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Cogs 102
N/A
101
Psychology
Undergraduate 2
02/07/2012

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Term
Cognition
Definition
A variety of higher mental processes such as thinking, perceiving, imagining, speaking, acting, and planning
Term
cognitive neuroscience
Definition
aims to explain cognitive processes in terms of brain based mechanisms
Term
mind-body problem
Definition
the problem of how a physical substance can give rise to our feelings, thoughts, and emotions
Term
dualism
Definition
the belief that mind and brain are made up of different substances
Term
dual-aspect theory
Definition
the belief that mind and brain are two levels of description for the same thing
Term
phrenology
Definition
the failed idea that individual differences in cognition can be mapped on to differences in skulls hape
Term
functional specialization
Definition
different regions of the brain are specialized for different functions
Term
cognitive neuropsychology
Definition
the study of brain-damaged patients to inform theories ofn normal cognition
Term
information processing
Definition
an approach in which behavior is described in terms of a sequence of cognitive stages
Term
interactivity
Definition
later stages of processing can begin before earlier stages are complete
Term
top-down processing
Definition
the influence of later stages on the porcessing of earlier ones
Term
parallel processing
Definition
different information is processed at the same time
Term
neural network models
Definition
computational models in which information processing occurs using many interconnected nodes
Term
nodes
Definition
the basic units of neural network models that are activated in response to activity in other parts of the network
Term
temporal resolution
Definition
the accuracy with which one can measure when an event occurs
Term
spatial resoultion
Definition
the accuracy with which one can measure where an event is occuring
Term
modularity
Definition
the notion that certain cognitive processes are restricted in the type of information they process
Term
domain-specificity
Definition
the idea that a cognitive process is dedicated solely to one particular type of information
Term
neuron
Definition
a type of cell that makes up the nervous system and supports amongst other things, cognitive function
Term
cell body
Definition
part of the neuron containing the nucleus and other organelles
Term
dendrites
Definition
branching structures that carry information from other neurons
Term
axon
Definition
a branching structure that carries information to toehr neurons and transmits an action peotential
Term
synapse
Definition
the small gap between neurons in which neurotransmitters are released, permitting signaling between neurons
Term
action potential
Definition
a sudden change in the electrical properties of the neuron membrane in an axon
Term
neurotransmitters
Definition
chemical signals that are relased by one neuron and affect the properties of other neurons
Term
myelin
Definition
a fatty substance that is deposited around the axon of some cells that speeds conduction
Term
grey matter
Definition
matter consisting primarily of nueronal cell bodies
Term
white matter
Definition
tissue consisting primarily of axons and support cells
Term
glia
Definition
support cells of the nervous system involved in tissue repair and in the formation of myelin
Term
corpus callosum
Definition
a large white matter tract that ocnnects the two hemispheres
Term
ventricles
Definition
hollow chambers of the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid
Term
anterior
Definition
front
Term
posterior
Definition
back
Term
rostral
Definition
front
Term
dorsal
Definition
top
Term
ventral
Definition
bottom
Term
inferior
Definition
bottom
Term
superior
Definition
top
Term
lateral
Definition
outer
Term
medial
Definition
inner
Term
gyri
Definition
raised
Term
sulci
Definition
indented
Term
brodmann's areas
Definition
regions of the cortex defined by the relative distribution of cell types across cortical layers
Term
basal ganglia
Definition
regions of sub-cortical grey matter involved in aspects of moor control and skill learning (caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus)
Term
limbic system
Definition
involved in regulating the organism to its present and past environment
amygdala: fear; hippocampus: memory/learning; cingulate: memory; mamilary: memory
Term
thalamus
Definition
relay centre-- a processing station between all sensory organs and the cortex
Term
hypothalamus
Definition
a variety of nuclei that are specialized for different functions that are primarily concerned with the body and its regulation
Term
superior colliculi
Definition
mid-brain nucleus that forms part of the sub-cortical visual pathway... orienting to light changes
Term
inferior colliculi
Definition
a mid-brain nucleus that forms part of a sub-cortical auditory pathway; infovlevd in orienting to sound
Term
cerebellum
Definition
structure attached to hindbrain; dexterity and smooth movemens
Term
pons
Definition
connects cerebellum and cerebrum
Term
medulla oblongata
Definition
vital function such as breathing, swallowing, heart rate, and the wake-sleep cycle
Term
representation
Definition
properties of the world that are manifested in cognitive systems and neural systems
Term
single-cell recordings
Definition
measure the responsiveness of a neuron to a given stimulus
Term
reaction time
Definition
