Neuroscience 2002 Exam 1

Difficulty recognizing faces

prosopagnosia

Temporal lobe Right hemisphere

provides and processes rhythm, stress and tone variation in speech and processing of environmental sounds and music

These are 3 dysfunctions associated with the temporal lobe

- (agnosia) inability to interpret what an object is -inability concerning the naming of objects -prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces)

immediate (sensory) memory

-Each sensory system has its own 'memory register' that has a large capacity, but hold memory only for fractions of seconds -It is not available to consciousness but makes it possible to process sensory information shortly after the stimulus is over

declarative working short term memory

-Its processing and storage as long term memory requires the integrity of the hippocampus -It relates to attention, is available to consciousness, it is information that is needed for the current task at hand -quickly forgotten if no attention is taken to that information anymore

These are three dysfunctions associated with the Batlin's syndrome

-Oculomotor apraxia (defect if voluntary eye movement) -Simutanagnosia (inability to perceive more than one object at a time) -Optic ataxia (condition in which some or all aspects of visual guidance over reaching with the hand and arm are lost)

This is a dysfunction associated with the neglect syndrome

-Unawareness of typically the left part of the visual space -Missing to draw the left part of an object without being aware of this mistake while drawing the object.

declarative long term memory

-Words and objects and their meaning, information is stored in association cortices over a long period of time, capacity is large -History such as which schools you went to in your past

A patient presents with the inability to form new memories, and neuroimaging reveals he has developed structural lesions on ONLY ONE part of his brain. A. What is the name of this form of memory loss? B. Which brain structure do you most suspect has the lesion and what normal function is the lesion preventing it from doing C. Which case study from class and the textbook best demonstrates this relationship?

A. Anterograde Amnesia B. The hippocampus; the lesions seem to be impairing the memory consolidation function of the hippocampus which transfers information from short-term to long-term memory. C. The case of R.B. demonstrated that damage to ONLY the hippocampus is sufficient to cause anterograde amnesia

Inability to perceive the color of objects

Achromatopsia

What evidence is there that the basal ganglia is involved in motor skill learning, specifically sequence learning?

Activity within the basal ganglia changes when someone learns a motor sequence, specifically, the right and left putamen.

Mismatching verbal or other cognitive symbols with stimuli, difficulty naming objects

Agnosia, lexical aspect

Inability to perceive the motion of objects

Akinetopsia

Emotions such as fear and the promise of rewards can strongly influence decision-making. Which brain areas other than the prefrontal cortex are must substantially involved in this? a) Amygdala and basal ganglia b) Parietal cortex and temporal lobe c) occipital lobe and cerebellum d) Primary auditory cortex and Insula

Amygdala and basal ganglia

Hypothalamus major function

Autonomic nervous system, regulating homeostatic functions, including secretion of pituitary hormones

Superior Colliculus

Brain stem area that contains a visual space map

Ventral visual pathway

Carries visual information about color and high resolution to the temporal lobe

Dorsal visual pathway

Carries visual information about motion and position of objects in space to the parietal lobe

Name at least one area of the brain that stores non-declarative memory

Cerebellum, Basal ganglia, premotor cortex, amygdala

You notice two people behind you talking. You don't want them to know that you are listening in, so you keep playing with the dog as before, while you shift your attention to the conversation.

Covert and Voluntary (endogenous) attention

You noticed someone walking behind you and get the feeling that this person is following you. To find out if that is true, you don't turn toward that person, but prepare to cross the street, and while you do that, you internally shift your attention to very carefully listen to the person behind you. What type of attention is that? a) Covert and reflexive b) Overt and reflexive c) Covert and volunteer d) Overt and volunteer

Covert and volunteer

Make this sentence correct: _______ is/are retrieved at a/an ______ level a. During Priming, information; conscious b. Explicit memory; unconscious c. Procedural memory; conscious d. Emotional associations; unconscious

Emotional associations; unconscious

You trained your dog to understand the meaning of the words "right" and "left". Before you throw the ball, you call out the word "right" and the dog is much faster catching the ball if you throw the ball to the right than if you throw it to the left.

