M2

• This module will last for two weeks
• Nimfa O. Madalura is the Instructor
• The module is on COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
• Cognitive Neuroscience


  The field of study linking the brain and other aspects of the nervous system to cognitive processing and, ultimately, to behavior
• The brain is the central processing unit in everything that we do
• The brain is the organ in our bodies that most directly controls our thoughts, emotions, and motivations
• Brain


  • Side view
  • Top view
• Localization of function


  The specific areas of the brain that control specific skills or behaviors
• The nervous system is the basis for our ability to perceive, adapt to, and interact with the world around us
• Cognitive psychology became predominant in the 1960s
• Forebrain


  The region of the brain located toward the top and front of the brain, comprising the cerebral cortex, the basal ganglia, the limbic system, the thalamus, and the hypothalamus
• Cerebral cortex


  • The outer layer of the cerebral hemispheres, playing a vital role in our thinking and other mental processes
• Basal ganglia dysfunction


  Can result in motor deficits including tremors, involuntary movements, changes in posture and muscle tone, and slowness of movement
• Limbic system


  Allows us to suppress instinctive responses and adapt our behaviors flexibly in response to our changing environment, comprising the septum, the amygdala, and the hippocampus
• Septum


  Involved in anger and fear
• Amygdala


  Plays an important role in emotion, especially in anger and aggression; stimulation can result in fear; damage can lead to maladaptive lack of fear and visual agnosia
• Hippocampus


  Essential for flexible learning, seeing relations among items learned, and spatial memory; damage can result in inability to form new memories
• Korsakoff's syndrome


  A disease that produces loss of memory function, associated with deterioration of the hippocampus and caused by lack of thiamine (Vitamin B-1) in the brain
• Thalamus


  Relays incoming sensory information through groups of neurons that project to the appropriate region in the cortex
• Hypothalamus


  Regulates behavior related to species survival, emotions, reactions to stress, and sleep
• Midbrain


  Helps to control eye movement and coordination
• Hindbrain


  Comprises the medulla oblongata, the pons, and the cerebellum, controlling heart activity, breathing, swallowing, digestion, and bodily coordination, balance, and muscle tone
• Major Structures and Functions of the Brain

  • Forebrain
  • Midbrain
  • Hindbrain
• The brainstem connects the forebrain to the spinal cord and comprises the hypothalamus, the thalamus, the midbrain, and the hindbrain
• The periaqueductal gray (PAG) is in the brainstem
• Limbic systems


  • Hippocampus
  • Amygdala
  • Septum
• Thalamus


  Primary relay station for sensory information coming into the brain; transmits information to the correct regions of the cerebral cortex through projection fibers that extend from the thalamus to specific regions of the cortex; comprises several nuclei (groups of neurons) that receive specific kinds of sensory information and project that information to specific regions of the cerebral cortex
• Key nuclei of the thalamus


  • Visual receptors to visual cortex
  • Auditory receptors to auditory cortex
  • Sensory receptors in somatic nervous system to primary somatosensory cortex
  • Cerebellum to primary motor cortex
• Hypothalamus


  Controls the endocrine system; controls the autonomic nervous system, such as internal temperature regulation, appetite and thirst regulation, and other key functions; involved in regulation of behavior related to species survival (in particular, fighting, feeding, fleeing, and mating); plays a role in controlling consciousness (see reticular activating system); involved in emotions, pleasure, pain, and stress reactions
• Midbrain structures


  • Superior colliculi (involved in vision)
  • Inferior colliculi (involved in hearing)
• Reticular activating system


  Important in controlling consciousness (sleep arousal), attention, cardiorespiratory function, and movement
• Midbrain structures


  • Gray matter
  • Red nucleus
  • Substantial nigra
  • Ventral region
• Cerebellum


  Essential to balance, coordination, and muscle tone
• Pons


  Involved in consciousness (sleep and arousal); bridges neural transmissions from one part of the brain to another; involved with facial nerves
• Medulla oblongata


  Serves as juncture at which nerves cross from one side of the body to opposite side of the brain; involved in cardiorespiratory function, digestion, and swallowing
• Cerebral cortex


  • Plays an extremely important role in human cognition
  • Forms a 1- to 3-millimeter layer that wraps the surface of the brain
  • Comprises sulci, fissures, and gyri which greatly increase the surface area
  • Comprises 80% of the human brain
  • Volume of human skull has more than doubled over the past 2 million years, allowing for the expansion of the brain, and especially the cortex
  • Complexity of brain function increases with the cortical area

  
• Neurons


  Transmit electrical signals from one location to another in the nervous system
• Neocortex


  Part of the brain associated with complex cognition, can contain up to 100,000 neurons per cubic millimeter
• Soma


  Contains the nucleus of the cell, responsible for the life of the neuron and connects the dendrites to the axon
• Dendrites


  Branchlike structures that receive information from other neurons, and the soma integrates the information