The Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience – Jamie Ward
THE STUDENT’S GUIDE TO COGNITIVE
NEUROSCIENCE BY JAMIE WARD
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introducing cognitive neuroscience .................................................................................................. 4
Philosophical approaches ............................................................................................................................... 4
Scientific approaches ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 2: Introducing the brain ........................................................................................................................ 5
Organization of the brain................................................................................................................................ 5
The cerebral cortex ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 3: The electrophysiological brain .......................................................................................................... 7
Single cell recordings ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Electroencephalography and event-related potentials .................................................................................. 7
Mental chronometry in electrophysiology and cognitive psychology ............................................................ 7
Magnetoecephalography................................................................................................................................ 8
Chapter 4: The imaged brain .............................................................................................................................. 9
Structural imaging .......................................................................................................................................... 9
Functional imaging ......................................................................................................................................... 9
From image to cognitive theory: experimental design ................................................................................... 9
Analyzing data from functional imaging ....................................................................................................... 10
Interpreting data from functional imaging ................................................................................................... 10
Brain reading ................................................................................................................................................ 10
Chapter 5: The lesioned brain........................................................................................................................... 11
Dissociations and associations ...................................................................................................................... 11
Single case study ........................................................................................................................................... 11
Group studies and lesion-deficit analysis ..................................................................................................... 11
Animal models .............................................................................................................................................. 12
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) ..................................................................................................... 12
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) ............................................................................................. 12
Chapter 6: THe seeing brain ............................................................................................................................. 13
From eye to brain ......................................................................................................................................... 13
Cortical blindness and “blindSight” .............................................................................................................. 13
Functional specialization of the visual cortex beyond V1............................................................................. 13
Recognizing objects ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Recognizing faces.......................................................................................................................................... 14
OG40
, The Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience – Jamie Ward
Vision imagined ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Chapter 7: The attending Brain ........................................................................................................................ 15
Spatial an non-spatial attentional process ................................................................................................... 15
The role of the parietal lobes in attention .................................................................................................... 15
Theories of attention .................................................................................................................................... 15
Neglect as a disorder of spatial attention and awareness ............................................................................ 16
Chapter 8: The acting brain .............................................................................................................................. 17
A basic cognitive framework for movement and action ............................................................................... 17
The role of the frontal lobe in movement and action .................................................................................. 17
Planning actions: the SAS model .................................................................................................................. 17
Ownership and awareness of actions ........................................................................................................... 17
Action comprehension and imitation ........................................................................................................... 18
Acting on objects .......................................................................................................................................... 18
Preparation and execution of actions........................................................................................................... 18
Chapter 9: the remembering brain ................................................................................................................... 19
Short-term and working memory ................................................................................................................. 19
Different types of long-term memory .......................................................................................................... 19
Amnesia ........................................................................................................................................................ 19
Functions of the hippocampus and medial temporal lobes in memory ....................................................... 19
Theories of remembering, knowing and forgetting...................................................................................... 20
The role of the prefrontal cortex in long-term memory ............................................................................... 20
Chapter 10: The hearing brain .......................................................................................................................... 21
The nature of sound ..................................................................................................................................... 21
From brain to ear .......................................................................................................................................... 21
Basic Processing of auditory information ..................................................................................................... 21
Music perception .......................................................................................................................................... 22
Voice perception ........................................................................................................................................... 22
Speech perception ........................................................................................................................................ 22
Chapter 11: the speaking brain......................................................................................................................... 24
Spoken word recognition.............................................................................................................................. 24
Semantic memory and the meaning of words ............................................................................................. 24
Understanding and producing sentences ..................................................................................................... 24
Retrieving and producing spoken words ...................................................................................................... 25
Chapter 14: The executive brain ....................................................................................................................... 26
Anatromical and functional divisions of the prefrontal cortex ..................................................................... 26
Executive functions in practice ..................................................................................................................... 26
The organization of executive functions....................................................................................................... 26
OG40
, The Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience – Jamie Ward
The role of the anterior cingulate in executive functions ............................................................................ 27
Chapter 15: the social and emotional brain ..................................................................................................... 28
Theories of emotions .................................................................................................................................... 28
Neural substrates of emotion processing ..................................................................................................... 28
Reading faces ................................................................................................................................................ 29
Reading minds .............................................................................................................................................. 29
OG40
, The Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience – Jamie Ward
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCING COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
Cognition is a variety of higher mental processes such as thinking, perceiving, imagining, speaking acting and
planning. Cognitive neuroscience aims to explain cognitive processes in terms of brain-based mechanisms.