Endogenous cue to enhance attention

Explain the difference between episodic and semantic memory and give an example of each.

Episodic: memory that can be recalled about experiences of events. For example, remembering what you did during the weekend. Semantic: memory that can be recalled about general facts and information. Example: remembering that the capital of France is Paris.

Explain the difference between exogenous and endogenous attention and provide examples for each

Exogenous attention which is more automatic (reflexive) and driven by stimuli. An example would be a ball being thrown at you, you would automatically direct attention toward it. The second kind of attention is Endogenous attention which is more voluntary. It is driven by goals that you have and knowledge. Example: Studying is a primary example where you are consciously focusing.

You make the motion of throwing the ball into a certain direction, but don't let the ball actually go. The dog is much faster in catching the ball, if you shortly after that, throw the ball into the direction you pretended to throw it, than if you throw it into a different direction.

Exogenous cue to enhance attention

Which statement about the relationship between the information that the ventral and dorsal visual pathway carries, and the function of the brain area that receives that information is correct? a. For the function of the parietal lob it is essential to receive high image resolution information that is carried by the ventral pathway b. For the object recognition function of the temporal lobe it is essential to receive object motion information carried by the dorsal pathway c. For the function of the parietal lob it is essential to receive information about the location of objects in space via the dorsal pathway d. For the attention function of the parietal lobe it is essential to receive object color information carried by the ventral pathway.

For the function of the parietal lobe it is essential to receive information about the location of objects in space via the dorsal pathway

This is a dysfunction that is associated with vision deficits

Hemianopia (half blindness over vision field)

You notice that someone can't see anything that is within the left visual field, but the person compensates just fine by simply turning the head to the left. What is likely the problem, and what could cause that? a) Hemianopia, damage to the right visual cortex b) Neglect Syndrome, damage to the right parietal lobe c) Neglect Syndrome, damage to the left parietal lobe d) Hemianopia, damage to the left visual cortex

Hemianopia, damage to the right visual cortex

Visual field loss (a deficit in vision)

Hemianopsia

Which brain areas are most important in the proper storage of declarative long-term memories? 1. Basal Ganglia and frontal cortex 2. Cerebellum and sensory association cortices 3. Hippocampus and sensory association cortices 4. b and c

Hippocampus and sensory association cortices

Define implicit and explicit memory, and give an example of each

Implicit: Unconsciously stored memories that can't be described. For example, playing the piano or shooting a basket. Sometimes referred to as procedural memory. Explicit: Consciously stored memories that can be described. Ex: Reciting your phone number, etc.

You are recording from neurons within the parietal lobe of a monkey. What do you expect? a. Increased neuron activity if you offer the monkey a greater reward for taking attention to a certain stimulus. b. The activity of the neurons will not depend on motivation c. Increased neuron activity every time while the stimulus is presented, regardless of what the monkey is doing d. The neurons only fire if there is a certain object presented to the monkey

Increased neuron activity if you offer the monkey a greater reward for taking attention to a certain stimulus

You are driving down the street and suddenly hear a loud noise. The area of the brain that contains a space map of sound that allows for detecting the location in space from where that sound is coming from is the ________, while the __________ contains nicely ordered information about the frequency profile of the sound. a. Inferior Colliculus, Primary Auditory Cortex b. Primary Auditory Corte, Inferior Colliculus c. Inferior Colliculus, Secondary Auditory Cortex d. Superior Olive, Primary Auditory Cortex

Inferior Colliculus, Primary Auditory Cortex

Priming

Influences a person's behavior and memory over an extended period of time on an unconscious level and is associated with the sensory association cortices

Thalamus major function

Influences cerebral cortex, relays sensory information to parts of the brain

Occipital lobe

Is the location of the primary visual cortex (where visual information is first processed)

Which describes best memory consolidation? a. It is when immediate memory is processed so it becomes working memory. b. It is when long term memory is forgotten after it became unimportant c. It is when for instances the exact wording of a text passage is forgotten, but the most important take home message is transferred from short-term to long-term memory storage. d. If this process does not work any more, memory in long-term storage can no longer be accessed.

