lecture 1 cog neuroscience notes

Total of 11 lectures planned.
First lecture: housekeeping, history of cognitive neuroscience, and structure of the nervous system.
Subsequent topics include:
- Methods of cognitive neuroscience
- Attention
- Learning and memory
- Emotion and social cognition
- Revision session and seminar structure.

Seminars aim to enhance writing skills through structured mini-essay questions.
Separate classes based on surnames (A to M) for first hour, (N to Z) for second hour.
Papers to be discussed in depth, and interaction encouraged.
Feedback provided on submitted mini-essays, though submission is optional.
Emphasis on the interaction of learned materials in exam preparation.

Exam structure: 45 multiple-choice questions and one essay, with a total of 90 minutes.
Broad essay topics given; no specific examples provided to avoid limiting exam options.
Encouragement for questions to be directed to instructor, either verbally or via email.

Definition of cognition: mental activities related to interpreting, transforming, and utilizing information.
Historical perspective on cognitive neuroscience:
- Origins trace back to ideas on mental functions correlated with brain areas
- Early work in the 19th century, including phrenology, which localized traits to specific brain regions, despite it being a pseudoscience by today’s standards.

Pierre Flourens: conducted brain lesion experiments, refuting phrenology and supporting aggregate field theory; proposed that functions are not localized uniquely but interdependent.
John Jackson: observed that motor seizures spread in an orderly fashion, leading to the idea of topographic organization of the motor cortex.

Functions and behaviors mediated by a system of interacting brain areas.
Hemodynamic response and localization of function illustrated through findings from studies like those of Broca and Wernicke:
- Broca’s area: crucial for speech production; damage results in an inability to speak meaningfully.
- Wernicke’s area: responsible for language comprehension; damage results in nonsensical speech despite normal syntax.
Modern neuroscience recognizes both localized and distributed processing across brain regions.

Neurons: the functional units of the nervous system responsible for communication via electrical signals.
- Dendrites receive signals; axon transmits signals to other neurons.
Glial cells: support neuronal functions, including myelination.
- Oligodendrocytes myelinate CNS axons; Schwann cells myelinate PNS axons.

Action potential: rapid depolarization and repolarization of neuronal membrane potential, allowing signal propagation along an axon.
Process of synaptic transmission includes:
- Release of neurotransmitters from presynaptic terminal into synaptic cleft.
- Binding of neurotransmitters to receptors on the postsynaptic terminal, resulting in changes of membrane potential.

Branches: Central Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS).
CNS composed of brain and spinal cord, while PNS consists of nerves outside the CNS.
Important areas include the cerebral cortex's four lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital.

Understanding of neurons' structure, function, and interactions within neural networks is essential.
Recognition of the duality of brain function perspectives: localization and integration of processes.
Importance of the knowledge of neural signaling in understanding cognitive processes.
Structure and function of the nervous system critical for upcoming lectures and assessments.

Encourage review of materials and preparation for next week’s discussions on methods in cognitive neuroscience.
Confirmed the accessibility of supplementary videos for additional learning.