PHILOSOPHICAL APPROAC HES
The mind-body problem is the problem of how a physical substance can give rise to our feelings, thoughts and
emotions.
Dualism: the belief that mind and brain are made up of different kinds of substance (Descartes)
Dual-aspect theory: the belief that mind and brain are two levels of description of the same thing
(Spinoza)
Reductionism: the belief that mind based concepts will eventually be replaced by neuroscientific
concepts.
SCIENTIFIC APPROACHE S
Phrenology is the failed idea that individual differences in cognition can be mapped on to differences
in skull shape (Gall & Spurzheim)
Functional specialism means different regions of the brain are specialized for different functions
Cognitive neuropsychology is the study of braindamaged patients to inform theories of normal
cognition. Cognitive neuroscience methods have three dimensions:
Temporal resolution, the accuracy with which one can measure when an event occurs.
Spatial resolution, the accuracy with which one can measure where an event is occurring.
Invasiveness, whether or not the equipment is located internally or externally.
Cognitive psychology tells us about the structure of information processing but not why information
processing should be configured in that particular way.
Information processing is an approach in which behavior is described in terms of a sequence of
cognitive stages
Interactivity means that later stages of processing can begin before earlier stages are complete. There
are two types of processing:
Top-down processing, the influence of later stages on the processing of earlier ones.
Parallel processing, different information is processed at the same time
Neural network models: computational models in which information processing occurs using many
interconnected nodes, the basic units of neural network models.
Modularity: the notion that certain cognitive processes (or regions in the brain) are restricted in the type of
information they process.
Domain specificity: the idea that a cognitive process (or brain region) is dedicated solely to one particular type
of information.
OG40
THE STUDENT’S GUIDE TO COGNITIVE
NEUROSCIENCE BY JAMIE WARD
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introducing cognitive neuroscience .................................................................................................. 4
Philosophical approaches ............................................................................................................................... 4
Scientific approaches ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 2: Introducing the brain ........................................................................................................................ 5
Organization of the brain................................................................................................................................ 5
The cerebral cortex ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 3: The electrophysiological brain .......................................................................................................... 7
Single cell recordings ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Electroencephalography and event-related potentials .................................................................................. 7
Mental chronometry in electrophysiology and cognitive psychology ............................................................ 7
Magnetoecephalography................................................................................................................................ 8
Chapter 4: The imaged brain .............................................................................................................................. 9
Structural imaging .......................................................................................................................................... 9
Functional imaging ......................................................................................................................................... 9
From image to cognitive theory: experimental design ................................................................................... 9
Analyzing data from functional imaging ....................................................................................................... 10
Interpreting data from functional imaging ................................................................................................... 10
Brain reading ................................................................................................................................................ 10
Chapter 5: The lesioned brain........................................................................................................................... 11
Dissociations and associations ...................................................................................................................... 11
Single case study ........................................................................................................................................... 11
Group studies and lesion-deficit analysis ..................................................................................................... 11
Animal models .............................................................................................................................................. 12
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) ..................................................................................................... 12
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) ............................................................................................. 12
Chapter 6: THe seeing brain ............................................................................................................................. 13
From eye to brain ......................................................................................................................................... 13
Cortical blindness and “blindSight” .............................................................................................................. 13
Functional specialization of the visual cortex beyond V1............................................................................. 13
Recognizing objects ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Recognizing faces.......................................................................................................................................... 14
OG40
, The Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience – Jamie Ward
Vision imagined ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Chapter 7: The attending Brain ........................................................................................................................ 15
Spatial an non-spatial attentional process ................................................................................................... 15
The role of the parietal lobes in attention .................................................................................................... 15
Theories of attention .................................................................................................................................... 15
Neglect as a disorder of spatial attention and awareness ............................................................................ 16
Chapter 8: The acting brain .............................................................................................................................. 17
A basic cognitive framework for movement and action ............................................................................... 17