It is when for instances the exact wording of a text passage is forgotten, but the most important take home message is transferred from short-term to long-term memory storage.

The information that is processed by the area MT may explain why a person with damages to this area has trouble crossing the street because: a. It may be impossible for that person to judge the speed of the cars. b. The person may not recognize the cars. c. The person can't take attention to objects d. The person can not perceive cars with high resolution (vision is too fuzzy)

It may be impossible for that person to judge the speed of the cars

Non-declarative memory related to complex and sequential motor skills

It requires the integrity of the basal ganglia

Non-declarative memory related to simple reflexes and motor adjustments

It requires the integrity of the cerebellum

A person with wide spread brain damage who can't remember their own name, has___________amnesia.

retrograde

Inability to voluntarily scan a visual scene

Oculomotor apraxia

.In class we discussed how taxi drivers often have an enlarged hippocampus (especially the posterior) while bus drivers do not. Explain why this might be.

One explanation is that the hippocampus is largely involved in spatial learning and memory, specifically when guided by external cues or landmarks. Taxi drivers rely heavily on landmarks to figure out where they are in relation to where they need to go (like a mouse using external cues to help them find the platform in the Morris Water Maze). In contrast, bus drivers have set routes that they memorize, which use a different type of navigation and learning. The hippocampus is used more for the type of learning used by taxi drivers, and because they rely on it more, it increases in size (like a muscle getting bigger the more you use it).

Inability to correctly reach for objects due to deficits in spatial awareness

Optic ataxia

Primary auditory Cortex of the temporal lobe property

Organized as a Tonotopic map (frequency separator)

We said that the recognition of objects is challenging. Which is the best explanation for this a) Declarative long-term memory that allows object recognition is very limited b) Our three dimensional complex world makes objects often look completely different depending on from which angle we look at them, the lighting conditions, or they may partially occlude c) We can only take attention to one thing at a time d) This is because of the asymmetry of the functions of the temporal cortex, because of that, this task requires parallel processing

Our three dimensional complex world makes objects often look completely different depending on from which angle we look at them, the lighting conditions, or they may partially occlude

Something behind the dog suddenly makes a loud bang. In the middle of the play, the dog very quickly turns toward the sound.

Overt and Reflexive (exogenous) attention

retrograde amnesia

Person cannot call memories made before brain damage

Secondary auditory Cortex of the temporal lobe function

Processing of complex sounds

You run into an old friend after 15 years. Your perception is that you recognize your friend, and can recall the many times you spend together having fun, but you do not recall your friend's last name. How could you explain that from a neuroscience perspective? a.) Your right temporal lobe does not work properly. b.) Naming objects and object recognition goes automatically together, so you likely never actually knew your friends last name. c.) Recognition is lateralized and there is a differentiation between knowing an object and the lexical aspect of object recognition. d.) You have serious long term memory issues because long term memory is normally never forgotten

Recognition is lateralized and there is a differentiation between knowing an object and the lexical aspect of object recognition

Inability to perceive multiple objects at the same time

Simultanagnosia

A person in front of you has Balint's syndrome. What do you expect? a) The person may keep missing when trying to reach for a glass that is standing right in front of them b) They may not see the glass that is standing right in front of them c) The deficit of this person is generally restricted to the right side of their visual field d) a and b

a and b

The dog very quietly and gently comes to stand so close to you that his fur gently touches your leg. You didn't notice, until you look down and see his fur touching your leg, at which point you feel the gentle touch.

