BRAINRULESSTUDYQUESTIONS

INTRODUCTION

1)HowdidclimatechangeinAfricaassisthumansinthecreationoftheiruniquecognitive
talents.

2)Whatisdualrepresentationaltheory?

EXERCISE

1)Whattypesofexerciseproduceswhatcognitivebenefit?

2)Whatinourevolutionaryhistorymightpredictwhyexercisewouldprovideacognitivebenefit?

SLEEP

1)Whyisthenameopponentprocessmodelusedtoexplainthehumansleepcycle.

2)Giventherealityofofflineprocessing,whatisuniqueaboutsleepthatcoulddirectlyaidthe
learningprocess?

STRESS

1)Describetherolefeelingsofbeingincontrolplayinhumanstressresponses.

2)BDNFisdescribedasaherointhechapter.Why?

WIRING

1)Ifeverybrainiswireddifferentlyfromeveryotherbrain,howcanbrainscientistspossibly
studyonebrainandgeneralizetheirfindingstoothers?

2)Whycanyoudoopenbrainsurgeryonapatientwhoisfullyawake?Whydotheyhavetobe
awake.

ATTENTION

1)MikePosnerhashypothesizethatthreenetworksareactivatedinthebrainwhentheorgan
paysattentiontosomething.Whatarethesenetworks?

2)Whatroledoemotionsplayincompellingthebraintopayattentiontoastimulus?

MEMORY

1)Retrievalhasbeenlikenedtobothlibrariesanddetectives.Explain

2)Humanlearninghassometimesbeenreferredtoascontrolledforgetting.Why?

SENSORYINTEGRATION

1)Whydowelearnbetterinmultisensoryenvironments?

2)Whatissospecialaboutthewayournoseiswiredtoourbrainthatcausessmellstoevoke
suchemotionallypowerfulmemories?

VISION

1)Whatistheventralstream,andwhatisitinchargeofprocessing?

2)Whydoyousupposethereisbothbottomupandtopdownprocessingfeaturesinmany
typesofcognitiveprocessing,includingvision?

MUSIC

1)WhatismeantbyStevenPinkerscommentthatmusicmaybenothingmorethanauditory
cheesecake?

2)Namethreeintellectualprocessesthatareboostedbythepracticeofmusic.

GENDER

1)NamethefunctionoftheSRYgene.

2)Identifythreementaldisordersthatareexperiencedmorebymalesthanbyfemales.

EXPLORATION

1)WhywasAndyMeltzoffstonguestickingoutimitativebehaviorobservationsso
groundbreaking?

2)Thebookdescribesbabiesasnaturalscientists.Why?

BRAINRULESANSWERKEY

INTRODUCTION

1)HowdidclimatechangeinAfricaassisthumansinthecreationoftheiruniquecognitive
talents.

Answer:Theinstabilityforcedustoadapttovariationitself.Weconstructedadatabaseand
learnedtoimproviseoffofitveryearly.

2)Whatisdualrepresentationaltheory?

Answer:itistheabilitytoseeanobjectasitself,andthen,virtually,seeitassomethingelse.It
liesattheheartofsymbolicreasoning,auniquelyhumancognitivetrait.

EXERCISE

1)Whattypesofexerciseproduceswhatcognitivebenefit?

Answer:aerobicexerciseproducesboostsexecutivefunctionperformance

2)Whatinourevolutionaryhistorymightpredictwhyexercisewouldprovideacognitivebenefit?

Answer:thebraindevelopeditsunderecologicalconditionsthatfavoredhominid
huntergathering.Vigorousaerobicexercisewasournormalexperience7daysaweek.

SLEEP

1)Whyisthenameopponentprocessmodelusedtoexplainthehumansleepcycle.

Answer:arousalstatesoscillatebetweentwodriveswithopposinggoals:CASwantstokeepyou
awake.HSDwantstoputyoutosleep.Ergo,theopponentprocessmodel.

2)Giventherealityofofflineprocessing,whatisuniqueaboutsleepthatcoulddirectlyaidthe
learningprocess?

Answer:insleep,externalsensoryinformationprocessingisminimized.Thebrainisfreeof
externaldistraction,isthusavailabletoconcentrateonitsinteriorprocessing

STRESS

1)Describetherolefeelingsofbeingincontrolplayinhumanstressresponses.

Answer:mostpeopledonotrespondtostressfulsituationsperse,theyrespondtotheirabilityto
controlthestressfulsituation.Iftheyfeelincontroloversomeaversivestimulus,theymaynot
evenreportitasstressful.

2)BDNFisdescribedasaherointhechapter.Why?

Answer:BDNFisapowerfulgrowthfactorforbraincells.Theproteincancounteractmanyof
thenegativeeffectsofstresshormones.

WIRING

1)Ifeverybrainiswireddifferentlyfromeveryotherbrain,howcanbrainscientistspossibly
studyonebrainandgeneralizetheirfindingstoothers?

