M2 - Cognitive Psychology

• It is the field of study linking the brain and other aspects of the nervous system to cognitive processing and, ultimately, to behavior.

  Cognitive neuroscience
• The central processing unit in everything that we do.The organ in our bodies that most directly controls our thoughts, emotions, and motivations.

  Brain
• This is the basis for our ability to perceive, adapt to, and interact with the world around us.

  Through this system we receive, process, and then respond to information from the environment.

  Nervous System
• The _____ is generally the farthest forward, toward what becomes the face. It is the region of the brain located toward the top and front of the brain. It comprises the cerebral cortex, the basal ganglia, the limbic system, the thalamus, and the hypothalamus.

  Forebrain
• The outer layer of the cerebral hemispheres. A vital role in our thinking and other mental processes.

  Cerebral cortex
• Dysfunction can result in motor deficits. These deficits include tremors, involuntary movements, changes in posture and muscle tone, and slowness of movement.

  This is crucial to the function of the motor system.

  Basal ganglia
• This system allows us to suppress instinctive responses and helps us to adapt our behaviors flexibly in response to our changing environment.

  Limbic system
• A brain disorder caused by a stroke.

  Vascular disorder
• This occurs when the flow of blood to the brain undergoes a sudden disruption.

  Strokes
• Occurs when a build-up of fatty tissue occurs in blood vessels over years, and a piece of this tissue breaks off and gets lodged in arteries of the brain.

  This can be treated by clot-busting drugs.

  Ischemic stroke
• Occurs when a blood vessel in the brain suddenly breaks. Blood then spills into the surrounding tissue. As the blood spills over, brain cells in the affected areas begin to die.

  Hemorrhagic stroke
• Also called neoplasms, can affect cognitive functioning in very serious ways. ____ can occur in either the gray or the white matter of the brain. ____ of the white matter are more common.

  Brain tumors
• An injury to the head area may cause instant loss of awareness or alertness for a few minutes up to a few hours after the traumatic event.

  Concussion
• A break in the skull bone.

  Skull fracture
• This is the most common type of skull fracture. In a linear fracture, there is a break in the bone, but it does not move the bone.

  Linear skull fractures
• This type of fracture may be seen with or without a cut in the scalp.

  Depressed skull fractures
• These are fractures that occur along the suture lines in the skull. The sutures are the areas between the bones in the head that fuse when we are children.

  Diastatic skull fractures
• This is the most serious type of skull fracture and involves a break in the bone at the base of the skull.

  Basilar skull fracture
• There are several types of ICH, or blood clots, in or around the brain.

  Intracranial hematoma (ICH)
• This occurs when a blood clot forms underneath the skull, but on top of the dura, the tough covering that surrounds the brain.

  Epidural hematoma
• Occur when a blood clot forms underneath the skull and the dura, but outside of the brain.

  Subdural hematoma
• A ________ is a bruise to the brain itself. A _______ causes bleeding and swelling inside of the brain around the area where the head was struck.

  Contusion or intracerebral hematoma