Supramodal attention

What would be the best evidence that the hippocampus is essential for memory consolidation? a) That someone with Neglect syndrome can't draw an object correctly from memory. b) That someone like case R.B who has hippocampus damage, only has trouble with forming new long-term memory c) That someone like case H.M. does not experience fear d) That someone like case K.C. can't remember things from before and after the accident

That someone like case R.B who has hippocampus damage, only has trouble with forming new long-term memory

Someone has generalized anterograde amnesia (it affects all sorts of declarative memory). Only a relatively localized brain area is damaged. Which brain area do you think is damaged, and explain why that damage leads to anterograde amnesia?

The brain area that is most likely damaged is the hippocampus. Such damage leads to anterograde amnesia because the hippocampus is essential for memory consolidation and the process by which information is stored as long term memory within the association cortices.

You are looking at an optical illusion that shows a landscape, but somehow you see a face in the landscape. What is going on? a. Your right temporal lobe isn't working properly b. It is probably due to that you have hallucinations c. The visual sensory system automatically alters the perception of shades and colors to help us to interpret situations correctly d. The neuronal architecture of the temporal lobe is naturally tuned to preferentially recognize special features or pattern within a scene

The neuronal architecture of the temporal lobe is naturally tuned to preferentially recognize special features or pattern within a scene

Someone is repeating a certain task that doesn't seem to be purposeful, and it appears they just cannot stop doing that. From what you learned thus far in NS2002, what is most likely going on? a. The person has dames to the temporal cortex b. The person has damages to the prefrontal cortex and/or basal ganglia c. The person has damages to the parietal cortex d. a and c

The person has damages to the prefrontal cortex and/or basal ganglia

You know that the person in front of you has Balint's Syndrome. What do you expect? a. The person may not be able to grab your hand when you offer your hand for a handshake b. The person is likely not aware of the left side of the space, but when you approach the person from the right, that should work fine. c. The person has difficulty recognizing the objects they can see d. The person can not comprehend instructions

The person may not be able to grab your hand when you offer your hand for a handshake

In the past the person in front of you who could easily list all the presidents of the United States including the current one, now knows none of them, has ______________amnesia.

retrograde

A cat learns to associate a squirt from a water squirt bottle with climbing on the kitchen counters. To avoid this concequence, the cat no longer climbs on the kitchen counters. What type of learning is involved here? Explain. Also, which area of the brain is most likely involved in the learning?

This is an example of conditioned learning, more specifically, operant conditioning. In this type of learning paradigm, the probability that a behavior will happen is altered by being associated with a punishment (subject will avoid behavior) or reward (subject will increase behavior). The amygdala and basal ganglia are most strongly involved in this learning. The amygdala is involved in fear learning and the basal ganglia in decision making and the dopamine reward systems.

"Vier-Stufen-Methode"

Vier-Stufen-Methode" is the "traditional", teacher-guided method, carried out in four steps: 1) Introduction 2) Demonstration 3) Repeat as demonstrated under supervision, and 4) Practice. The mentor encourages the student to independently practice the task by doing assignments, which the mentor provides. The student's performance is then evaluated by the mentor.

In class we talked about that there seems to be a difference in the way how the hippocampus processes episodic, semantic, and temporal declarative memory so it will be stored as long term memory. Briefly describe one of the studies we looked at that demonstrates this.

We talked about a stroke patient study where some patients had trouble with temporal aspects of declarative memory, while others had trouble with spatial aspects of declarative memory. We talked about case K.C who had only relatively mild trouble with semantic memory, but had severe difficulties with episodic memory.

What is the Wernicke's area and what would happen if that area is damaged?

Wernicke's area is part of the temporal lobe (left side), and responsible for comprehension of speech, and if this area is damaged that leads to the inability to comprehend language (understand or comprehend what someone says).

