Summary Cognitive Neuroscience
General concepts
Ipsilateral; structures/projections to the same side
Bilateral; structures/projections to both sides involved
Unilateral; structures/projection on one side involved
Contralateral; structures/projections to opposite side
Ventral; side to belly, in brain; bottom
Dorsal; side to back; in brain; top
Anterior; in brain front
Posterior; in brain back
Lateral; in brain to the side
Medial; in brain to the middle
Superior; (relative) above
Inferior; (relative) below
Rostral; towards front of the brain, top of spinal cord
Caudal; towards back of the brain, bottom of spinal cord
Sagittal; section or view from side
Coronal; section or view from front/back
Axial/horizontal/transverse; section or view from above/below
Week 1 – History and Methods – Chapter 1 & 3
History;
Willis; first anatomist to link specific brain damage to behavioural deficits
Cognition; process of knowing, neuroscience; study on how the nervous system is organized
and functions
Mind-body problem; monism and dualism
Phrenology by Gall to study the brain
Aggregate field theory by Flourens; whole brain participates in behaviour
Topographic organization of cerebral cortex by Jackson
Broca’s and Wernicke’s area in language impairments
Cytoarchitectonics; how cells differ between brain regions
Methods;
Temporal resolution; over time
Spatial resolution; localization
Invasiveness;
Extracellular recordings; measure action potentials
Extracellular fields; electrodes further away, measuring multiple neurons action potentials,
firing at the same time forms basis for EEG, sum of multiple neurons
>> All electronic fields are accompanied by magnetic fields effected by water and thus
localizable; electric + magnetic field = EEG
Single cell recording; measuring action potentials produced by individual neurons to research
how brain responds to sensory information
, RT; Radioactive tracers; radioactive forms of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon can be injected in
blood circulation to measure concentration over time
C(A)T-scan; computed axial tomography; providing rapid assessment in the acute phase
when a patient is admitted to the hospital, not a clear picture of brain structures, no
difference between grey and white matter. used for structural analysis of the brain
> Structural imaging; Uses X-rays, specific structures block more or less radiation,
gives a two-dimensional image. Clear image of bone and ventricles (use for schizophrenia,
haemorrhage or space-occupying lesion)
SPECT/PET-scan; single-photon emission computed tomography or positron emission
tomography; specific brain tissues can be stained by molecules with radioactive particles
which visualizes the blood flow and metabolism within the brain tissue, gives an indication of
the severity of brain damage. Best spatial resolution
MRI; magnetic resonance imaging; measures changes in blood flow, creating magnetic fields
during neural activity
EROS; event-related optical signals
> Structural imaging; clear distinction between grey and white matter, gives inside to
possible abnormalities. Use of magnetic field, more tesla, is clearer view. Three-dimensional
image
T1-weighted scan; entire volume of brain
T2-weighted image; white matter intensities are made visible
DTI; diffusion tensor imaging; utilizes the properties of water molecules that move freely in
all directions (isotropic diffusion) or limited movement (anisotropic diffusion), provides
information about the direction of the white matter
MRS; magnetic resonance spectroscopy; provides information about the concentration of
certain molecules
VBM; voxel-based morphometry; calculating the average density of grey and white matter
per voxel, provides image of thickness of the grey matter
EEG; electroencephalography; measures electric fields created by action potentials, best
temporal resolution, functional imaging technique, disrupted by skull, skin and surrounding
tissue. Three types of information;
- Event-related potential (ERP); average electrical signal from tissue closest to
electrode, information about course of time and strength of neural response
evoked response, triggered by stimulus or movement
- Fluctuation of EEG signal; result of brain waves, specific patterns are associated with
certain brain activity
- Locations of the areas that respond to a specific task determined by relative strength
on each electrode
fMRI; functional MRI; good spatial response, view of active brain area’s due to higher oxygen
levels
MEG; magneto-encephalography; measures magnetic fields generated by action potentials,
not disrupted by tissue or bone, more precise location of activity
Role of methods in cognitive neuroscience;
> Information processing depends on mental representations
> These mental representations undergo internal transformations
Internal transformations; (Sternberg)
- Encoding; identify visible target
