67 Cards in this Set
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Cognition
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higher mental processes such as thinking, perceiving, deciding, and using memory; domain of psychological behavior
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Neuroscience
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study of nervous system; domain of biology and chemistry
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Dendrite
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branching structures that receive input from other neurons
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Cell body (soma)
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where nucleus and genetic material is
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Axon
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transmit action potential; produces output to other neurons
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Action potential
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electrical signal that propagates down the axon to release neurotransmitters
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Synapse
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gap between neurons
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Neural integration
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when transmitters bind to receptors, it can change the electrical polarity (charge) of the soma; if depolarization occurs, an action potential is generated in next neuron
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Coding information
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carried through the rate and/or timing of neural spikes
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Cognitive neuroscience
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bridging discipline between cognitive science and cognitive psychology and biology and neuroscience; aims to explain cognitive processes in brain-based mechanisms
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Mind-body problem
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the problem of a physical substance (the brain) can give rise to our feelings and emotions (the mind)
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Dualism
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the belief that the mind and brain are made up of different kinds of substance
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Dual-aspect theory
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the belief that and brain are 2 levels of description of the same thing
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Reductionism
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the belief that mind-based concepts will eventually be replaced by neuroscientfic concepts
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Phrenology
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failed idea that individual differences in cognition can be mapped on to differences in skull shape
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Information processing
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an approach in which behavior is described in terms of a sequence of cognitive stages
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Top down processing
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the influence of later stages on the processing of earlier ones
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Parallel processing
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different information is processed at the same time
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Temporal resolution
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the accuracy with which one can measure when a event occurs (EEG, fMRI, MEG)
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Spatial resolution
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the accuracy with which one can measure where a physiological change occurs
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nodes
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basic units of neural network models that are activated in response to activity in other parts of the network
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Interactivity
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later stages of processing can begin before earlier stages are complete
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gray matter
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location of neural processing; where input becomes representation; has cortical surface which contains cell bodies
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white matter
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involved in transmitting information; has subsurface which contains myelinated axons
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gyrus
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raised surface of cortex; cingulate gyrus is right above corpus callosum
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sulcus
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dips or folds on cortex; central sulcus divides frontal lobe and parietal lobe
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Basal Ganglia
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regulates motor activity and starting/stopping action; putamen, caudate, and pallidus are all part of basal ganglia; damage involved in Parkinson's; part of sub cortex
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Limbic system
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involved in memory and emotional processing; part of sub cortex
amygdala = processing emotion and threat (salient detector)
cingulate gyrus = detecting conflict
hippocampus = binding items and events in memory
olfactory bulb = processing smell
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Thalamic bodies
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involved in sensory processing and regulating bodily processes
part of sub cortex
thalamus = sensory relay for all senses except smell
hypothalamus = body regulation (homeostasis); releases hormones
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Midbrain
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provides a fast, unprocessed, route for sensory info "reflexes"
superior colliculi = integrate info from vision, hearing, and touch
inferior colliculi = specialized for auditory processing
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Hindbrain
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cerebellum = needed for movement coordination and motor control; integrates motor plans with sensory info about external world
pons = link between cerebrum and cerebellum
medulla = connects pons and spinal cord; crucial for breathing and heart rate regulation
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Rate coding
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the number/rate of spikes reflects coded info (not size of spike)
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Temporal coding
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the timing/coherence of spikes reflects coded info
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Sparse coding
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one neuron response
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Sparse Distributed Coding
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a smaller pattern of neurons in a region fire in response
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Fully distributed coding
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all neurons in a region fire in response
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Single cell recordings
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very direct way to record neural activity, but very invasive (stick a probe in the brain), typically done to animals
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EEG
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based on electrical signal from postsynaptic currents recorded from scalp; non-invasive; whole brain coverage; measures over all electrical signal
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Event related Potential
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EEG signal is affected by a lot of different things (e.g. eye blinks, spikes from non-task related neurons); signal-to-noise ratio is very low as a consequence
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Exogenous signals
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due to external factors (e.g. stimulus on screen); generally affects early ERP components (the input)
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Endogenous components
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due to internal factors (how to process stimulus); affects late ERP components (processing and output)
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Pros and Cons of EEG
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Pros: non-invasive, cheap, great temporal resolution
Cons: only works for cortex, bad spatial resolution
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Pros and Cons of Single cell recording
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Pros: very direct measurement of neuronal activity; very good temporal and spatial resolution
Cons: invasive, only info about a specific area
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Structural imaging
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based on the fact that different types of tissue have different magnetic properties; static hi res map; can detect tumor or fracture in bone
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Functional imaging
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changes in neural activity in response to a task; dynamic map; can detect changes in oxygenated blood flow
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HemodynamicResponse Function
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oxygenated blood has different magnetic properties than deoxygenated blood
allows us to measure when a region has "used" up oxygen in blood
poor temporal resolution
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How does MRI let us see inside the body?
