DOC PREVIEW
CU-Boulder PSYC 2012 - bio psych lecture 18 notes

This preview shows page 1 out of 4 pages.

Save
View full document
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 4 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 4 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience

Unformatted text preview:

3/19/15 – Lecture 18 – Cognition - Goal: to understand cognition, the brain structures associated with it, and the neural mechanisms of thought- Cognition: the process of generating, perceiving, recognizing, understanding and organizing thoughtso Involves the ability to …  Identify stimuli Pay attention to stimuli Plan meaningful responses to stimuli Ignore irrelevant stimulio What are thoughts? – mental ideas or images, real or imagined Thoughts are ABSTRACT, psychological constructs They cannot be seen but only be inferred from behavioro 4 Main Components of Cognition Perception – the ability to recognize and interpret sensory stimuli Attention – ability to sustain concentration on a particular object, action, or thought Memory – the ability to store and recall information Executive functions – abilities that enable goal-oriented behavior, such as the ability to plan and execute a goal, impulse control, problem solving, coming up with new ideas, etc…- Very unique to human beingso How do we study Cognitive Functions? Psychological Testing- Perception Tests – how long it takes to recognize an object- Attention Tests – how long a subject can focus on something- Memory Tests – remembering numbers, symbols, words, etc.- Executive Functioning Tests – are people successful in solving a particular problem (Erickson Flanker Task, Stroop Task)o Stroop Task: a word shown in a color, supposed to identify the color of the word RED BLUE GREEN PURPLE --- Really easy RED BLUE GREEN PURPLEo Erickson Flanker Task: presented with many arrows, told to tell the experimenter which way the middle arrow is pointing Brain Imaging- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) – measures size or volume of different regions (non invasive)- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) – measures changes in blood flow to brain regions and allows us to quantify the amount as well as the localization of brain activity in response to a particular cognitive task- Positron Emission Tomography (PET) – can measure glucose utilization and allowus to quantify the amount as well as the localization of brain activity in response to a particular cognitive tasko BOTH fMRI and PET scans can tell us where and how much brain activity is occurring… CANT tell us how fast the brain is responding Psycho-Physiological Methods- Electroencephalography (EEG) – the recording of electrical activity of the brain through scalp electrodeso Tell us about the timing and magnitude of neural activity in the brain, but not where it is happening- The Neuroanatomy of Cognitiono The Association Cortex – a major site of cognitive function All regions of the cerebral cortex except the primary motor and sensory cortex areas- Includes the prefrontal and premotor cortex in the frontal lobe as well as regionsin the parietal, temporal and occipital lobes- Includes the inferior temporal cortex (“what” visual pathway) and the parietal cortex (“where” visual pathway- Inputs to the association cortex comes from other regions of the cortex via the thalamus 5 Cognitive Behaviors and the Association Cortex- Language Comprehension and Readingo Wernicke’s Area – in the LEFT temporal cortex, understanding language (written and vocal)o Broca’s Area – in lower LEFT frontal cortex, responsible for speech production Receives input from Wernicke’s area, memory areas (hippocampus), and prefrontal cortex about the identity of words and their meanings Activates neurons in the motor cortex that activates lips, tongues, pharynx, etc. to produce the correct soundso The left temporal lobe is important for understanding and creating literallanguageo The right temporal lobe is important in detecting lies, sarcasm, innuendo, humor, and other forms of insincere communication- Planning and Impulse Controlo Planning is the process of developing a temporally organized set of behaviors to accomplish a future goalo The prefrontal cortex is central to initiating motor plans and the premotor cortex is central to creating a motor plan that is then sends to the motor cortex which then carries out the proposed actions PFC is also involved in impulse control, which is critical to achieving long-term goals These behaviors are associated with executive functiono Marshmallow Test!! Not purely genetic, can be taught to have better impulse control- Tested with poor kids vs rich kids as well (poor kids haveworse impulse control) Low impulse control – higher chance of criminal record, being a single parent, having health problems, and drug addictions- Problem Solving (and Error Detection)o The cerebellum and basal ganglia detect and correct errors of movement through their input back to the motor cortexo The anterior cingulate cortex is a set of neurons that are activated by sensory input that is novel, complex, conflicting, aversive, or unrewarding and sends output to the prefrontal cortex to develop and new plan Lights up when ever we do something new or different, also lights up when a monkey does something right but doesn’t get the reward Is in the right temporal cortex- Attention – the selective allocation of awareness to part of the sensory environment (can be focused or distributed)o Many different parts of the cortex may be important in different types ofattention The parietal association cortex is important for visual attention and is associated with sensory information about spatial cues as lesions to this region are associated with contralateral neglect, ignoring part of the body or world opposite to that of the injury  The anterior cingulate cortex shows higher activity when a task is difficult or unfamiliar than when a task is easy or familiar- Imitation and Understanding o Mirror Neurons – cortical neurons that fire when a movement is made or when the same movement is seen to be made by another person Probably receive input from the prefrontal cortex as well as the visual sensory cortex May be critical in the IMITATION of the behaviors of others and acquiring learned behaviors- Even language, language develops and depends on mutual recognition of an understanding of facial expressions, gestures, and sounds- Even emotions and intentions of others are understood here, allow us to have empathy The neurons involved might be disrupted in autism- Intelligence and IQ Testso General Intelligence: the idea that while there may be different kinds


View Full Document

CU-Boulder PSYC 2012 - bio psych lecture 18 notes

Download bio psych lecture 18 notes
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view bio psych lecture 18 notes and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view bio psych lecture 18 notes 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?