(Cognitive) Neuroscience

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21st Century = Cognitive Neuroscience

Late 1970s =Cognitive psychology + neuroscience The study of the relationships between neuroscience and cognitive psychology

Study the brain, learn about the mind

New ways to study Cognitive Psychology Human brain Next frontier The brain is small but vast and complicated Basic brain geography already known Now map out specific regions and functions and relate them to cognitive processes
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Cognitive Neuroscience

These two disciplines help each other:

Cognitive psychologists can find physical evidence for their theoretical structures of the mind.
Neuroscientists can relate their findings to comprehensive models of cognition.

Correlate brain pathology and behavior. Build models of the mind that include neurological functions. Simulate human cognition with computer models of neurological functioning. Imaging techniques reveal structure and process.

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Development of Neuroscience

Early 19th (cont.)

Mid

Late

1920

Medical investigations of injured soldiers leads to lesion approach

improvements in microscopes

neurons & glia discovered

modern view

Geological Analogy Franz Joseph Gall develops the pseudoScience of phrenology

Augustus von Waller discovered chemical way of staining nerves

Gamillo Golgi Santiago y Cajal & brain composition

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Development of Neuroscience

Late 1800s-1900s= as the scientific study of psychology grows, so too does the scientific study of the brain and nervous system

Medical investigations of injured soldiers connected behavioral problems with damaged parts of brain this lesion approach was applied to animals - cause damage and study behavioral consequences As geologists studied the layers of the Earth, neuroscientists studied the layers of the brain the deeper layers thought to be more primitive the upper layers thought to be more for complex thought and newer evolutionarily Phrenology (Franz Joseph Gall) pseudoscience which studied the bumps on the skull to assess personality (was empirically wrong) different characteristics were localized in different places in brain (important-- led to animal/people stimulation of different brain areas)
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Development of Neuroscience

With advances in staining and microscopic methods discovered two main classes of brain cells:

Neurons- nerve cells of the brain neuroglia (or glia) cells that act as glue holding it all together

Important theories of brain make-up developed

Camillo Golgi:

brain is composed of large multinucleated cells forming a complex net (syncytium) brain is composed of nerve cells linked together by long extensions

Santiago Ramn y Cajal Cajal was right!

Modern chemical transmission and biological electricity theory originated with the work of Sir Henry Dale & Otto Loewi:

Muscles activated and heartbeat and other pertinent organs regulated by chemical signals arising in the nerves And that bio-electricity is an essential process in the spread of excitability within cells activating chemical messages when it reaches the junction between neurons

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Mind-Body Issues

Physical versus mental world

Body

Operates in the physical world Includes physical objects (including brain) and laws that govern them
Operates in the psychological World Comprises the processes carried out by the brain-- includes cognition (thinking, memory, perceiving, judging, emotions, creativity, etc.)and the laws (often harder to detect) that govern them

Mind

Historically, behavior was what was only publicly observable (behaviorism) Historically, mind was something different from the brain - was more abstract - possibly even a soul -- dualistic belief With technological advances, brain activity is now publicly observable behavior Dichotomy (split) of mind-body dualists

Only real world is the mind and the physical world is an illusion Only real world is the physical world and the mind is ultimately only a function of the brain
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Mind-Body Issues

Contemporary view:

Everything psychological is simultaneously neurological All cognition is the result of neurological activity

(the mind is what the brain does - the mind is a result of the overall activity of the brain)

Based on cognition, all behavior is predicated on neural activity

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Central Nervous System

Central Nervous System (CNS): All parts of nervous system that lie within the bones of the skull & spine Brain = a complex organ specialized to carry out major acts of living Centerpiece of the CNS Spinal Cord = long tubular column of neural tissue surrounded by a ring of bone running from base of skull to lower back Information Superhighway

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Cells of the Nervous System

2 Main types of cells make up the Nervous System:

Neurons

Neural Networks = Clusters of interconnected

neurons that form & strengthen from experience Glial cells (Glia or Neuroglia) Means Glue Provide structural support, nutrients, insulation & help with waste removal

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Neurons

Neurons work in circuits linked together

convergently divergently

linking sites are called synapses chemical neurotransmitters carry messages across synaptic gap called synaptic transmission
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Characteristics Unique to Neurons

Dendrite - protrude from cell body (soma) - receives information from other neurons Soma manufacture proteins, axons store them in synaptic vesicles - microtubules provide transportation for the proteins and other substances Axon - main protruding element - sends information to other neurons - sometimes branching widely (called collateral axons) or looping back to near original axon (called recurrent collaterals) Axon Terminals: branched, knob-like tips at the end of an axon (buttons) Myelin sheaths- shinny white layer of fatty cells on the axon that provides insulation and helps speed electrical impulses
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The Neuron at Rest

Inside of the neuron is Negatively polarized - has a negative electrical potential relative to outside of plasma membrane (resting potential) caused by the differential concentration on negatively charged proteins in cell So there is strong force pulling positively charged ions into cell -but cant get in because of semipermeability (selective access) of the plasma membrane so negative charge maintained membrane has selective channels (openings) which are usually closed and will only open when get signal to do so - gated for specific substance channels for potassium, sodium, etc.