the time taken between the onset of a stimulus and the production of a behavioral response
Term
multi-cell recordings
Definition
the electrical activity of many individually recorded neurons
Term
grandmother cell
Definition
a hypothetical neuron that just responds to one particular stimulus
Term
rate coding
Definition
the informational content of neuron may be related to the number of action potentials per second
Term
temporal coding
Definition
the syncrony of firing may be used by a population of nuerons to code the same stimulus or even
Term
mental chronometry
Definition
the study of the time course of information processing in the human nervous system
Term
additive factors method
Definition
a general method for dividing reaction times into different stages devised by sternberg
Term
associative priming
Definition
reaction times are faster to a stimulus if that stmuli is preceded by a stimulus or similar meaning
Term
exogenous
Definition
stimulus
Term
endogenous
Definition
task
Term
inverse problem
Definition
the difficulty of locating the sources of electrical activity from measurements taken at the scalp
Term
dipole modelling
Definition
an attempt to solve the inverse problem in erp research that involves assuming how many dipoles (regions of electrical activity) contribute to the signal recorded at the scalp
Term
structural imagin
Definition
measures of the spatial configuration of different types of tissues in the brain
Term
functional imagin
Definition
measures temporary changes in brain physiology associated with cognitive processing the most common methods of pet and fmri are based on haemodynamic measures
Term
voxel-based morphometry
Definition
a technique for segregating white and grey matter
Term
bold
Definition
blood oxygen level dependent contrast: the signal measured in fmri that relates to the concentration of deoxyhaemoglobin in the blood
Term
haemoynamic response function
Definition
changes in the BOLD status over time
Term
cognitive subtraction
Definition
a type of experimental design in function imaingin in which activity in a control task is subtracted from activity in an experimental task
Term
pure insertion
Definition
the assumption that adding a different ocmponent t a task does not change the operation of other components
Term
interactions
Definition
the effect on one ting to another
Term
functional integration
Definition
the way in which different regions communictate with each other
Term
block design
Definition
stimuli from a given condition are presented consecutively together
Term
event-related design
Definition
stimuli from two or more conditions are presented randomly or interleaved
Term
eFMRI
Definition
event related functional magnetic resonance imaging
Term
stereotactic normalization
Definition
the mapping of individual differences in brain anatomy onto a standart template
Term
smoothing
Definition
redistributing brain activity from neighbouring voxels to enhance the signal to nose ratio
Term
voxel
Definition
a volume based unit, in imaging research the brain is divided into many thousands of these
Term
talairach coordinates
Definition
locations in the brain defined relative to the atlas of talairach and tournoux
Term
inhibition
Definition
a reduction/suppression of the activity of a brain region, triggered by activity in another region
Term
excitation
Definition
an increase in activity of a brain region, triggered by activity in another region
Term
activation
Definition
an increase in physiological processing in one condition relative to some others
Term
deactivation
Definition
a decrease in physiological processing in one condition relative to some other conditions
Term
semantic dementia
Definition
a progressive loss of information from semantic memory
Term
semantic memory
Definition
knowledge of concepts in the world
Term
group studies
Definition
the performance of different patiens are combined to yield a group average
Term
single case studies
Definition
the data from different patients are not combined
Term
transcranial magnetic stimulation
Definition
non-invasive stimulation of the brain cause dby a rapidly changing electrical current in a coil held over the scap
Term
split-brain
Definition
a surgical procedure in which fibres of the corpus callosum are severed
Term
single dissociation
Definition
a stiuation in w hich a patient is imparied on a particular task but relatively spared on another task
Term
task-resource artefact
Definition
if two tasks share the same neural/ocgnitive resource but one task uses it more, then damage to this resource will affect one task more than the other
Term
task-demand artefact
Definition
one task is performed worse than antoehr because the task is performed sub-optimally
Term
double dissociation
Definition
two single dissocations that have a completementary profile of abilities
Term
dysgraphia
Definition
bad at spelling/writing
Term
transparency assumption
Definition
lesions affect one or more ocmponents within the pre-existing cognitive systems but do not result in a completely new cognitive system being created
Term
oedema
Definition
a swelling of the brain following injury
Term
diaschisis
Definition
a discrete brain lesion can disrupt the functioning of distant brain regions that are structurally intact
Term
dual-task interference
Definition
if there is a decrement in performance associaeted with doing two things at once then it suggests that these two tasks share cognitive processes
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