Chapter 2: Cognitive

Neuroscience
 Reading Discussion
The most precious thing we have
 Simple, yet so complex; The
Neuron

Either or operation
At rest: Average 100ms between firing
Excitation: Much faster
Inhibition: A bit slower
 2. Group Reaction Time and
Neural Speed
Helmholtz devised a clever way to assess the speed of neural conduction. This
same process can be demonstrated in class by having 10 students form a
continuous chain by holding hands. At your signal, the first student tightens
her grip on the hand of the second person in the chain. Upon feeling the
pressure, the second person tightens his grip on the hand of the third, and
so on. Have a volunteer start a stopwatch simultaneously with your signal,
and stop timing when the 10th person raises her hand. Now have the
students grip their neighbors’ shoulder and repeat the same procedure,
again making note of the total time to finish the motion down the human
chain. The results will show that the students performed the shoulder-
squeezing task consistently faster than they performed the hand-squeezing
task. The reason for the difference is that when the sensory input is
received through the hand, it has to travel a greater distance—about two
feet in the average sized person—to reach the brain than when it is received
through the shoulder. Thus, among the 10 people, the neural signal has to
travel an additional 20 feet, and this is why it takes longer to reach the end
of the chain (Rozin & Jonides, 1977).
Written by Nancy Jo Melucci, Santa Monica College
Brain Facts
•100 billion neurons
• A typical neuron has about 1,000 to 10,000
synapses (that is, it communicates
with 1,000 –10,000 other neurons,
muscle cells, glands, etc.).
•100 trillion synapses
• Weight 46 - 50 ounces (≈ 3 pounds)
 100 Million, Billion, Trillion… What’s the diff?
*Shrug*

value  1¢, (one cent)

width  0.75 inches, (3/4 of an inch)
height  0.75 inches, (3/4 of an inch)
thickness  0.0625 inches, (1/16 of an inch)
weight  0.1 ounces, (1/10 of an ounce)

 
value  16¢, (sixteen cents)
width (side-by-side)  12 inches, (one foot)
height (stacked)  1 inch
thickness  0.0625 inches, (1/16 of an inch)
weight  1.6 ounces
1,000 pennies

value  $10.00, (Ten dollars and no cents)

width  3.75 inches

height  3.75 inches

thickness  2.5 inches

weight  100 ounces, (6.25 pounds)

height stacked  62.4 inches, (5.2 feet)

area (laid flat)  562.5 square inches (3.9 square feet)

 100,000 pennies

value  $983.04
(Nine hundred eighty-three dollars
and four cents)
width  24 inches, (two feet)
height  12 inches, (one foot)
thickness  12 inches, (one foot)
weight  614.4 pounds
height stacked  512 feet

384 square feet

area (laid flat) 
 1,000,000
pennies

 
value  $10,037.76
(Ten thousand, thirty-seven dollars
and seventy-six cents)
width  Four feet
height  Five feet
thickness  12 inches, (one foot)
weight  6273.6 pounds (3.14 tons)
height stacked  5,228 feet ( 0.99 Miles )

3,921 square feet

area (laid flat) 
 1,000,000,000
pennies

$10,000,181.76
value  (Ten million, one hundred eighty-one
dollars and seventy-six cents)
width  45 feet
height  11 feet
thickness  41 feet
weight  3,125 tons
height stacked  987 Miles

area (laid flat)  3,906,321 square feet (89.7 acres)

 100,000,000,000
Neurons in the
brain!

 
value  $100,000,235.52
(One hundred million, two hundred thirty-five
dollars and fifty-two cents)
width  90 feet
height  11 feet
thickness  205 feet
total weight  31,250 tons
height stacked  9,864 Miles

area (laid flat)  897 acres

 1,000,000,000,000
pennies
•Sears Tower
•Empire State Building
•Washington Monument
•Lincoln Memorial

value  $10,000,000,166.40
(Ten billion, one hundred and
sixty-six dollars and forty cents)
width  273 feet
height  273 feet
thickness  273 feet
total weight  3,125,000 tons
height stacked  986,426 Miles

area (laid flat)  89,675.2 acres

2,623,684,608,000 pennies.