Answer:therearecircuitsinthebrainthatactlikegiantinterstatehighways.Thesemajortrunks
arenearlyidenticalfromonepersontothenext.Othercircuitslookandactlikesmallcountry
roads.Thesearewherethewiringdifferenceslie.

2)Whycanyoudoopenbrainsurgeryonapatientwhoisfullyawake?Whydotheyhavetobe
awake.

Answer:theycanbefullyawakebecausetherearenotpainneuronsinthebrain.They
havetobeawakesothatthesurgeoncan,viaelectricstimulation,interrogatethe
patientandtherebycreateafunctionalrealtimemapofthepatientsbrain.Eachpatient
hastobequestionedbecauseeachbrainiswireddifferently.

ATTENTION

1)MikePosnerhashypothesizethatthreenetworksareactivatedinthebrainwhentheorgan
paysattentiontosomething.Whatarethesenetworks?

Answer:theArousing(Alerting)Network,theOrientingNetworkandtheExecutiveNetwork.

2)Whatroledoemotionsplayincompellingthebraintopayattentiontoastimulus?

Answer:thefunctionascognitivepostitnotes,taggingcertainpiecesofinformation,recruiting
themforfurtherprocessingattheexpenseofother,lessemotionallysalientstimuli.

MEMORY

1)Retrievalhasbeenlikenedtobothlibrariesanddetectives.Explain

Answer:wheninformationisnewandfresh,itcanberetrievedasifonehastakenabookfroma
libraryandsimplyreadit.Wheninformationisold,ithastobereconstructedfromcomponent
parts,muchlikeadetectivereconstructingthesceneofacrime.

2)Humanlearninghassometimesbeenreferredtoascontrolledforgetting.Why?

Answer:thesensesarecapableofsupplyingtothebrainmuchmoreinformationthanitcan
processinareasonableperiodoftime.Forcingthebraintoselectfromtheseinputsmeansit
hastoignore,orsoonforget,inputsirrelevanttoaspecificlearninggoal.

SENSORYINTEGRATION

1)Whydowelearnbetterinmultisensoryenvironments?

Answer:becauseourworldissimultaneouslymultisensory.Oursensesevolvedtoprocessthe
realworld,whichmeansprocessingmultiplesensoryinputssimultaneously.

2)Whatissospecialaboutthewayournoseiswiredtoourbrainthatcausessmellstoevoke
suchemotionallypowerfulmemories?

Answer:thesmellsystemsbypassthethalamusandinputdirectlyintotheemotionprocessing
centersofthebrain(amygdaloidcomplex)

VISION

1)Whatistheventralstream,andwhatisitinchargeofprocessing?

Answer:theventralstreamispartofthevisualprocessingsystemofthebrain.Itallowsusto
recognizewhatobjectsareandwhatcolortheypossess,thewhatoftheinformationwe
observe.

2)Whydoyousupposethereisbothbottomupandtopdownprocessingfeaturesinmany
typesofcognitiveprocessing,includingvision?

Answer:manypossibleanswers.Topdownprocessingallowsustoinsertpreviouslylearned
experiencesontopresentreality,creatingamoreefficient,potentiallywiserprocessing
experience.

MUSIC

1)WhatismeantbyStevenPinkerscommentthatmusicmaybenothingmorethanauditory
cheesecake?

Answer:wedonthavearegioninthebrainspecificallydedicatedtolikingcheesecake.
Thatsjustanevolutionaryaccidentfromthefactthatwehavespecificpredilectionsfor
sweetsandfats,whichcheesecakehasinabundance.Hethinksourpredilectionsfor
musicmaybeasimilarevolutionaccident.

2)Namethreeintellectualprocessesthatareboostedbythepracticeofmusic.

Answer:manychoiceshere,fromeffectsonlanguage(suchaswordrecognition,vocabulary
andauditorystreamsegregation)toeffectsonsocialbehavior(empathy,forexample)

GENDER

1)NamethefunctionoftheSRYgene.

Answer:theSRYgeneisresponsibleforthesexassignmentofmammals.Ifitisartificially
inactivatedinamalelabembryo,theembryorevertstoafemale.Ifitisartificiallyaddedtoa
femalelabembryo,theembryoconvertstoamale.

2)Identifythreementaldisordersthatareexperiencedmorebymalesthanbyfemales.

Answer:schizophrenia,antisocialpersonality,drugaddiction.

EXPLORATION

1)WhywasAndyMeltzoffstonguestickingoutimitativebehaviorobservationsso
groundbreaking?

Answer:itshowedthatbabieswerebornwithawidevarietyofcognitivepreloadedsoftware.
BeforeAndysexperiments,manyresearchersthoughtthatbabiesweretabularasas(blank
slates)bornwithout.

2)Thebookdescribesbabiesasnaturalscientists.Why?

Answer:becausetheyarebornwiththeabilityusehypothesistestingstrategiestodiscover
thingsabouttheirworld.