Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J.

Sternberg
Chapter 3

Cognitive
Neuroscience
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Some Questions of Interest

• What are the fundamental
structures and processes of the
human brain?
• How do researchers study the
major structures and processes of
the brain?
• What have researchers found as a
result of studying the brain?
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Anatomy of the Brain

 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Anatomy of the Brain

• Forebrain
– Cerebral cortex
– Basal ganglia
• Motor movement
– Limbic system
– Thalamus
– Hypothalamus
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Anatomy of the Limbic System

• Septum
– Involved in anger and fear
• Amygdala
– Involved in anger, aggression, and
fear
• Hippocampus
– Important in formation of memories
– Korsakoff’s syndrome
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Anatomy of the Limbic System

• Thalamus
– Relays sensory information to the
cerebral cortex
– Helps to control sleep and waking
• Hypothalamus
– Regulates species-survival
behaviors, emotions, and reaction
to stress; also plays a role in sleep
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Midbrain
• Helps to control eye movement and
coordination
• Reticular activating system
– Controls respiration, cardiovascular
function, digestion, alertness, and
sleep
• Brain stem
– Vital in basic attention, arousal, and
consciousness
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Hindbrain
• Medulla Oblongata
– Breathing, swallowing, and digestion
• Pons
– Relay station
• Cerebellum
– Motor coordination, posture, and
maintaining balance
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Cerebral Cortex
• Contralaterality
– Right side of brain controls left side of body
– Left side of brain controls right side of body
• Corpus Callosum
– Neural fibers connecting left and right lobes
– Allows communication between right and
left sides of the brain
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Cerebral Cortex
• Localization of function
– Specific mental processes are
correlated with discrete regions of the
brain
• Hemispheric specialization
– Each lobe of the brain has specialized
functions
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Specialization of Left Hemisphere

• Wernicke’s area
– Speaks fluently but
nonsensically
– Incoherent; lexical and
grammatical errors
• Broca’s area
– Can understand everything
said
– But can only respond in
monosyllabic words
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Split-Brain Studies
• Sperry (1960-1998)
– First to study patients with a split
corpus callosum
– Two lobes function independently
• Gazzaniga (1980s-current)
– Two lobes function complementarily
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Split-Brain Methodology
• Corpus callosum
severed
• Techniques
used test each
half-brain
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Split-Brain Demonstration

What would a split-brain patient say they saw?

What would a split-brain patient point to with their left
hand?
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex

• Frontal lobe • Occipital lobe
• Parietal lobe • Temporal lobe
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex

• Frontal
– Reasoning and planning
• Parietal
– Touch, temperature, pain, and pressure
• Temporal
– Auditory and perceptual processing
• Occipital
– Visual processing
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Structure of a Neuron
• Soma • Axon
• Dendrites • Terminal buttons
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Neurotransmitters
• Chemical messengers for
transmission of information across
synapses to dendrites
– Acetylcholine = associated with
Alzheimer’s disease
– Dopamine = associated with
schizophrenia and Parkinson’s
disease
– Serotonin = associated with anorexia
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Viewing Structures and

Functions of the Brain
• Postmortem studies
• Studying live, non-human animals
• Studying live humans
– Electrical recordings
– Static imaging techniques
– Metabolic imaging
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Postmortem Studies
• Identify disorder and then examine
brain after death
– Young, Holcomb, Yazdani, Hicks, &
German (2004)
• Found depression is associated with a
greater number of nerve cells in the thalamus
being devoted to emotional regulation
• Supported idea that structural abnormality
may lead to depression
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Animal Studies
• Single-cell recordings
– Monitor activity of a single neuron
• Selective lesioning
– Surgically removing or damaging part of
the brain
• Genetic knockout procedures
– Create animals that lack certain kinds of
cells or receptors in the brain
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Example: Single-Cell Recording

• Disterhoft & Matthew (2003)
– Young versus old rabbits compared in learning
of eye-blink conditioning
– Hippocampal pyramidal neurons were
monitored
– Typically, aging animals cannot learn the task
– Metrifonate, galanthamine, and CI-1017
injected into the aging rabbits
– This led aged rabbits to learn as quickly as
young controls
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Human Studies
• Electrical recordings
• Event-related potential (ERP)
– Record of a small change in the brain’s
electrical activity in response to a stimulating
event
– EEG waves are averaged over many trials to
reveal ERPs
– Dehaene-Lambertz et al. (2004)
• Examined the language abilities of infants using
EEG
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Human Studies
• Static imaging
techniques
– Angiogram
CT scan;
MRI scan
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Human Studies
• Metabolic imaging
– PET
– fMRI
– TMS
– MEG
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Metabolic Imaging
• Positron emission tomography (PET)
– Radioactive material is injected or inhaled
– Participant is then scanned to produce an
image of the brain’s activity
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Metabolic Imaging
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI)
– Takes a series of images of the brain in
quick succession and then statistically
analyzes the images for differences
– Brain areas with more blood flow have
been shown to have better visibility on MRI
images
– Better visibility is thought to be correlated
with brain activation
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Metabolic Imaging
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation
(TMS)
– Temporarily disrupt functioning of a particular brain area
– An electrical current passes through a coil on person’s
head, generating a magnetic field
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Metabolic Imaging
• Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
– Measures activity of the brain from
outside the head by picking up magnetic
fields emitted by changes in brain activity
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Brain Disorders
• Stroke
• Brain tumor
• Head injuries
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Brain Disorders
• Stroke
– Flow of blood to brain is disrupted
– Damage depends on severity and
location
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Brain Disorders
• Brain tumors
– Benign versus malignant
– Detected by CAT scan or MRIs
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Brain Disorders
• Head injuries
– Closed head versus open head
injuries
– Loss of consciousness is a primary
symptom
 Cognition, Sixth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg
Chapter 3

Intelligence and Neuroscience

• Intelligence and brain size
• Intelligence and neurons
• Intelligence and brain metabolism
• Biological bases of intelligence
testing
• The P-FIT theory of intelligence