Name at least one area of the brain that stores declarative memory:

Wernicke's area, temporal cortex, sensory association cortices

Which statement about attention is correct? a) When you pay attention to something, you can react much faster and more accurate than if you do not pay attention b) Paying attention increases the activity of the sensory cortex that processes the stimulus c) Most people can only pay attention to one thing at a time d) All of the above

all of the above

brain area that involves processing of environmental sounds and music

right hemisphere of temporal lobe

the Cocktail Party effect would explain which of these phenomena? a. That it is impossible for you to pay attention to the teacher while some students in the class are talking. b. Why none is leaving when the fire alarm is going off during an exam. c. Why you may have to call out the name of the teacher to get attention when you sit in the very back of a large lecture hall, while the teacher is focused on what a student does in the front row of the class. d. Why you are perfectly capable of paying attention to the video on your computer, your neighbor talking and to the lecture at the same time.

Why you may have to call out the name of the teacher to get attention when you sit in the very back of a large lecture hall, while the teacher is focused on what a student does in the front row of the class

What would be a good example of Priming? a. To learn for and exam, you practice answering questions over and over again b. Your forgot your shopping list at home. From what you remember you buy: strawberries, vanilla ice, and whip cream. Back home, you notice that your list contained strawberries and vanilla ice, but not whip cream. c. To memorize things, you imagine walking through a house and place words that you want to remember at certain places d. You can remember your shopping list that you left at home much better when you are hungry

You forgot your shopping list at home. From what you remember you buy: strawberries, vanilla ice, and whip cream. Back home, you notice that your list contained strawberries and vanilla ice, but not whip cream.

You are recording from neurons somewhere within the temporal lobe or the hippocampus. What do you expect? a) A certain pool of neurons may respond when the person sees any sort of cars b) A certain pool of neurons may respond only if the person sees an image of their own dog c) Certain single neurons may respond specifically to images and the written name of a certain person or object d) All of the above

all of the above

H.M Case Study

amygdala, uncus, and hippocampal gyrus were removed to prevent seizures, he could remember his childhood and nondeclarative memories but he could not from new memories

A old time visitor of the zoo who can tell you exactly where the old exhibit of the polar bears was, can't seem to learn where its new exhibit is, has _______________amnesia.

anterograde

A person who was extremely good in remembering names, but now can't even remember that you even met shortly after your meeting, has___________amnesia.

anterograde

Area MT of the occipital cortex

associated with the processing of object motion

Area V4 of the occipital cortex

associated with the processing of the color of objects

Experiments have shown that the larger the brain region that is damaged, the more does it effect difficult memory tasks, while there is often only little effect on performance if only small areas are damaged. What does this imply? a. Easy tasks is governed by a relatively small number of specific neurons, and we just need to get lucky to not have exactly those destroyed b. More difficult tasks require the cooperation of a larger network c. There are many backup systems that can carry out a variety of easier tasks d. b and c

b and c

The Cocktail Party effect would explain which of these phenomena? a) Why it is possible for you to pay attention to the television, your friend talking on the phone, and your homework all at the same time b) Why you can perfectly focus on the television by blocking out your friends heated conversation c) Why your did not notice your friend come into the room while you are focused on your homework, until your friend knocked loudly on your door d) b and c

b and c

Which statement about the Contralateral Neglect Syndrome is a possible explanation for that syndrome? a.) The processing of attention is asymmetrical, so that if there is damage to the right side, the left side can compensate for that damage, but not vise versa. b.) Because of the asymmetrical processing of attention as described in (a), people usually only show minimal deficits if there is damage to the left side of the parietal lobe. c.) There is an imbalance in attention control d.) b and c

b and c

Which brain is most important for learning how to operate a stick shift car so that you can automatically shift gear (sequential motions need and coordinated correctly) as you speed up, slow down, or stop the car, while taking attention to traffic? a) Basal Ganglia b) Cerebellum c) Hypothalamus d) Hippocampus

basal ganglia

Inferior Colliculus

brain stem area that contains an auditory space map

Medial and Lateral Superior Olive

brain stem area that is involved in the detection for the direction of sounds

parietal lobe

paying attention to stimuli, and is involved in the perception of space, when damaged leads to deficits such as Balint's or Neglect syndrome

