Neur1020 - Lecture notes 1-13 PDF

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Neur1020 – The brain and behavioural sciences

Table of Contents Module 1: Psychology as science.........................................................................................................4 1.1 Paradigms in Psychology..........................................................................................................4 Behaviourist....................................................................................................................................................4 Cognitive........................................................................................................................................................4 Biological.......................................................................................................................................................4

The Scientific Method.....................................................................................................................4 Research designs..............................................................................................................................5 Freud...............................................................................................................................................................5

Branches:.........................................................................................................................................5 Sciences are…..................................................................................................................................5 Critical thinking and scientific interference..................................................................................6 Uncertainty in scientific concepts...................................................................................................6 Uncertainty and quantitative measurement....................................................................................................6 Samples and populations................................................................................................................................6 Uncertainty and replication............................................................................................................................6

Opinion change YT videos..............................................................................................................6 Small classes are better...................................................................................................................................6 Six leads of opinion change............................................................................................................................6

1.2 Paradigms and methods............................................................................................................7 The Behaviourist Paradigm............................................................................................................................7 The Cognitive Paradigm.................................................................................................................................7 The Biological Paradigm................................................................................................................................7 Research methodologies.................................................................................................................................7 Biases in Methodologies.................................................................................................................................8

Module 2: The Brain and Neurons......................................................................................................9 2.1 The lobes of the brain and their functions...............................................................................9 3 major divisions............................................................................................................................................9 Cerebral cortex...............................................................................................................................................9 Lobes of the brain...........................................................................................................................................9

Mapping the brain functions........................................................................................................10 The Brainstem and Autonomic Nervous System.........................................................................10 NS Summary................................................................................................................................................10 Brainstem......................................................................................................................................................11

Disorders of consciousness............................................................................................................11 Low level to high level functions...................................................................................................11 The Cerebellum and Movement...................................................................................................12 Why you can’t tickle yourself......................................................................................................................12

2.2 Neurons....................................................................................................................................13 Action potentials...........................................................................................................................................13 Synapses.......................................................................................................................................................14 Specific neurotransmitters............................................................................................................................15 Integration of neural signals.........................................................................................................................15

2.3 Measuring brain function.......................................................................................................16 Brain lesions.................................................................................................................................................16

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Neur1020 – The brain and behavioural sciences Single neuron recording................................................................................................................16 Hubel and Weisel, 1959................................................................................................................................16

EEG and MRI................................................................................................................................16 Electroencephalography...............................................................................................................................16 Functional Brain Imaging.............................................................................................................................17

Not mind reading...........................................................................................................................17 2.4 Brain plasticity and learning..................................................................................................18 Neural connections.......................................................................................................................................18 Spreading activation model – theory............................................................................................................18

Neuroplasticity...............................................................................................................................18 Ramon y Cajal..............................................................................................................................................18 Neurogenesis................................................................................................................................................18 Synaptogenesis.............................................................................................................................................18

Learning and memory..................................................................................................................19 Reorganisation...............................................................................................................................19 Module 3: Sensation and Perception.................................................................................................20 3.1 Perception as a product of the brain......................................................................................20 We do not see with our eyes.........................................................................................................................20 Perceptual Aftereffects.................................................................................................................................20 Transduction, the Blind Spot and Filling-in.................................................................................................20 Colour vision................................................................................................................................................21

3.2 Vision and the vision cortex....................................................................................................22 Primary vision cortex...................................................................................................................................22 V1.................................................................................................................................................................22 Blindsight.....................................................................................................................................................22 Functional modularity and the blinding problem.........................................................................................23

Module 4: Brain disorders.................................................................................................................25 4.1 Brain Laterality.......................................................................................................................25 Left...............................................................................................................................................................25 Right.............................................................................................................................................................25 Contralateral (opposite side).........................................................................................................................25 Corpus Callosum..........................................................................................................................................25

Split brains.....................................................................................................................................25 Sperry and Gazzaniga (1960s)......................................................................................................................26

4.2 Memory and the Hippocampus..............................................................................................26 The Hippocampus.........................................................................................................................................26 The case of HM............................................................................................................................................26 New understanding of memory…................................................................................................................26 Neuropsychology of memory: Medial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.................................................................27

4.3 Attention and parietal lobes....................................................................................................27 Attention and cognitive control....................................................................................................................27 Parietal lobe..................................................................................................................................................27 Attention.......................................................................................................................................................27 Parietal and prefrontal network for attention................................................................................................28 Spatial neglect..............................................................................................................................................28

4.4 Cognitive control of behaviour...............................................................................................28 Frontal lobe...................................................................................................................................................28 Frontal lobe damage – Phineas Gage...........................................................................................................29 Frontal leucotomy (Lobotomy)....................................................................................................................29 Frontal lobe – clinical conditions.................................................................................................................29 Frontotemporal dementia – Gail Robinson..................................................................................................29

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Neur1020 – The brain and behavioural sciences How is the brain affected in frontotemporal dementia?...............................................................................30 How does a neuropsychologist assess frontotemporal dementia?................................................................30 What tests would a neuropsychologist use?.................................................................................................30 What is ‘disinhibition’ in everyday life?......................................................................................................30

Module 5: Learning, memory and cognition.....................................................................................31 Simple learning..............................................................................................................................31 Foundational insights....................................................................................................................................31 Habituation...................................................................................................................................................31 Sensitisation..................................................................................................................................................31 Findings........................................................................................................................................................31

Classical conditioning...................................................................................................................31 Pavlov’s studies............................................................................................................................................31 Higher order conditioning............................................................................................................................32 Principals of Classical Conditioning............................................................................................................32 Applications of classical conditioning..........................................................................................................32

Operant conditioning....................................................................................................................33 Thorndike’s Law of Effect............................................................................................................................33 BF Skinner....................................................................................................................................................33 Comparing reinforcement and punishment..................................................................................................33 Principals of operant conditioning................................................................................................................33 Applications of operant conditioning...........................................................................................................34

Schedules of reinforcement...........................................................................................................34 Responding under different schedules..........................................................................................................34

The Multi-Store Model of Memory..............................................................................................35 Sensory memory............................................................................................................................35 Complex images...........................................................................................................................................35 The capacity of sensory memory..................................................................................................................35

Short-term memory......................................................................................................................35 The capacity of short-term memory.............................................................................................................35 Forgetting from STM....................................................................................................................................35

Long-term memory.......................................................................................................................36 The capacity of LTM....................................................................................................................................36 The duration of LTM....................................................................................................................................36

Theoretical implications of the Multi-Store Model.....................................................................36 Free recall and the Serial Position Curve....................................................................................37 Cues and retrieval.........................................................................................................................37 Cues, Asociations and Depth of Processing.................................................................................................37 Interference (when cues go bad)...................................................................................................................38

Improving memory.......................................................................................................................38 Mnemonic strategies.....................................................................................................................................38 Breaking Miller’s Limit................