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The Nerve Impulse

Neuron becomes slightly positive from receiving certain chemicals at synapse Due to this slight change in potential, sodium (and sometimes calcium) gates open allowing those ions to rush in Inside of axon becomes positively charged briefly, causing the next set of channels to open, etc. (called action potential or depolarization) The nerve impulse thus moves along the length of the axon
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The Nerve Impulse

Action potential lasts 1/1000 of a second Is a simultaneous outflow of potassium ions and closing of sodium and calcium channels ion pumps continuously pump out sodium
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The Nerve Impulse

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How Neurons Communicate

Through synaptic neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) which flow across synapse Presynaptic neuron - sending neuron Postsynaptic neuron - receiving neuron neurotransmitters released from synaptic vesicles by presynaptic neuron neurotransmitters fit into receptor sites on postsynaptic neuron like a key in a lock to open gated channels Excess neurotransmitter removed through enzymatic degradation (killer enzymes released from postsynaptic neuron) or reuptake (re-absorption and re-packaging of presynaptic neuron)
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How Neurons Communicate

Autoreceptors on presynaptic neuron monitor and help regulate amount of neurotransmitter in synapse Generally two types of synaptic messages

Excitatory Inhibitory

Postsynaptic neuron fires when reaches a neural threshold potential - determined by amount of neurotransmitter released impulses can sum across time (1 fires many times) and space (many diff. axons at once)

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Glia

Glia

astrocyte

clean up excess neurotransmitter provide support & nutrients provides cellular insulation (myelin) which increases speed of impulse called Schwann cell in PNS
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oligodendrocyte

Organization of the Brain

Phrenology Bumps = Character, personality, etc. Pseudoscience Produced the concept of Localization

A function (motor activity, language processing, sensing, etc. are each associated with a specific brain area)

Flourens Aggregate Field Theory Major sensory and motor functions not a matter of localizations in specific regions but also distributed in other parts of the brain (holistic view cognitive processes distributed throughout) Compromise View (current) some processes localized to specific regions or group of close regions in the brain (motor responses, sensory terminals, vision and some language processing) Higher-order cognitive functions such as memory, perception, thinking and problem solving are divided into sub-functions distributed throughout the brain

ANATOMICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE BRAIN IS LARGELY HIERARCHICAL OPERATIONAL ORGANIZATION IS OFTEN NOT HIERARCHICAL ~widely spread brain parts may form alliances to carry out specific functions.
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Anatomy of the Brain

Major sensory relay Internal regulation Master glad endocrine system Regulates fear/aggression Important for memory formation Important for movement

Relay- cortex & cerebellum Relay- sleep/arousal Regulates heartbeat/breathing

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Anatomy of the Brain: Cortex

Cerebral Cortex: brains most outermost layer Most recent evolutionarily Credited with highest intellectual functions: thinking, planning, problem solving inch thick, densely packed neurons Ridges (gyri) and grooves (sulci) with deep and prominent sulci (fissures) provides large surface area

Cortex

is divided into 4 sections

(lobes) based on location:

Frontal lobe (motor and executive functions) Temporal lobe (audition, speech, emotion) Parietal Lobe (sensory) Occipital Lobe (vision)
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Cortex: Areas of Localization

Localization: Motor Cortex:
Sends impulses to voluntary muscles Located in back Frontal Lobe

Somatosensory Cortex:
Receives sensory information Located in front Parietal lobe
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Cortex: Areas of Localization

Localization: Visual Cortex: primary processing area for vision Auditory Cortex: primary processing are for hearing

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Cortex: Areas of Localization

Localization: Brocas area: directs the muscle movements in speech
production; damage to which results in Brocas aphasia (difficulties producing sounds of speech)

Wernickes Area:
involved in the comprehension of language; damage to which results in Wernickes aphasia (difficulties comprehending language - speech appears quite normal

Arcuate Fasciculus:
connects Wernickes and Brocas areas
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Processing of the Cortex

Yet for actual language processing, the brain operates as an integrated system!

