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Questions and Answers
In experiment 1, what happened to the evaluation of good explanations when neuroscientific facts were included?
In experiment 1, what happened to the evaluation of good explanations when neuroscientific facts were included?
What was the difference between the evaluations of good explanations before and after the cognitive neuroscience class in Experiment 2?
What was the difference between the evaluations of good explanations before and after the cognitive neuroscience class in Experiment 2?
In Experiment 3, how did neuroscience experts evaluate good explanations when they were accompanied by neuroscientific information?
In Experiment 3, how did neuroscience experts evaluate good explanations when they were accompanied by neuroscientific information?
What is a potential reason for students in Experiment 2 evaluating bad explanations as being better when neuroscience information was presented, according to the content?
What is a potential reason for students in Experiment 2 evaluating bad explanations as being better when neuroscience information was presented, according to the content?
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Which of the following are NOT mentioned in the content as findings of the mentioned experiments?
Which of the following are NOT mentioned in the content as findings of the mentioned experiments?
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Which of the following is a method used to inactivate specific brain structures in animal studies?
Which of the following is a method used to inactivate specific brain structures in animal studies?
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What is the primary advantage of using fMRI over PET in brain imaging?
What is the primary advantage of using fMRI over PET in brain imaging?
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Which of the following brain regions is NOT directly involved in automatic sequence production, according to the text?
Which of the following brain regions is NOT directly involved in automatic sequence production, according to the text?
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Which technique is used to analyze brain imaging data to isolate the specific areas of the brain that are activated during a particular cognitive task?
Which technique is used to analyze brain imaging data to isolate the specific areas of the brain that are activated during a particular cognitive task?
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What is the primary function of event-related potentials (ERPs)?
What is the primary function of event-related potentials (ERPs)?
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What does the color red indicate in a brain imaging scan using the subtraction technique?
What does the color red indicate in a brain imaging scan using the subtraction technique?
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Which of the following is NOT a common method for studying brain function?
Which of the following is NOT a common method for studying brain function?
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Which of the following is considered a non-invasive method for studying brain function?
Which of the following is considered a non-invasive method for studying brain function?
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What primarily determines the rate of firing of a neuron?
What primarily determines the rate of firing of a neuron?
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What is the role of neurotransmitters in neuronal communication?
What is the role of neurotransmitters in neuronal communication?
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In what way do excitatory neurotransmitters influence post-synaptic neurons?
In what way do excitatory neurotransmitters influence post-synaptic neurons?
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What must occur for an action potential to result in a neuron?
What must occur for an action potential to result in a neuron?
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What is the function of the synapse in neuron communication?
What is the function of the synapse in neuron communication?
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What type of cells are specialized to respond to bars of light of a particular orientation?
What type of cells are specialized to respond to bars of light of a particular orientation?
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What method can safely reproduce the effect of a temporary cortical lesion?
What method can safely reproduce the effect of a temporary cortical lesion?
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What best describes specificity coding?
What best describes specificity coding?
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Which area of the brain is responsible for many cognitive functions?
Which area of the brain is responsible for many cognitive functions?
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What is the likely solution for utilizing distributed representations with fewer neurons?
What is the likely solution for utilizing distributed representations with fewer neurons?
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What can lead to cognitive functioning issues when damaged?
What can lead to cognitive functioning issues when damaged?
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Which type of coding involves a pattern of firing across a large number of neurons?
Which type of coding involves a pattern of firing across a large number of neurons?
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What does a ventral PFC lesion affect in cognitive tasks?
What does a ventral PFC lesion affect in cognitive tasks?
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What is a significant advantage of using EEG in brain activity measurement?
What is a significant advantage of using EEG in brain activity measurement?
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Which imaging technique has a spatial resolution of approximately 1-3 mm?
Which imaging technique has a spatial resolution of approximately 1-3 mm?
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What cognitive function is primarily associated with the temporal lobe?
What cognitive function is primarily associated with the temporal lobe?
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What is one disadvantage of EEG in measuring brain activity?
What is one disadvantage of EEG in measuring brain activity?
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Which brain structure is involved in forming memories?
Which brain structure is involved in forming memories?
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What does the basal ganglia primarily contribute to in cognitive processing?
What does the basal ganglia primarily contribute to in cognitive processing?
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What does distributed processing in the brain imply about cognitive functions?
What does distributed processing in the brain imply about cognitive functions?
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What notable feature must researchers consider when using lesions or TMS for studying brain functions?
What notable feature must researchers consider when using lesions or TMS for studying brain functions?
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What does cognitive neuroscience study?
What does cognitive neuroscience study?
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Which structure in a neuron is primarily responsible for receiving information?
Which structure in a neuron is primarily responsible for receiving information?