value  $26,236,846,080.00
(Twenty-six billion, two hundred thirty-six million,
eight hundred forty-six thousand and
eighty dollars)
total weight  8,199,014 tons
height stacked  2,588,073 Miles

area (laid flat)  235,279.3 acres

100,000,000,000,000 synapses in the brain!
 Methodology

• Postmortem studies
• Animal Studies
• Electrical Recordings
• Static Imaging Techniques
• Metabolic Imaging
 Postmortem Studies

• Identify disorder and then examine after

death
– Young, Holcomb, Yazdani, Hicks & German
(2004)
• Found that depression is associated with a greater
number of nerve cells in the Thalamus being devoted
to emotional regulation
• Supported idea that structural abnormality may lead
to depression
Animal Studies: In Vivo
• Monitor activity of a single neuron
 Animal Study: Single Neuron
Monitoring
• Gross, Bender & Rocha-Miranda, 1969
– Increased firing in the inferotemporal region in
response to more hand-like objects

Inferotemporal region
 EEG-Human Studies
Electroencephalograph Research Example
 Positron Emission
Tomography (PET)
• Radioactive material is injected or inhaled
• Participant is then scanned to produce an
image of the brain’s activity
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Strong magnetic field passed through the skull
• Uses the detection of radio frequency signals produced
by displaced radio waves in a magnetic field
• Creates a detailed anatomical image of the brain
 Functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI)
• fMRI imaging takes a series of
images of the brain in quick
succession and then statistically
analyzes the images for differences
among them
• Brain areas with more blood flow
have been shown to have better
visibility on MRI images
Anatomy of the Brain

• Forebrain
– Cerebral cortex
– Basal ganglia
• Motor movement
– Limbic system
– Thalamus
– Hypothalamus
Anatomy of the Brain
Function of Limbic System

• Controls Mood and

attitude
• Stores highly
charged emotional
memories
• Controls appetite and
sleep cycles
Function of Limbic System
Anatomy of Limbic System
• Amygdala
– Involved in anger, & fear
• Hippocampus
– Is important in the
formation of memories
– Korsakoff’s syndrome
Anatomy of Limbic System
 Anatomy of
Limbic System
• Thalamus
– Relay sensory information
to the cerebral cortex
• Hypothalamus
– Important to metabolic
behaviors, eating,
drinking, sexual
behaviors, and regulating
emotions
Anatomy of Limbic System
 Midbrain
• Location
– The midbrain extends from the pons to the lower
portion of thalamus
• Reticular activating system
– Controls respiration, cardiovascular function,
digestion, alertness, and sleep
• Brain Stem
– Vital in basic attention, arousal, and consciousness
 Hindbrain
• Medulla Oblongata
– Breathing, swallowing and
digestion
• Pons
– Relay station
• Cerebellum
– Motor co-ordination,
posture, and maintaining
balance.
Hindbrain
 Cerebral Cortex Principles
• Contralaterality
– Right side of brain controls left side of body
– Left side of brain controls right side of body
• Corpus Callosum
– Neural fibers connecting left and right lobes
– Allows communication between right and left sides of the brain
 Cerebral Cortex Principles

• Localization of function
– Specific mental processes are correlated with
discrete regions of the brain

