PSY3018 Test Study Guide A+ Graded
What is neuropsychology - ANSWER The study of functions and behaviours associated
with specific regions of the brain.
What is the logic of using lesions to study brain functions - ANSWER A function 'x' is
carried out by a large network of cortical and subcortical tissue that operate together.
Lesions can be uesd to support or falsify the claim that an area is associated with the
function 'x' unless of course, the function can go through a different neural system
(diagram)
Lesion studies measure brain disruption, as opposed to fMRI which measured brain
activation only.
What are the limitations of single lesion studies? - ANSWER 1)As brains differ in brain
shape, size and structure, information based on lesion studies does not conclusively
implicate an area.
2) Spontaneous Recovery after brain damage may limit findings.
3) we are not sure what the brain looked like pre-accident
4) time-course of impairment can make the brain look worse (atrophy etc.)
What are the 3 types group lesions studies - ANSWER 1) Grouping by syndrome is useful
for investigating neural correlates, but not for developing cognitive theory (why?)
2) Behaviourl defined groups: can maybe identify regions implicated for behaviour
(Issue is that you have to make a subjective cut-off for this)
3) Voxel-based lesion symptom mapping: Combines the two, (Voxel-based: at each
spatial 'point' in a standard brain. Lesion-symptom: the behavioural deficit)
What are the limitations of using neuroimaging for locating lesions - ANSWER Damasio
1989: some tumours can integrate with other parts, or cause swelling, and thus make
distinguishing damaged parts very difficult using neuroimaging techniques.
Why might the inference that a lesion in an area causes a deficit be considered
neuphrenology - ANSWER Damasio 1989: When finding that Function (F) is disripted
following a lesion to area (X), making conclusions that function F is located in area X or
that the purpose of region X is to implement F are tanatmount to endorsing a
neophrenological view of the brain and ignore many other possibilities:
1) Is that the only function of X?
2) do other areas also contribute to F?
,Rather we should conclude that region X is critical for performing some aspect of
function F....
What is the logic of using neuro-imaging to study brain function - ANSWER It's a far
quicker, non-invasive method of investigation. You can create false-lesions using TMS or
look at white-matter integrity DTI (something we greatly struggle with in lesion studies).
What are the limitations of neuro-imaging studies that look at only healthy individuals?
(2) - ANSWER 1) neuro-imaging measures only activation (such as measured by fMRI
changes in blood flow) and does not implicate the area, as it might just be a relay station
etc. It is correlational data.
2) The human brain has strong Homotopic Neural Connections (bilateral activation
during tasks because of the inter-connected nature of our brains, i.e language:
language activates both left and right, but only left-damage results in impairment)
Paper for Logic of Case Studies - ANSWER Rorden and Karnath 2004
Rorden and Karnath 2004 - ANSWER Neuroimaging and Lesion studies work best
together.
Farah and Feinburg Findings: - ANSWER Neuroimaging offers better spatial resolution
than a few patients with lesions. Allows us to look at normal brains. Allows us to look at
neuroimaging damage without years of atophy/regeneration.
BUT
It cannot settle the "mechanism" argument. And cannot understand causal chain.
Cannot disentangle correlation from causation.
Navigating the Brain (3 axes) - ANSWER Superior/Inferior
Posterior/anterior
Lateral/Medial/Lateral
Two types of neuroimaging - ANSWER Radiological (right is left)
Neurological (left is left)
What are the major-grey-matter cortical regions - ANSWER Gryi (peaks) and Sulci
(troughs)
What 3 types of white-matter fibre tracts are there, and what is their role. - ANSWER
Generally, they connect different areas of the brain (and body) together.
1) association tracts: within hemisphere cortical connections
2) Commisure: between hemisphere cortical connections
3) Projection tracts: cortical to subcortical (brain to non-brain)
, Scholz 2009 - ANSWER Juggling improves white-matter connections. Strenghthening
commisure white-matter tracts, as the act of juggling requires both sides of your brain.
At 6 months, there was a 6% increase in integrity of white matter tracts.
Effect was still present after 3 months.( was this long enough?)
General functions of parietal lobe - ANSWER perception of stimuli related to touch,
pressure, temperature, pain (sensorimotor)
General functions of occipital lobe - ANSWER many aspects of vision
General function of temporal lobe - ANSWER Auditory perception, language perception;
plays a key role in the formation of long-term memories (via the hippocampus)
General function of the frontal lobe - ANSWER reasoning, planning, part of speech and
movement, emotions, problem solving
What is the function of a brain space map - ANSWER A brain space map is designed so
that case studies are able to be distorted so as to fit the model for all brains.
What are the two brain space maps - ANSWER Talairach (one brain chosen as the
standard)
Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) Space: superimposed 152 brains.
Haxby et al 2000 - ANSWER The areas necessary for face processing are split by
invariant and changeable aspects of faces.
Invariant aspects underlies recognition of faces
Changeable (Variant_ aspects (like eye-gaze/expression) facilitate social
communicatino
Invariant aspects are located in the fusiform gyrus
Changeable aspects are in the superior temporal sulcus
Ffytche and Catani 2005 - ANSWER Campbell should be recognised as he attemped to
record myeloarchitecture (white-matter). He was the first to advocate not only
What is neuropsychology - ANSWER The study of functions and behaviours associated
with specific regions of the brain.