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What is an action potential?
What is an action potential?
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What component of a neuron contains mechanisms that keep it alive?
What component of a neuron contains mechanisms that keep it alive?
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How does the firing rate of a neuron respond to increased light intensity?
How does the firing rate of a neuron respond to increased light intensity?
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What is the primary function of an axon in a neuron?
What is the primary function of an axon in a neuron?
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Which of the following best describes the synapse?
Which of the following best describes the synapse?
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What happens to the axon during an action potential?
What happens to the axon during an action potential?
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Study Notes
Cognitive Neuroscience
- Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of the relationship between the nervous system and cognition.
- Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system.
Building Blocks of the Nervous System
- Neurons are specialized cells that receive and transmit information within the nervous system.
- The brain contains approximately 100 billion neurons and over 100 trillion synapses.
- Each neuron has a cell body, an axon, and dendrites.
- The cell body contains mechanisms to maintain the cell's function.
- The axon is a tube that transmits electrical signals to other neurons.
- Dendrites are branches that extend from the cell body and receive information from other neurons.
How Neurons Communicate
- Neurons receive signals from the environment.
- An action potential (spike) is an electrical signal that travels down the axon.
- The action potential is a brief change in membrane potential.
- When the action potential reaches the axon terminal, neurotransmitters are released.
- Neurotransmitters cross the synaptic space and bind to receptors on the receiving dendrite.
- Neurotransmitters can either be excitatory or inhibitory depending on their effects on the post-synaptic neuron. Excitatory neurotransmitters increase the likelihood of an action potential, while inhibitory neurotransmitters decrease the likelihood.
- Examples of neurotransmitters include glutamate (excitatory), GABA (inhibitory), and dopamine.
How Neurons Process Information
- Not all signals received by a neuron lead to an action potential.
- The cell membrane processes the number and timing of received impulses.
- An action potential only occurs if a certain threshold level is reached.
- Excitation and inhibition interact to determine whether an action potential occurs.
Representation in the Brain
- Feature detectors are neurons that respond optimally to specific stimuli.
- Simple cells respond best to light bars of a particular orientation.
- Complex cells respond best to oriented bars of light with a specific length.
- Specificity coding represents a particular stimulus with one specific neuron.
- Distributed coding represents stimuli with a specific pattern of neuron firing across multiple neurons.
- Sparse coding uses a limited number of neurons to represent different stimuli.
Localization of Function
- Specific functions are performed by particular areas in the brain.
- Cognitive functions can be affected by damage to specific areas of the brain.
- The cerebral cortex is a 3-mm thick layer that covers the brain and is responsible for many cognitive functions.
- Subcortical regions also play a role in cognition, like the basal ganglia.
Method: Lesions
- Lesions are one way to study cognitive functions.
- Researchers experimentally lesion non-human animals or study cases with accidental human lesions.
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) can induce temporary lesions in humans.
Method: TMS
- TMS can be used to safely reproduce the effect of a temporary cortical lesion.
- TMS can also be used to temporarily add noise to neural activation.
- Sequence production is an example of a cognitive function that can be studied with TMS.
Method: Inactivation
- TMS is often restricted to cortical regions.
- Researchers use various inactivation methods for non-human animals.
- Muscimol is a GABA agonist, used to selectively inactivate brain regions with GABA receptors.
- The example shown regarding the basal ganglia and automatic sequence production was presented using this method.
Method: Brain Imaging
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET) measures changes in blood flow.
- fMRI measures blood flow changes using magnetic properties; no radioactive tracer is necessary.
- Subtraction techniques are used in PET and fMRI to identify areas active during a particular cognitive task.
- EEG measures electrical activity on the scalp.
- ERPs are calculated when EEG signals are time-locked and averaged over multiple trials.
Localization of Function: Subcortical areas
- Basal ganglia are involved in sequence processing and categorization.
- Hippocampus aids in the formation of memories.
- Amygdala handles emotions and emotional memories.
- Thalamus relays sensory information to the cortex.
Distributed Processing in the Brain
- Cognitive functions often involve many different areas of the brain working together.
Do brains make us lose our minds?
- Neuroscientific facts, while sometimes alluring to non-experts, don't necessarily improve explanations of psychological phenomena.
- Even good explanations can be made superficially more acceptable with neuroscientific embellishments, but bad explanations remain bad.
What about pictures of brains?
- Including brain images can influence evaluations of scientific reasoning, even though the images may not substantively change the quality of the reasoning.
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Description
Explore the fundamentals of cognitive neuroscience, focusing on the structure and function of neurons and how they communicate. Learn about the building blocks of the nervous system, including the roles of the cell body, axon, and dendrites. This quiz will help you understand the connections between nervous system structures and cognitive processes.
