Cognitive Neuroscience & Language

Front 1

The Lesion Method

Back 1

Examining the effect of brain damage or interference on specific cognitive functions

Front 2

Prosopagnosia

Back 2

Selective inability to recognise faces
- Damage to right fusiform gyrus
- People with prosopagnosia can discriminate between even the most complex non-face objects - face recognition is a highly specialised skill

Front 3

Double Dissociations in Memory

Back 3

Show there are 2 different brain structures for Long and Short Term Memory

Front 4

Studies of Amnesia

Back 4

Amnesics often remember early memories still, as they become consolidated over time as they are frequently recalled.

Front 5

Disadvantages of Lesion Method (COLD)

Back 5

1. Can't compare someone to their previous condition

2. Human brain damage is a chance occurrence
3. Can't always get localised brain damage in the area you wish to study

4. Can't dictate which demographic you want to study

Front 6

Lesion Method Technologies; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Back 6

- A high-powered magnet delivers a magnetic pulse to the brain and temporarily interferes with cognitive function in that region
- Reversible form of brain damage
- Can compare before & after and impede two areas at once
- Can choose who you study
- Limited to outer layers of the brain

Front 7

Neuroimaging Techniques

Back 7

Use measures of brain activity as 'markers' of different cognitive processes. 2 Types;
- Measure electrical activity (EEG & ERP) by examining electrical changes when large groups of neurons fire simultaneously
- Measure changes in the blood (fMRI & PET)

Front 8

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Back 8

Electrode cap placed on scalp to measure activity at rest and during tasks. Can then compare these to get an ERP

Front 9

Event Related Potential (ERP)

Back 9

Electrical changes in the brain that correspond to to the brain's response to a specific event - measured with EEG

Front 10

Advantages & Disadvantages of EEG

Back 10

+ Great temporal resolution - can detect changes occurring just 50ms after the stimulus event

+ Can tell which hemisphere of the brain is responding faster
- Poor spatial accuracy

Front 11

PET & fMRI Scans

Back 11

- PET maps uptake of a radioactively tagged substance (usually oxygen)
- fMRI magnetic changes in blood as it deoxygenates

- Subtraction design used to compare a scan from a similar task except for the element you're interested in

Front 12

Advantages & Disadvantages of Measuring Blood Changes

Back 12

+ Good spatial resolution
+ Good temporal resolution in fMRI
+ Can examine what cognitive processes are shared across tasks and which are distinct
- Need a good cognitive theory of the task at hand
- If this theory is wrong the results will be dubious

Front 13

Linguistics vs. Psycholinguistics

Back 13

Linguistics - language as a system of communication eg. rules for combining words into sentences
Psycholinguistics - how we produce and comprehend language eg. how do we use word order to work out sentence meaning?

Front 14

Language is...

Back 14

- Arbitrary
- Rule-governed
- Creative eg. blending, alterations, function change, borrowing

Front 15

Structure of Language

Back 15

Phoneme - basic units of sound, abstract and language-specific
Morpheme - smallest units that carry meaning, free-standing or bound
Words & syntax - content words and function words

Front 16

Broca's Aphasia vs. Wernickes Aphasia

Back 16

Patient JG with Broca's omitted function words,
Patient LR with Wernicke's omitted content words