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1. record magnetic field produced by tissue/blood
2. send a radio pulse to disturb magnetic field
3. see how long it takes to return back to normal
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Functional MRI
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brain needs oxygen & glucose
when part of brain is active and uses oxygen, blood flow increases to that region to replenish
fMRI is sensitive to amount of oxygen in blood
BOLD signal: blood oxygen level dependent signal
fMRI gives us indirect measure of neural activity
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Data processing: motion correction
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If subject moves during scan, voxels won't be in the same place as before
Solution: estimate motion in all 3 dimensions, then remove that signal
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fMRI BOLD contrast
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brain is always active & is always using oxygen so we use a baseline condition to contrast with
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Blocked design
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showing a block of one condition then the a block of the other condition; block = continuous showing
Pros: strong sustained signal, easy to analyze
Cons: psychologically unnatural
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Event related design
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random order of conditions present
Pros: wide range of tasks, more natural processing
Cons: weaker signal
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StereotacticalNormalization
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1st need template brain
Talairach (1 drunkard)
MNI - 305 (average of 305 people)
Take activation from each individual brain and project it onto template
Warping: stretching each brain to make it fit template
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Pros and Cons of MRI
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Pros: safe, noninvasive, can detect changes in blood flow
Cons: expensive, poor temporal resolution. loud, metal restrictions
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Group Comparisons
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taking 20 Parkinson's patients (for example) and comparing them with 20 matched controls; very important to match participants on every factor that you can
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Case Study
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focus on one person and their story; makes it hard to generalize to others
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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
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induce focused magnetic energy to deactivate brain region; induces temporary lesion
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Animal model
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create cognitive tasks for rodents or primates; cut off or damage part of their brain
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Ways of acquiring brain damage
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Neurosurgery - lesion induced to prevent some other problem
Stroke - disruption in blood supply to brain region; starves the tissue
Head injury, viral infections, tumors - can destroy local tissue
Neurodegenerative disorders - brain systems deteriorate (Huntington's, Parkinson's etc)
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Single dissociation
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a situation where a patient is impaired on a particular task, but spared on another task
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Double dissociation
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two single dissociations that have a complementary profile of abilities
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Assumptions for generalizing a case study
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Fractionization - damage only affects one system
Transparency - brain doesn't compensate for damage
Universality - our brains are similar enough that the same would happen to me as you
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Limitations to animal models
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Brains might not be just a weaker version of ours
Can't have animals do complex tasks
Ethics and safety
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Advantages to TMS - transcranial magnetic stimulation
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No time for brain reorganization (no transparency assumption)
Good temporal resolution (precise timing)
Focal lesion (not messy like a real one)
Can check different areas in the same person
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Direct recording vs indirect recording
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D - recording actual electrical signal
I - recording byproduct of neural activity
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Subtraction approach
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subtract condition A from condition B and see the difference
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Parametric design
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seeing level of activity difference in brain regions
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PSY 223: EXAM 1