PSYC 365 MIDTERM 1 QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS
Lesion - Answers - Abnormality or injury to any part of the brain
Neuropsychology - Answers - The study of functions and behaviors associated with
specific regions of the brain.
Use laboratory tasks to measure behavior and see what people can and cannot do
Why are lesion studies important? - Answers - They can reveal brain regions necessary
for healthy cognition. They allow us to infer causality that a certain part of the brain is
necessary for a certain behavior
Broca's area - Answers - speech production
Wernicke's area - Answers - language comprehension
What have we learned from studying aphasias? - Answers - Patients with brain damage
causing distinct types of aphasia showed us that each of these regions was necessary
for a specific aspect of language ability
Advantages of lesion studies - Answers - 1. Can demonstrate a region is necessary for
a particular function
Limitations of lesion studies - Answers - 1. Patients in short supply
2. Damage not really limited to one region
3. Damage to region itself or connections to other regions responsible to the deficit
(region or network?)
How does Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) work? - Answers - Uses an
electromagnetic coil/electrodes to ramp up or damp down neuron activity
- Can activate or deactivate specific regions of cortex
How does Electric Brain Stimulation (TES) work? - Answers - Induces weak electric
currents using rapidly changing magnetic field/direct electrical stimulation
Deficits in a cognitive function observed in a patient or group of patients with brain
damage to a network/region allow us to infer that the network region is _________ the
cognitive function. - Answers - necessary for
Lesion network mapping allows researchers to identify networks from individual
patients, each with a lesion in one of a set of ______________ regions. - Answers -
functionally linked
, In studies of lesions either found or made, we measure _________ to assess the
function of parts of ________ - Answers - behaviour, brain
A limitation to transcranial stimulation studies is - Answers - low spatial resolution
How does EEG work? - Answers - Electrodes on the scalp record electrical activity of
the brain.
What do EEG waves reflect? - Answers - Electrical output of columns of cortical
neurons reflecting synchronized activity.
EEG advantages - Answers - Not expensive
Not invasive
low spatial resolution
high temporal resolution
What are event-related potentials? - Answers - Averaged EEG signal following a
stimulus or response compared between groups and conditions
What is an ERP component? - Answers - A hill or valley that varies with experimental
manipulation. It is linked to specific cognitive processes.
What is a frequency domain analysis? - Answers - It decomposes EEG signal into
signals of different frequencies
What does EEG frequency analysis allow us to do? - Answers - It breaks down a
complex time series into a series of superimposed sinusoids with different frequencies.
You can break the EEG down into different frequencies to study how populations of
neurons in distant brain regions work together to allow cognition.
Synchrony as connectivity mechanism - Answers - Increased communication if they are
in step with each other
Decreased communication if they are out of step with each other.
MEG - Answers - uses magnetic detectors surrounding the head to detect very small
magnetic fluctuations in brain activity
MEG advantages - Answers - High temporal resolution, better spatial resolution than
EEG
MEG disadvantages - Answers - Very expensive, susceptible to environmental noise
ECoG - Answers - a form of intracranial EEG that records activity from grids of
electrodes
- Typically on cortical surface
- Can be implanted deeper
ANSWERS
Lesion - Answers - Abnormality or injury to any part of the brain
Neuropsychology - Answers - The study of functions and behaviors associated with
specific regions of the brain.
Use laboratory tasks to measure behavior and see what people can and cannot do
Why are lesion studies important? - Answers - They can reveal brain regions necessary
for healthy cognition. They allow us to infer causality that a certain part of the brain is
necessary for a certain behavior
Broca's area - Answers - speech production
Wernicke's area - Answers - language comprehension
What have we learned from studying aphasias? - Answers - Patients with brain damage
causing distinct types of aphasia showed us that each of these regions was necessary
for a specific aspect of language ability
Advantages of lesion studies - Answers - 1. Can demonstrate a region is necessary for
a particular function
Limitations of lesion studies - Answers - 1. Patients in short supply
2. Damage not really limited to one region
3. Damage to region itself or connections to other regions responsible to the deficit
(region or network?)
How does Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) work? - Answers - Uses an
electromagnetic coil/electrodes to ramp up or damp down neuron activity
- Can activate or deactivate specific regions of cortex
How does Electric Brain Stimulation (TES) work? - Answers - Induces weak electric
currents using rapidly changing magnetic field/direct electrical stimulation
Deficits in a cognitive function observed in a patient or group of patients with brain
damage to a network/region allow us to infer that the network region is _________ the
cognitive function. - Answers - necessary for
Lesion network mapping allows researchers to identify networks from individual
patients, each with a lesion in one of a set of ______________ regions. - Answers -
functionally linked
, In studies of lesions either found or made, we measure _________ to assess the
function of parts of ________ - Answers - behaviour, brain
A limitation to transcranial stimulation studies is - Answers - low spatial resolution
How does EEG work? - Answers - Electrodes on the scalp record electrical activity of
the brain.
What do EEG waves reflect? - Answers - Electrical output of columns of cortical
neurons reflecting synchronized activity.
EEG advantages - Answers - Not expensive
Not invasive
low spatial resolution
high temporal resolution
What are event-related potentials? - Answers - Averaged EEG signal following a
stimulus or response compared between groups and conditions
What is an ERP component? - Answers - A hill or valley that varies with experimental
manipulation. It is linked to specific cognitive processes.
What is a frequency domain analysis? - Answers - It decomposes EEG signal into
signals of different frequencies
What does EEG frequency analysis allow us to do? - Answers - It breaks down a
complex time series into a series of superimposed sinusoids with different frequencies.
You can break the EEG down into different frequencies to study how populations of
neurons in distant brain regions work together to allow cognition.
Synchrony as connectivity mechanism - Answers - Increased communication if they are
in step with each other
Decreased communication if they are out of step with each other.
MEG - Answers - uses magnetic detectors surrounding the head to detect very small
magnetic fluctuations in brain activity
MEG advantages - Answers - High temporal resolution, better spatial resolution than
EEG
MEG disadvantages - Answers - Very expensive, susceptible to environmental noise
ECoG - Answers - a form of intracranial EEG that records activity from grids of
electrodes
- Typically on cortical surface
- Can be implanted deeper