General concepts
Ipsilateral; structures/projections to the same side
Bilateral; structures/projections to both sides involved
Unilateral; structures/projection on one side involved
Contralateral; structures/projections to opposite side
Ventral; side to belly, in brain; bottom
Dorsal; side to back; in brain; top
Anterior; in brain front
Posterior; in brain back
Lateral; in brain to the side
Medial; in brain to the middle
Superior; (relative) above
Inferior; (relative) below
Rostral; towards front of the brain, top of spinal cord
Caudal; towards back of the brain, bottom of spinal cord
Sagittal; section or view from side
Coronal; section or view from front/back
Axial/horizontal/transverse; section or view from above/below
Week 1 – History and Methods – Chapter 1 & 3
History;
Willis; first anatomist to link specific brain damage to behavioural deficits
Cognition; process of knowing, neuroscience; study on how the nervous system is organized
and functions
Mind-body problem; monism and dualism
Phrenology by Gall to study the brain
Aggregate field theory by Flourens; whole brain participates in behaviour
Topographic organization of cerebral cortex by Jackson
Broca’s and Wernicke’s area in language impairments
Cytoarchitectonics; how cells differ between brain regions
Methods;
Temporal resolution; over time
Spatial resolution; localization
Invasiveness;
Extracellular recordings; measure action potentials
Extracellular fields; electrodes further away, measuring multiple neurons action potentials,
firing at the same time forms basis for EEG, sum of multiple neurons
>> All electronic fields are accompanied by magnetic fields effected by water and thus
localizable; electric + magnetic field = EEG
Single cell recording; measuring action potentials produced by individual neurons to research
how brain responds to sensory information
, RT; Radioactive tracers; radioactive forms of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon can be injected in
blood circulation to measure concentration over time
C(A)T-scan; computed axial tomography; providing rapid assessment in the acute phase
when a patient is admitted to the hospital, not a clear picture of brain structures, no
difference between grey and white matter. used for structural analysis of the brain
> Structural imaging; Uses X-rays, specific structures block more or less radiation,
gives a two-dimensional image. Clear image of bone and ventricles (use for schizophrenia,
haemorrhage or space-occupying lesion)
SPECT/PET-scan; single-photon emission computed tomography or positron emission
tomography; specific brain tissues can be stained by molecules with radioactive particles
which visualizes the blood flow and metabolism within the brain tissue, gives an indication of
the severity of brain damage. Best spatial resolution
MRI; magnetic resonance imaging; measures changes in blood flow, creating magnetic fields
during neural activity
EROS; event-related optical signals
> Structural imaging; clear distinction between grey and white matter, gives inside to
possible abnormalities. Use of magnetic field, more tesla, is clearer view. Three-dimensional
image
T1-weighted scan; entire volume of brain
T2-weighted image; white matter intensities are made visible
DTI; diffusion tensor imaging; utilizes the properties of water molecules that move freely in
all directions (isotropic diffusion) or limited movement (anisotropic diffusion), provides
information about the direction of the white matter
MRS; magnetic resonance spectroscopy; provides information about the concentration of
certain molecules
VBM; voxel-based morphometry; calculating the average density of grey and white matter
per voxel, provides image of thickness of the grey matter
EEG; electroencephalography; measures electric fields created by action potentials, best
temporal resolution, functional imaging technique, disrupted by skull, skin and surrounding
tissue. Three types of information;
- Event-related potential (ERP); average electrical signal from tissue closest to
electrode, information about course of time and strength of neural response
evoked response, triggered by stimulus or movement
- Fluctuation of EEG signal; result of brain waves, specific patterns are associated with
certain brain activity
- Locations of the areas that respond to a specific task determined by relative strength
on each electrode
fMRI; functional MRI; good spatial response, view of active brain area’s due to higher oxygen
levels
MEG; magneto-encephalography; measures magnetic fields generated by action potentials,
not disrupted by tissue or bone, more precise location of activity
Role of methods in cognitive neuroscience;
> Information processing depends on mental representations
> These mental representations undergo internal transformations
Internal transformations; (Sternberg)
- Encoding; identify visible target