• Hemispheric Specialization
– Each lobe of the brain has specialized
functions
 Hemispheric Specialization
Left side processes: Right side processes:
• Speech • Creativity
• Analysis • Patterns
• Time • Spatial Awareness
• Sequence • Context
It Recognizes: It Recognizes:
• Letters • Faces
• Numbers • Places
• Words • Objects
 Hemispheric Specialization
Left Side
• Deals with inputs one at a
time
• Processes information in a
linear and sequential manner
• Deals with time
• Responsible for verbal
expression and language
• Responsible for invariable and
arithmetic operations
• Specializes in recognizing
words and numbers
• Does logical and analytical
thinking
• The seat of reason
• thinking
Crucial side for wordsmiths
and engineers
Right Side
• Integrates many inputs at
once
• Processes information more
diffusely and simultaneously
• Deals with space
• Responsible for gestures,
facial movements, and body
language
• Responsible for relational and
mathematical operations
• Specializes in recognizing
places, faces, objects, and
music
• Does intuitive and holistic
• The seat of passion and
dreams
• Crucial side for artists,
craftsman, and musicians
 Activity
• Get a blank sheet of lined paper. Every
time you read a description or
characteristic that applies to you, write
down its number on the blank sheet of
paper. There is no certain number of
characteristics you must choose.
1. I constantly look at a clock or wear a watch
2. I keep a journal or diary of my thoughts
3. I believe there is a either right and wrong way to do everything
4. I find it hard to follow directions precisely
5. The expression "Life is just a bowl of cherries" makes no sense to me
6. I frequently change my plans and find that sticking to a schedule is
boring
7. I think it's easier to draw a map than tell someone how to get
somewhere
8. To find a lost item, I try to picture it in my head where I last saw it
9. I frequently let my emotions guide me
10. I learn math with ease
11. I'd read the directions before assembling something
12. People tell me I am always late getting places
13. People have told me that I'm psychic
14. I need to set goals for myself to keep me on track
15. When somebody asks me a question, I turn my head to the left
16. If I have a tough decision to make, I write down the pros and the cons
17. I'd probably make a good detective
18. I learn music with ease
19. To solve a problem, I think of similar problems I have solved in the
past
20. I use a lot of gestures
21. If someone asks me a question, I turn my head to the right
22. I believe there are two ways to look at almost everything
23. I have the ability to tell if people are lying or guilty of something, just
by looking at them
24. I keep a "to do" list
25. I am able to thoroughly explain my opinions in words
26. In a debate, I am objective and look at he facts before forming an
opinion
27. I've considered becoming a poet, a politician, an architect, or a
dancer
28. I always lose track of time
29. When trying to remember a name I forgot, I'd recite the alphabet
until I remembered it
30. I like to draw
31. When I'm confused, I usually go with my gut instinct
32. I have considered becoming a lawyer, journalist, or doctor
1. L 17. L
2. L 18. R
3. L 19. R
4. R 20. R
5. L 21. L
6. R 22. R
23. R
7. R
24. L
8. L
25. L
9. R 26. L
10. L 27. R
11. L 28. R
12. R 29. L
13. R 30. R
14. L 31. R
15. R 32. L
16. L
Evidence for Specialization of
Left lobe
• Wernicke’s area
– Speaks fluently but
nonsensically
– Not coherent,
contains lexical and
grammatical errors
• Broca’s area
– Can understand
everything said
– Patient can only
respond in
monosyllabic words
 Split Brain Methodology
• Corpus callosum
severed

• Techniques used
test each half-brain
 Split Brain Demonstration

What would a split brain patient say they saw?

What would a split brain patient point to with their left
hand?
 3. Hemispheric Activity
Interferes With Ability to Work
a Counter
Here is a classroom exercise that proves to be both very enjoyable and very informative
about the functioning of the two sides of the brain. The only equipment you will need
is a simple counter, the kind used at stadiums to count people as they pass through
the gate.
Recruit a volunteer and have her sit in front of the class. She should hold the counter in
her right hand, and when you say, “Go!” press it as fast as she can. Stop her after
about 30 seconds and record the number of presses; this number will be your
baseline level for the right hand. Reset the counter and repeat the procedure for the
left hand to get a left hand baseline.
During the next phase of your experiment, the subject should again perform with the right
and left hands but this time should do so while reciting a poem or speech (the pledge
of allegiance works well). These two bits of data are your right and left “oral data.” In
the next phase, the subject should perform with the right and left hands but this time
should do so while humming a familiar tune. Encourage the students to hum and not
to worry about the words. These two bits of data are your left and right “music data.”
The hypothesis in this experiment is that talking will interfere more with right-hand
pressing, whereas humming will interfere more with left-hand pressing, due to the
hemispheric specializations involved in these tasks.
Written by Nancy Jo Melucci, Santa Monica College
 Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex
• Frontal
– Reasoning & Planning
• Parietal
– Touch, Temperature, Pain, &
Pressure
• Temporal
– Auditory & Perceptual
processing
• Occipital
– Visual processing
Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex
 Reading Discussion
Where am I?
 Where am I?
Common sense, though all very will for
everyday purposes, is easily confused,
even by such simple questions as… When
you feel a pain in the leg that has been
amputated, where is the pain? If you say
it is in your head, would it be in your head
if your leg had not been amputated? If you
say yes, then what reason have you for
ever thinking you have a leg? (Bertrand
Russell)
Body in the Brain
 Where am I?
– “The experiments I’ve discussed so far have helped us
understand what is going on the brain of patients with phantoms
and given us hints as to how we might help alleviate their pain.
But there is a deeper message here’ your own body is a
phantom, one your brain has temporarily constructed”.
(Ramachandran & Blakeslee, 1998)