K.C. case study

damaged his hippocampus and parahippocampus and suffered from anterograde and retrograde amnesia -Semantic memories (general life info) can still be remembered, but episodic memory is non-existent

R.B Case study

during cardiac surgery, he lost blood supply to some tissue (ischemia) and caused a shortage of oxygen to tissue, and he lost the ability to establish new declarative memories -Bilateral lesions on hippocampus causes anterograde amnesia for declarative memory -Amygdala, thalamus, basal forebrain, and mammillary bodies were normal

anterograde amnesia

person cannot form new memories after brain damage, still can remember old ones

Frontal lobe

planning and decision making

Which would be evidence for that long-term declarative memory is stored where that type of information is also processed? a. Damages to the cerebellum may lead no longer be able to perform certain motor skills b. fMRI imaging showed that the same brain regions within the sensory association cortices become active when seeing an object the first time as well as recalling it mentally a considerable time afterwards. c. Damages to the hippocampus may lead to not being able to acquire new long term memory d. Damages to the parietal lobe may lead to not being able to attend to objects within a certain area of the visual field

fMRI imaging showed that the same brain regions within the sensory association cortices become active when seeing an object the first time as well as recalling it mentally a considerable time afterwards.

Place these presynaptic, short-term events in chronological order: 1 (occurs first) to 4 (occurs last)

facilitation, augmentation, depression, potentiation

planning and decision making brain area

frontal lobe

Cerebellum major function

involved in motor movements, control, especially error control (adjustment of reflexes, balance, coordination, motor adjustments)

Which statement about the organization of the temporal lobe is correct? a) It is the only part of the brain that has a Columnar Organization b) Damages to the right temporal lobe leads to that someone doesn't know the nature of an object c) Its lateralization explains why damages to the left side have mainly effects on the lexical aspect of object recognition d) It is essential for keeping track of the movements and orientation of objects in space

its lateralization explains why damages to the left side have mainly effects on the lexical aspect of object recognition

brain area that is associated with the lexical aspects of object and face recognition

left hemisphere of temporal lobe

Temporal lobe Left hemisphere

lexical aspect of object recognition

hippocampus main function

memory consolidation (the process by which declarative working memory is stored as long term memory). This applies to episodic memory (spatial and temporal information), and semantic memory (facts)

You give the dog the choice between several toys to play with. The dog takes a look at each, sniffs each, and then grabs one of them, puts it into your hands, and looks at you while waiting for you to throw it.

over and voluntary (endogenous) attention

brain area that is associated with attention, the processing of the orientation and movement of objects in space, and is associated with the Balint's and the neglect syndrome

parietal lobe

"Kognitive Unterweisung"

self-guided method, carried out in 3 phases: 1) planning 2) execution, and 3) self-evaluation. The student is instructed to get into the habit of asking themselves a certain set of questions, and independently find answers, ideally without interference by the instructor. The job of the instructor is to guide the students in asking themselves the right questions, and serve as a mentor if students get "stuck".

A person in front of you has what is called Agnosia. What do you expect? a) The person can not keep their attention focused on what you are showing them b) The person can not shift their attention from one thing you are showing them to another c) The person may not be able to recognize objects that you have shown them before d) The person is not aware of objects even when directly looking at them

the person may not be able to recognize objects that you have shown them before

you meet an old school friend for the first time after your friend had a serious brain injury. Someone tells you that your friend has retrograde amnesia. What do you expect might happen? a) Your friend might not remember that you met shortly after your meeting b) Your friend might not remember that you went to school together c) Your friend might not find the way back when going together on a short walk d) Your friend will not be able to learn your name

your friend might not remember that you went to school together