

septum

anger and fear

structure responsible for the regulation of emotional states including anxiety, fear, and depression

amygdala

various ways, such as through palpitations, fearful hallucinations, or frightening flashbacks in memory

a small almond-shaped structure inside of your brain

lesion: maladaptive fear

• visual agnosia

• hypersexuality

research: autism limited activation

hippocampus

essential role in memory fuormation

“seahorse”

essential for flexible learning and for seeing the relations among items learned as well as for spatial memory

lesion: unable to form new memories

• korsakoff syndrome - detoriating

hippocampus & lack of vitamin b-1 (thiamine)

deficit with declerative memory but it does not result in deficit in procedural memory

thalamus

egg shaped structure in the middle of your brain

relay station of all incoming motor (movement) and sensory information - hearing, taste, sight, and touch (but not smell) - from your body to your brain

sleep and waking

problem: pain, tremor, amnesia, impairment of language, and distruption in waking and sleeping

schizophrenia (hallucinations)

nuclei

thalamus is divided into a number of what?

hypothalamus

regulate behavior for survival: 4F’s

• fighting, feeding, fleeing, and mating

regulate emotions and reactions to stress

interact with the limbic system

sleep

• narcolepsy

endocrine system

• pituitary glands - hormones

narcolepsy

person fall asleep often

pituitary glands

hormones

growth and oxytocin

cerebral cortex

is the brain’s outermost layer that lies on top of the cerebrum and is associated with our highest mental capabilities

sulci (small grooves)

fissures (large grooves)

gyri (bulges between sulci and fissures)

three elements of cerebral cortex

cerebral hemisphere

two halves of the braiin function differently

transmission of information

• contralateral

• ipsilateral

left hemisphere

controls speech, comprehension, arithmetic, and writing

right hemisphere

controls creativity, spatial ability, artistic and musical skills

corpus callosum

a large bundle of more than 200 million myelinated nerve fibers that connect the two brain hemispheres, permitting communicatio between the right an left side of the brain

agnesis of CC: delays in attaining development milestones such as ealking and talking, or reading

left brain

logical

focused on facts

realism predominates

planned and orderly

math and science minded

right brain

emotional

focused on art and creation

orrasionally absentminded

prefers fiction

marc dax

france

1835

40 patients with Aphasia - loss of speech

left hemisphere

paul broca

france

1861 - autopsy

1864 - critical in speech, a view that has held up over time (Broca’s area)

carl wernicke

language deficient patients who could speak but whose speech made no sense

“world salad”

karl spencer lashley

father of neuropsychology

studying localization in 1915

diff locations sometimes paradoxically yielded the smae results

roger sperry

that each hemisphere behaves in many respects like a separate brain. in a classic experiment that supports this contention

split brain patients

90% population - left hemisphere ( language)

right hemisphere ( mute) - self regulation

frontal lobe

associated with motor processing and higher thought processes, such as abstract reasoning, problem solving, planning, and judgment.

critical in producing speech

visual processing

prefrontal cortex

the region toward the front of the frontal lobe is involved in complex motor control and tasks fhat require integration of information overtime

decision making

parietal lobe

somatosensory processing

touch, pain, temperature sense, and limb position when you are perceiving space

consciousness and paying attention

reading : activated

visuo-spatial deficits

right damage to parietal lobe can cause a patient to have difficulty finding their way around new or even familiar places

left parietal lobe

damage to this area may distrupt a person’s ability to understand spoken and/or written language

temporal lobe

they are most commonly associated with processing auditory informatiob and with the encoding of memory

they ae also believed to play an important role in processing affect/emotionbs, language, and certain aspects of visual perception

occipital lobe

visual processing

contains numerous visual areas, each specialized to analyze specific aspects of a scene, including color, motion, location, and form

midbrain

functions as a relay system transmitting information necessary for vision and hearing

reticular activating system

a network of neurons essential to the regulation of consciousness (sleep; wakefulness; arousal; attention to some extent; and vital functions such as heartbeat and breathing

brain stem

it compromises the hypothalamus, the thalamus, the mindbrain, and the hindbrain

periaqueductal gray (PAG)

a structure called _____ is in the brainstem. this region seems to be essential for certain kinds of adaptive behavior

medulla oblangata

pons

cerebellum

under hindbrain

medulla oblangata

heart activity and larfgely conntroks breathing, swallowing, and digestion

contains part of Reticular Avtivating System that keeps us alive

pons

bridge - briding function

the pons also contains a portion of RAS and nerves serving parts of the head and face

cerebellum

little brain

controls bodiliy coordination, balance, and muscle tone as well as some spects of memoring involving procedure-related movements

neurons

are nerves cells that send messages all over your body to allow you to do everything from breathing to talking, eating, walking, and thinking

