intro to cognitive neuroscience (1)

people, processes, and imaging

Aristotle (384–322 BC)

An ancient philosopher who incorrectly believed that cognition was located within the human heart.

Galen (AD 129–199)

An ancient physician who correctly identified the brain as the source of mental experiences but mistakenly thought mental activity occurred in the ventricles (fluid-filled spaces) rather than brain tissue.

René Descartes

A philosopher associated with Dualism, the belief that the mind is a non-physical, immortal substance while the body/brain is physical and mortal.

Spinoza

A philosopher associated with Dual-Aspect Theory, which suggests the mind and brain are simply two different ways of explaining the same underlying thing.

Gall and Spurzheim

The developers of Phrenology, an early (and now debunked) theory that brain functions are localized and that the size of these brain areas can be measured by bumps on the skull.

Paul Broca

A 19th-century researcher who discovered that damage to the posterior frontal lobe results in deficits in speech production.

Carl Wernicke

A 19th-century researcher who discovered that damage to the posterior temporal lobe is related to difficulties with language comprehension.

Broadbent

A central figure in the Cognitive Revolution who used "box and arrow" models to describe the information processing steps involved in human thought.

Cognitive Neuroscience

A discipline that serves as a bridge between cognitive psychology and neuroanatomy, focusing on the relationship between brain function and mental processes.

Reductionism

The current scientific view that cognitive processes like emotions and thoughts will eventually be understood entirely at the level of individual neurons.

Functional Specialization

The principle that different areas of the brain perform different, specific functions.

Cognitive Neuropsychology

A field that examines functional deficits in patients with brain damage to learn about typical cognitive processes and functional specialization.

Information Processing

A model of cognition that treats the brain like a computer, involving discrete steps or stages of processing.

Connectionist Models

Computational models of cognition that use Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP), featuring interconnected "nodes" where the strength of connections changes based on experience.

Interactivity

A concept in processing where work can occur across many stages at once, and "later" stages of processing can influence "earlier" ones.

Temporal Resolution

A measurement of how accurately a research method can determine when a brain event occurs (e.g., EEG/ERP and MEG have high temporal resolution).

Spatial Resolution

A measurement of how accurately a research method can determine where in the brain activity is occurring (e.g., Single-cell recording has high spatial resolution).

Modularity

The idea that certain brain areas are "domain-specific," meaning they are dedicated to one particular task, such as processing faces or words.

EEG/ERP (Electroencephalography)

A method that records electrical activity in the brain to measure event-related potentials.

MEG (Magnetoencephalography)

A recording method that measures magnetic fields produced by brain activity; it has high temporal resolution.

fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

A hemodynamic method that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.

TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)

A method that uses magnetic fields to stimulate specific areas of the brain.

tDCS (Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation)

A method involving the application of low electrical currents to stimulate the brain.