Cognition, Language, Learning, Memory & Emotion

Cognition

Diverse group of higher-level tasks performed by association areas of the cerebral cortex.

Parietal association cortex

Responsible for spatial awareness and attention; allows focus on features of objects and recognition of an object's location in space.

Neglect

Condition caused by damage to the parietal association cortex in which a patient may fail to acknowledge an entire half of the visual field or body.

Temporal association cortex

Association cortex involved in recognizing stimuli such as faces.

Agnosia

Condition in which a person is aware of a stimulus but cannot identify it; may result from damage to the temporal association cortex.

Prefrontal cortex

Performs many cognitive functions related to character and personality and integrates complex sensory and motor information to create awareness of self in the world.

Prefrontal cortex development

Axons of the prefrontal cortex are not fully myelinated until about age 25.

Prefrontal cortex damage

May cause dramatic personality changes and loss of cognitive and intellectual functions.

Dementia

Progressive loss of recent memory, degeneration of cognitive functions, and changes in personality.

Alzheimer's disease (AD)

Form of dementia involving neurofibrillary tangles, senile plaques, degeneration of cortical neurons, and loss of synaptic connections.

Progression of Alzheimer's disease

Typically begins with forgetfulness and progresses to impaired language and visual-spatial abilities, personality changes, impaired motor skills, and loss of long-term memory.

Vascular dementia

Dementia caused by disruption of blood flow to the cerebral cortex; signs and symptoms are highly variable.

Mixed dementia

Condition in which a patient has overlapping forms of dementia, commonly Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

Lewy body dementia

Dementia involving cytoplasmic inclusions called Lewy bodies; causes fluctuating cognitive function, hallucinations, delusions, sleep disorders, and often Parkinson-like motor features.

Pick's disease

Progressive degeneration of the frontal and temporal cerebral cortex that causes rapid deterioration, dramatic personality changes, and behavioral problems.

Cerebral lateralization

Unequal representation of cognitive functions in the right and left cerebral hemispheres; represents a division of labor but is not absolute.

Emotional lateralization

Left frontal cortex is associated with positive emotions such as happiness, while right frontal cortex is associated with negative emotions such as anger.

Attention lateralization

Attention is primarily associated with the right parietal cortex.

Facial recognition lateralization

Facial recognition is primarily associated with the right temporal cortex.

Language-related recognition lateralization

Ability to identify an object with its correct name is lateralized primarily to the left temporal cortex.

Language

Ability to comprehend and produce words through speaking, writing, or signing and to assign and recognize their symbolic meanings.

Language comprehension cues

Correct understanding of language involves syntax, grammar, context, tone, volume, and body language.

Broca's area

Frontal lobe language area responsible for producing language and planning and ordering words using proper grammar and syntax.

Wernicke's area

Temporal lobe language area responsible for understanding language and connecting words with their correct symbolic meanings.

Aphasia

Language deficit resulting from damage to Broca's area or Wernicke's area.

Broca's aphasia

Inability to properly produce speech; speech is nonfluent and repetitive because the patient cannot correctly plan grammar and syntax, but language comprehension remains intact.

Wernicke's aphasia

Inability to understand language; speech remains fluent with adequate grammar and syntax but the words make little sense, and the patient may not recognize that the speech is incorrect.

Broca's vs. Wernicke's aphasia

Broca's aphasia = understands language but has difficulty producing meaningful fluent speech; Wernicke's aphasia = speaks fluently but does not understand language or produce meaningful content.

Language hemispheric dominance

Most language functions are located in the left hemisphere in about 97% of people.

Right hemisphere and language

Right hemisphere language areas contribute emotional and tonal components of language; damage may cause loss of these components.

Learning

Acquiring new information that is observable as some type of behavioral change.

Memory

Information that has been encoded and stored in neural circuitry and can be retrieved.

Declarative (fact) memory

Memory of information readily available to consciousness that could be expressed aloud, such as a phone number or quotation.

Nondeclarative (skills) memory

Memory of skills and associations that are largely unconscious, such as how to enter a phone number or how to read.

Immediate memory

Information stored for only a few seconds; important for conversation, reading, and everyday tasks.

Short-term (working) memory

Information stored for several minutes that can be manipulated while pursuing a behavioral goal.

Long-term memory

More permanent storage of information lasting days, weeks, or even a lifetime.

Consolidation

Process by which some information is transferred into long-term memory.

Memory cues

Associating information with strong emotions, another stimulus, or previously learned information can make consolidation easier.

Hippocampus and declarative memory

Limbic system structure involved in formation of declarative memories and shows greatly increased activity during studying.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Increase in synaptic activity between associated neurons that helps encode long-term declarative memories.

Effects of LTP

Simultaneous stimulation strengthens synaptic connections and can cause dendritic growth, increased protein synthesis in cell bodies, and increased neurotransmitter release.

Storage of declarative memories

LTP in the hippocampus is required for new declarative memories to form, but the memories themselves are stored in appropriate areas of the cerebral cortex.

Example of declarative memory storage

Visual information such as the image of a cat is stored in visual association areas, while its sound is stored in auditory association areas.

Formation of nondeclarative memory

Motor cortices, cerebellum, and basal nuclei are required for formation and storage of nondeclarative memories; a form of LTP may also be involved.

Emotion

Complex combination of visceral motor responses, somatic motor responses, and highly subjective feelings integrated with sensory and cognitive stimuli.

Visceral motor component of emotion

Automatic internal responses such as blushing when embarrassed or increased heart rate when afraid.

Somatic motor component of emotion

Observable skeletal muscle responses such as smiling, laughing, frowning, and crying.

Hypothalamus and emotion

Hypothalamus participates in visceral and somatic motor components of emotion by sending instructions to reticular formation nuclei.

Amygdala and emotion

Key structure involved in subjective emotional responses; receives stimuli from multiple sources and forms associations through emotional learning.

Amygdala and behavior

Amygdala connects with basal nuclei circuits that appear to select behaviors that maximize rewards and minimize punishments.