Question 1

What is the Stroop effect? Describe a principle of cognition that the task's results reveal.

Accepted Answer

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Question 2

What are single and double dissociations? Provide an example of a neuropsychological study illustrating each one.

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Question 3

The term tonotopic refers to the fact that the cochlea and the auditory cortex contain maps that are organized according to the sound frequencies that best stimulate the cells.

Accepted Answer

Tonotopic refers to the organization of maps in the cochlea and auditory cortex based on sound frequency.

Question 4

The most frequent cause of stroke is occlusion of the normal passage of blood by a foreign substance, such as an embolus.

Accepted Answer

This is true. The majority of strokes occur due to a blockage of blood flow in the brain from an embolus (a traveling blood clot), which typically forms in another part of the body and moves to the brain. This is called an ischemic stroke, and it accounts for about 87% of all strokes. The remaining 13% of strokes are hemorrhagic strokes, which result from bleeding in the brain.

Question 5

How do computational models contribute to our understanding of cognitive neuroscience? Include an example in your answer.

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Question 6

Weaver mice are a knockout strain in which Purkinje cells, the prominent cell type in the hippocampus, fail to develop. As a result, these mice are "maze dull."

Accepted Answer

Purkinje cells are not located in the hippocampus but in the cerebellum. Weaver mice have a mutation that affects the development of granule cells in the cerebellum, leading to motor coordination deficits and an unsteady gait, but do not have cognitive deficits related to the hippocampus.

Question 7

Research questions about the time course of cognition are better addressed using methods like , whereas questions about the anatomy of cognition are better addressed using methods like
)
A) ERP / fMRI
B) fMRI / PET
C) PET / MEG
D) MEG / ERP

Accepted Answer

ERP (Event-Related Potentials) is a method that provides excellent temporal resolution, making it suitable for studying the time course of cognitive processes. fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) offers good spatial resolution, making it suitable for studying the anatomy of cognition.

Question 8

Functional connectivity is a measure of functional relatedness between different
A) stimuli.
B) brain regions.
C) neurons.
D) methods.

Accepted Answer

Functional connectivity measures the statistical dependence between brain regions, indicating how different regions of the brain are synchronized and coordinated during tasks or at rest.

Question 9

Which neuroimaging technique involves injecting an isotope of oxygen into the bloodstream and using it to measure regional cerebral blood flow?
A) fMRI
B) PET
C) CT
D) EEG

Accepted Answer

PET (Positron Emission Tomography) involves injecting a radioactive isotope, often of oxygen, into the bloodstream to measure regional cerebral blood flow and brain activity.

Question 10

Why are methods that perturb neural function useful to researchers? Give examples of at least two such methods.

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Question 11

When performing a single-cell recording, researchers typically carefully insert a thin electrode through the cell membrane into the interior of a neuron.

Accepted Answer

In single-cell recording, the electrode is typically positioned near the cell to record its activity without penetrating the cell membrane, to avoid damaging the cell.

Question 12

The best neuroimaging method for visualizing the white and gray matter is computed tomography CT).

Accepted Answer

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is generally better than CT for visualizing the white and gray matter of the brain due to its superior contrast resolution.

Question 13

Which of the following is an advantage of MEG magnetoencephalography) over EEG electroencephalography)?
A) With MEG, current flow can be detected in any orientation.
B) With MEG, the inverse problem can be avoided.
C) With MEG, magnetic fields are not distorted by the skull.
D) With MEG, the temporal resolution is much better.

Accepted Answer

MEG (magnetoencephalography) has the advantage over EEG (electroencephalography) in that magnetic fields generated by neural activity are not distorted by the skull or other tissues, allowing for more accurate localization of brain activity.

Question 14

Computational models can vary widely in the level of explanation they seek to provide, and they can range from the cellular/molecular level to the systems level.

Accepted Answer

Computational models can indeed vary widely in the level of explanation they seek to provide, ranging from the cellular/molecular level to the systems level.

Question 15

What is a mental representation? How are mental representations transformed? Give an example to support each of your two answers.

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Question 16

The Sternberg experiment showed that the amount of time it takes to compare a target item with a list of items in memory increases with the number of items in the memory set. This is an example of parallel processing.

Accepted Answer

The Sternberg experiment actually showed that the time it takes to compare a target item with a list of items in memory increases linearly with the number of items in the memory set, which suggests serial processing rather than parallel processing.

Question 17

Functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI) is based on a measurement of
A) magnetic fields emanating from the surface of the brain.
B) the distribution of dye in the arteries and veins of the brain.
C) virtual lesions following intense magnetic stimulation of the brain.
D) ratios of oxygenated to deoxygenated hemoglobin in the brain.

Accepted Answer

fMRI measures ratios of oxygenated to deoxygenated hemoglobin in the blood flowing through the brain. When a particular part of the brain becomes active, there is an increase in blood flow to that region, leading to increased oxygenation and changes in the ratio of oxygenated to deoxygenated hemoglobin. These changes can be detected by the fMRI scanner, allowing researchers to identify which areas of the brain are active during different tasks or stimuli.

Question 18

Some progressive neurological disorders can be caused by viruses like the human immunodeficiency virus HIV) and the herpes simplex virus.

Accepted Answer

This is true. Some examples of progressive neurological disorders that can be caused by viruses include HIV-associated dementia and herpes simplex encephalitis.

Question 19

How do transcranial magnetic stimulation TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation tDCS) differ? Give a real or hypothetical example of an occasion when one of these methods would be preferable to the other. Explain why.

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Question 20

Cognitive neuropsychological approaches using people who have suffered a stroke, tumor, or neurological disorder are sometimes described as "correlational." Explain what this means, and provide a hypothetical case study to illustrate your point.

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Quiz 3: Methods of Cognitive Neuroscience