The role of the frontal lobe in movement and action .................................................................................. 17
Planning actions: the SAS model .................................................................................................................. 17
Ownership and awareness of actions ........................................................................................................... 17
Action comprehension and imitation ........................................................................................................... 18
Acting on objects .......................................................................................................................................... 18
Preparation and execution of actions........................................................................................................... 18
Chapter 9: the remembering brain ................................................................................................................... 19
Short-term and working memory ................................................................................................................. 19
Different types of long-term memory .......................................................................................................... 19
Amnesia ........................................................................................................................................................ 19
Functions of the hippocampus and medial temporal lobes in memory ....................................................... 19
Theories of remembering, knowing and forgetting...................................................................................... 20
The role of the prefrontal cortex in long-term memory ............................................................................... 20
Chapter 10: The hearing brain .......................................................................................................................... 21
The nature of sound ..................................................................................................................................... 21
From brain to ear .......................................................................................................................................... 21
Basic Processing of auditory information ..................................................................................................... 21
Music perception .......................................................................................................................................... 22
Voice perception ........................................................................................................................................... 22
Speech perception ........................................................................................................................................ 22
Chapter 11: the speaking brain......................................................................................................................... 24
Spoken word recognition.............................................................................................................................. 24
Semantic memory and the meaning of words ............................................................................................. 24
Understanding and producing sentences ..................................................................................................... 24
Retrieving and producing spoken words ...................................................................................................... 25
Chapter 14: The executive brain ....................................................................................................................... 26
Anatromical and functional divisions of the prefrontal cortex ..................................................................... 26
Executive functions in practice ..................................................................................................................... 26
The organization of executive functions....................................................................................................... 26
OG40
, The Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience – Jamie Ward
The role of the anterior cingulate in executive functions ............................................................................ 27
Chapter 15: the social and emotional brain ..................................................................................................... 28
Theories of emotions .................................................................................................................................... 28
Neural substrates of emotion processing ..................................................................................................... 28
Reading faces ................................................................................................................................................ 29
Reading minds .............................................................................................................................................. 29
OG40
, The Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience – Jamie Ward
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCING COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
Cognition is a variety of higher mental processes such as thinking, perceiving, imagining, speaking acting and
planning. Cognitive neuroscience aims to explain cognitive processes in terms of brain-based mechanisms.
PHILOSOPHICAL APPROAC HES
The mind-body problem is the problem of how a physical substance can give rise to our feelings, thoughts and
emotions.
Dualism: the belief that mind and brain are made up of different kinds of substance (Descartes)
Dual-aspect theory: the belief that mind and brain are two levels of description of the same thing
(Spinoza)
Reductionism: the belief that mind based concepts will eventually be replaced by neuroscientific
concepts.
SCIENTIFIC APPROACHE S
Phrenology is the failed idea that individual differences in cognition can be mapped on to differences
in skull shape (Gall & Spurzheim)
Functional specialism means different regions of the brain are specialized for different functions
Cognitive neuropsychology is the study of braindamaged patients to inform theories of normal
cognition. Cognitive neuroscience methods have three dimensions:
Temporal resolution, the accuracy with which one can measure when an event occurs.
Spatial resolution, the accuracy with which one can measure where an event is occurring.
Invasiveness, whether or not the equipment is located internally or externally.
Cognitive psychology tells us about the structure of information processing but not why information
processing should be configured in that particular way.
Information processing is an approach in which behavior is described in terms of a sequence of
cognitive stages
Interactivity means that later stages of processing can begin before earlier stages are complete. There
are two types of processing:
Top-down processing, the influence of later stages on the processing of earlier ones.
Parallel processing, different information is processed at the same time
Neural network models: computational models in which information processing occurs using many
interconnected nodes, the basic units of neural network models.
Modularity: the notion that certain cognitive processes (or regions in the brain) are restricted in the type of
information they process.
Domain specificity: the idea that a cognitive process (or brain region) is dedicated solely to one particular type
of information.
OG40