What is the logic of using lesions to study brain functions - ANSWER A function 'x' is
carried out by a large network of cortical and subcortical tissue that operate together.
Lesions can be uesd to support or falsify the claim that an area is associated with the
function 'x' unless of course, the function can go through a different neural system
(diagram)
Lesion studies measure brain disruption, as opposed to fMRI which measured brain
activation only.
What are the limitations of single lesion studies? - ANSWER 1)As brains differ in brain
shape, size and structure, information based on lesion studies does not conclusively
implicate an area.
2) Spontaneous Recovery after brain damage may limit findings.
3) we are not sure what the brain looked like pre-accident
4) time-course of impairment can make the brain look worse (atrophy etc.)
What are the 3 types group lesions studies - ANSWER 1) Grouping by syndrome is useful
for investigating neural correlates, but not for developing cognitive theory (why?)
2) Behaviourl defined groups: can maybe identify regions implicated for behaviour
(Issue is that you have to make a subjective cut-off for this)
3) Voxel-based lesion symptom mapping: Combines the two, (Voxel-based: at each
spatial 'point' in a standard brain. Lesion-symptom: the behavioural deficit)
What are the limitations of using neuroimaging for locating lesions - ANSWER Damasio
1989: some tumours can integrate with other parts, or cause swelling, and thus make
distinguishing damaged parts very difficult using neuroimaging techniques.
Why might the inference that a lesion in an area causes a deficit be considered
neuphrenology - ANSWER Damasio 1989: When finding that Function (F) is disripted
following a lesion to area (X), making conclusions that function F is located in area X or
that the purpose of region X is to implement F are tanatmount to endorsing a
neophrenological view of the brain and ignore many other possibilities:
1) Is that the only function of X?
2) do other areas also contribute to F?
,Rather we should conclude that region X is critical for performing some aspect of
function F....
What is the logic of using neuro-imaging to study brain function - ANSWER It's a far
quicker, non-invasive method of investigation. You can create false-lesions using TMS or
look at white-matter integrity DTI (something we greatly struggle with in lesion studies).
What are the limitations of neuro-imaging studies that look at only healthy individuals?
(2) - ANSWER 1) neuro-imaging measures only activation (such as measured by fMRI
changes in blood flow) and does not implicate the area, as it might just be a relay station
etc. It is correlational data.
2) The human brain has strong Homotopic Neural Connections (bilateral activation
during tasks because of the inter-connected nature of our brains, i.e language:
language activates both left and right, but only left-damage results in impairment)
Paper for Logic of Case Studies - ANSWER Rorden and Karnath 2004
Rorden and Karnath 2004 - ANSWER Neuroimaging and Lesion studies work best
together.
Farah and Feinburg Findings: - ANSWER Neuroimaging offers better spatial resolution
than a few patients with lesions. Allows us to look at normal brains. Allows us to look at
neuroimaging damage without years of atophy/regeneration.
BUT
It cannot settle the "mechanism" argument. And cannot understand causal chain.
Cannot disentangle correlation from causation.
Navigating the Brain (3 axes) - ANSWER Superior/Inferior
Posterior/anterior
Lateral/Medial/Lateral
Two types of neuroimaging - ANSWER Radiological (right is left)
Neurological (left is left)
What are the major-grey-matter cortical regions - ANSWER Gryi (peaks) and Sulci
(troughs)
What 3 types of white-matter fibre tracts are there, and what is their role. - ANSWER
Generally, they connect different areas of the brain (and body) together.
1) association tracts: within hemisphere cortical connections
2) Commisure: between hemisphere cortical connections
3) Projection tracts: cortical to subcortical (brain to non-brain)
, Scholz 2009 - ANSWER Juggling improves white-matter connections. Strenghthening
commisure white-matter tracts, as the act of juggling requires both sides of your brain.
At 6 months, there was a 6% increase in integrity of white matter tracts.
Effect was still present after 3 months.( was this long enough?)
General functions of parietal lobe - ANSWER perception of stimuli related to touch,
pressure, temperature, pain (sensorimotor)
General functions of occipital lobe - ANSWER many aspects of vision
General function of temporal lobe - ANSWER Auditory perception, language perception;
plays a key role in the formation of long-term memories (via the hippocampus)
General function of the frontal lobe - ANSWER reasoning, planning, part of speech and
movement, emotions, problem solving
What is the function of a brain space map - ANSWER A brain space map is designed so
that case studies are able to be distorted so as to fit the model for all brains.
What are the two brain space maps - ANSWER Talairach (one brain chosen as the
standard)
Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) Space: superimposed 152 brains.
Haxby et al 2000 - ANSWER The areas necessary for face processing are split by
invariant and changeable aspects of faces.
Invariant aspects underlies recognition of faces
Changeable (Variant_ aspects (like eye-gaze/expression) facilitate social
communicatino
Invariant aspects are located in the fusiform gyrus
Changeable aspects are in the superior temporal sulcus
Ffytche and Catani 2005 - ANSWER Campbell should be recognised as he attemped to
record myeloarchitecture (white-matter). He was the first to advocate not only
