COGNITIVE
NEUROSCIENCE
(PSY 006)
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
• the field of study linking the brain and
other aspects of nervous system to
cognitive processing and ultimately, to
behavior
BRAIN
Central processing unit for
everything we do
BRAIN
Controls our thoughts, emotions
and motivations
LOCALIZATION OF FUNCTION
- refers to the specific areas of the
brain that control specific skills or
behaviors.
NERVOUS SYSTEM
- the basis for our ability to perceive, adapt to, and interact with
the world around us.
- through this system, we receive, process, and then respond to
information from the environment
3 MAJOR REGIONS OF
THE BRAIN:
FOREBRAIN
• Located toward the top and front of the brain
• Compromises of cerebral cortex, basal ganglia,
the limbic system, thalamus, and the
hypothalamus
• BASAL GANGLIA
- collections of neurons crucial to motor function
• CEREBRAL CORTEX
- plays a vital role in our thinking and other mental processes.
• LIMBIC SYSTEM
- emotion, motivation, memory and learning
- suppress instinctive responses (adapt our behavior)
THE LIMBIC SYSTEM
• SEPTUM & AMYGDALA
—involved in anger, aggression, fear
• HIPPOCAMPUS
—memory formation
—damage of it is unable to form new memories (Korsakoff’s
Syndrome)
—Excessive use of alcohol, dietary deficiencies and eating disorders
• THALAMUS
—Incoming sensory information through groups of neurons
—Helps in control sleep and waking
• HYPOTHALAMUS
—Behavior related to species survival
—Fighting, fleeing and mating
—Active regulating emotions and reactions to stress
—Small size
MIDBRAIN
• Helps to control eye movement and coordination
• Reticular activating system
— Controls respiration, cardiovascular function,
digestion, alertness, and sleep
• Brain stem
—Connects the forebrain to the spinal cord
HINDBRAIN
• MEDULLA OBLONGATA
— Breathing, swallowing, and digestion
• PONS
—Relay station
—Bridge of neural fibers
• CEREBELLUM
— Motor coordination, posture, and
maintaining balance
—Little brain
CEREBRAL CORTEX
• Contralateral – opposite
• Ipsilateral – same
• Corpus Callosum
—Neural fibers connecting left and right lobes
— Allows communication between right and left side
HEMISPHERIC SPECIALIZATION
• How did psychologists find out that the two
hemispheres have different responsibilities?
• The study of hemispheric specialization in the
human brain can be traced
MARC DAX
• Doctor in France
• 1836
• He treated more than 40 patients suffering
from “Aphasia”
– loss of speech – due to brain damage
• In studying his patient’s brains after death
• In every case there had been damage to the
LEFT HEMISPHERE
PAUL BROCA
• Autopsy revealed
• Aphasic Stroke patient had lesion in the left
cerebral hemisphere
• 1864
• Convinced that left is critical in speech
• Specific part of the brain that Broca identified,
now called Broca’s area
LOBES OF THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES
The cerebral is divided into two
hemispheres which contain the…
> OCCIPITAL LOBE: for vision
> PARIETAL LOBE: handles information
from the senses
> TEMPORAL LOBE: hearing, memory,
emotion, speaking
> FRONTAL LOBE: organization,
planning, creative thinking
VIDEOS
NEURONS
Messages travel through these cells to
and from the brain.
> Cell Body: contains the nucleus and
produces energy
> Dendrites:receives impulses from
other neurons
> Axon: carries impulses away
from the body toward the
dendrites of the next neuron
NEURONS
> Myelin sheath: axons and speeds
transmissions of impulses
> Synapse: is the space between the
nerve cells
> Neurotransmitters: chemical
messenger released by the neurons
Examples-
• Dopamine: motivation/positive stress
• Glutamate: learning/memory
• Serotonin: regulates sleep, mood
BRAIN DISORDERS:
• Can impair cognitive functioning
• To help ease patient symptoms and to gain
new insight into how the brain works
• Scientists often write detailed notes about the
condition of a patient and analyze the brain
which causes a symptoms
STROKE
• Vascular disorder
: brain disorder that caused by a stroke
• Occur when the flow of blood to the brain
undergoes a sudden disruption
• Marked loss of cognitive functioning
• nature of the loss is depends on the affected area of the
brain that is affected by the stroke
• Paralysis, pain, numbness, loss of speech, loss of
language comprehension, loss of movement in body
• ISCHEMIC STROKE
- buildup of fatty tissue occurs in blood vessels
- this tissue breaks offs and gets lodged in arteries
** can be treated by clot-busting drugs
• HEMORRHAGIC STROKE
- blood vessels in the brain suddenly breaks.
- blood then spills into surrounding tissue
- as the blood spills over, brain cells in the affected
areas begin to die.
- lack of oxygen and nutrients
BRAIN TUMORS
• also called as neoplasms
• Primary Brain Tumors
- tumors start in the brain
- common childhood
• Secondary Brain Tumors
- tumors start somewhere in the body, such as in the lungs
- benign or malignant
HEAD INJURIES
• Car accidents, contact with a hard object, bullet
wound
• CLOSED-HEAD INJURES
- skull remains intact but there is a damage to the brain
• OPEN-HEAD INJURES
- skull does not remain intact but rather a penetrated, ex. By bullet
NEXT MEETING..
PRELIM EXAM : January 14, 2024
Chapter 1 & 2 only!