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Cortex: Association Areas

Distributed in the tradition of Flourens:

Large areas of uncommitted cortex in each lobe of cerebral cortex

integrates information from many parts of brain highly interconnected with one another Account for about 75% of the cortex
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Cortex: Association Areas

Parietal lobe association cortex integrates somatosensory information with sight & sound Limbic association cortex emotional tone and memory Prefrontal lobe association cortex working memory, planning, use of cognitive strategies, cognitive flexibility, decision-making develops slowly across time frontal, temporal & occipital lobes work together to produce language in humans

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Cortex: Local vs. Distributed

Lashleys theory of Mass Action: Learning is not tied to specific neurons Memories are distributed throughout the Cortex Brain operated holistically rather than compartmentally Contemporary View: Many mental functions seem localized but further processing seems to take place in different sites Many higher-order mental functions (thinking, learning, memory) involve several cortex areas neural processing is redundant distributed throughout the brain and processing in parallel at many locations Damage to the brain does not always lead to reduction of cognitive performance (redundancy and plasticity)

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Cortex: Local vs. Distributed

Cells of cortex are arranged in columns made up of many minicolumns containing: neurons receiving subcortical input neurons receiving input from other areas of cortex (reentrant information) Vernon Mountcastle: columnar arrangement is a distributed system information flow follows many different pathways whose dominance at any given time is dynamic can handle both incoming information and internal (reentrant) information simultaneously Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2005

The Cerebral Hemispheres

2 hemispheres (right/left) connected by bundles of neurons called commissures

corpus callosum largest commissure allows cross-talk severed to control for severe epilepsy

bisected brain

for sensing & moving

one hemisphere controls opposite side of body

= Countralaterality
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Hemispheric Specialization

left hemisphere (generally)

language & speech (Broca & Wernicke) analytical and sequential

Left hemisphere controls speech and language in 95% of right handers and 70% of left handers

right hemisphere (generally)

visual and spatial processing processes information simultaneously as a whole Face recognition
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Not exclusive! opposite hemisphere also processes

Neurophysiological Sensing Techniques

Electroencephalogram (EEG)
An instrument used to measure electrical activity in the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp Shows how long processing takes but not structures, anatomy or functional regions of the brain Oldest technique (Hans Berger 1920s)
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Neurophysiological Sensing Techniques

Computed Axial Tomography (CT)

Rotational X-ray that uses a computer to produce detailed crosssectional images Newer versions show internal structures in 3-D and better resolution (clearer pictures)
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Neurophysiological Sensing Techniques

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

A visual display of brain activity, as measured by the amount of glucose being used

Radioactive isotopes (small amounts) are placed in the blood. Sensors detect radioactivity. Active parts of brain require more blood flow Different tasks show distinct activity patterns (map).
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Neurophysiological Sensing Techniques

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI/fMRI)

A brain-imaging technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce, clear threedimensional images Now can be used to record rapidly changing functions fMRI (functional MRI) detects increased blood flow displays function and structure of brain
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Neurophysiological Sensing Techniques

MEG (Magnetoenceohalography)

measures the very faint magnetic fields that emanate from the head as a result of brain activity. MEG provides the most accurate resolution of the timing of nerve cell activity -- down to the millisecond Produces activity map or functional image Used with EEG or MEG Evaluates effects of changes in brain electrical activity in perceiving or thinking Magnetic charge to specific location effects seen on EEG or MEG

TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)

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Cognitive Neuroscience
Example 1: Research using PET

Theory = Two separate memory systems (Tulving)

Episodic = memory for personal events Semantic = memory for general knowledge

Study:

Radioactive tracer into blood stream Blood flow monitored as people think about 2 types of info Found differences in blood flow (so neural activity) associated with different regions of the brain

Episodic: activation in the anterior (front) area Semantic: activation in posterior (back) area

Conclusion: Support for Tulvings theory episodic and semantic memory systems involve different brain processes and each has its own location Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2005

Cognitive Neuroscience
Example 2: Research using PET

Processing of words (Posner & Peterson)

Theory = words processed in different areas Study:

Radioactive tracer into blood stream Blood flow monitored as people do four measurements of activity:

Resting (baseline) Viewing word occipital cortex activated Reading word central part of cortex activated Using word associative region + general activation

Conclusion: Each type of word processing uses different parts of the brain.
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Cognitive Neuroscience
Example 3: Tale of 2 Hemispheres

For Vision

information from right visual field goes to left hemisphere and viceversa

Can take advantage of this wiring of the visual system with bisected brain patients (cut corpus callosum) to study hemispheric differences Started 1950s with work of Sperry and others
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Cognitive Neuroscience
Example 3: Tale of 2 Hemispheres

Uses a device called a tachistoscope

can precisely control location and very brief duration of stimuli

Left hemisphere can say what it saw presented to right visual field Right hemisphere cannot speak, but can retrieve object with left hand that it saw presented to left visual field
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Cognitive Neuroscience
Example 3: Tale of 2 Hemispheres

The Z lens (named after creator Eran Zaidel) allows prolonged viewing of stimuli presented to only one hemisphere with its use discovered right hemisphere language abilities in terms of comprehension roughly equivalent to 10-year-old for single words Provides support for distributed/parallel processing theory
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