soma

contains the nucleus of the cell

contains genetic information, maintains the neuron’s structure, and provides energy to drive activities

connects the dendrites to the axon

cell body

core section of the neuron

dendrites

branch like structures that receive information from other neurons, and the soma integrates the information

this fibre increases the surface area available for receiving incoming information

they are the receiving or input portions of a neuron

axon

where electrical impulses from the neuron travel away to be received by other neurons

myelin

is a white, fatty substance that surrounds some of the axons of the nervous system, which accounts for some of the whiteness of the white matter of the brain. it insulates axons to increase the speed of electrical signal conduction

nodes of ranvier

small gaps in the myelin coating along the axon, which serve to increase conduction speed even more by helping to create electrical signals, aslo called action potential

multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease

degeneration of myelin sheaths along the axons in certain nerves is associated with what disease

terminal buttons

the small knobs at the end of an axon that releases chemicals called neurotransmitters

synapse

serves as a juncture between the terminal buttons of one o rmore neurons and the dendrites

the places where neurons connect and communicate with each other

important in cognition

increase in both the size and number associated with learning

Decrease = Alzheimer’s

neurotransmitters

are chemical messengers for transmission of information across the synaptic gap to the receiving dendrites of the next neuron

chemical messengers that your body can’t function without

carry chemical signals from one neuron to the next target cell

the next target cell can be another nerve cell, a muscle cell or a gland

monoamine neurotransmitters

amino-acid neurotransmitters

neuropeptides

3 types of chemical

monoamine neurotransmitters

synthesized by the nervous system through enzymatic actions on one of the amino acids in our diet

amino-acid neurotransmitters

obtained directly from the amino acids in our diet without further synthesis

neuropeptides

a peptide chains, molecules made from the parts of two or more amino acids

acetylcholine (ACH)

excitatory in brain and either excitatory or inhibitory elswhere in the body

most commonly associated with memory, cognition, and sleep

believed to be involved in memory because of high concentration found in the hippocampus

late onset alzheimhers

dopamine (DA)

influences movement, attention, and learning: mostly inhibitory but some excitatory effect

an important brain chemical that influences your mood and feelings of rewardd and motivation

parkinson’s disease is caused by too little dopamine

some schizophrenia symproms are associated with too much dopamine

epinephrine and norepinephrine

hormones (also known as adrenaline and noradrenalne) involved in regulation of alertness

involved in diverse effects on body related to fight of flight reactions, anger, and fear

epinephrine

involved more on heart

norepinephrine

has more of an effect on blood vessels

serotonin

involved in arousal, sleep and dreaming, and mood; usually inhibitory but some excitatory effects

normally inhibits dreaming; defects in serotonin system are linked to sever depression

gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)

general neuromdulatory effects resulting from inhibitory influences on presynaptic axons

currently believed to influence certain mechanisms for learning and memory

providing calming effects

glutamate

general neuromodulatory effects resulting from excitatory influences on presynaptic axon

excess glutamate in the brain is believed to cause the following symptoms: hyperalgesia (pain amplification), anxiety, restlessness

currently believed to influence certain mechanisms for learning and memory

neuropeptides

general neuromodulatory effects resulting from influences on postsynaptic membranes

endorphins play a role in pain relief

neuromodulating neuropeptides somtimes are released to enhance the effects of ACH

jean piaget

proposed after painstakingly observing and testing children of different age

curiosity and desire’s to figure out precisely what children were thiking ans why their responses changed with age

who traced growth in cognitive capacities during infancy, childhood, and adolescence,a nd then asked what becomes of these capacities during adulthood

cognitive stage theory

was the forerunner of today’s cognitive revolution with its emphasis on mental processes

organismic

discontinuous

constructivism

children actively construct new understandings of the world basd on their experiences

organization

• schemes

adaptation

• assimilation

• accomodation

equilibration

disequilibrium

three process (interrelated)

organization

is the tendency to create categories

schemes

organized patterns of thought and behavior used in particular situations

adaptation

adjustment to new information into an existing cognitive structure

assimilation

incorporation of new information into an existing cognitive structure

accomodation

adjusting one’s cognitive structures to fit the new information

equilibration

tendency to seek a stable balance among cognitive elemnts: achieved through a balance between assimilation and accomodation

disequilibrium

can be thought of as an uncomfortable motivational state

sociocultural theory

lev vygotsky theory of how contextual factors affect children’s development

collaborative process, emphasis on language

zone of proximal development (ZPD)

between what they are already able to do by themselves and what they can accomplish with assistance

mind has the potential for unlimited growth

development consists of moving toward the upper range of the zone using the tools of society such as the language and the inventions it has created

scaffolding

temporary support to help a child master a task