What is cognitive neuroscience?
The study of how mental functions and processes are related to brain structure and function.
What is dualism?
The view that the mind and brain are separate substances that interact with one another.
What is epiphenomenalism?
The view that the mind is a by-product of brain processes and does not causally influence behavior.
What is parallelism?
The view that mind and brain are two aspects of the same reality; every mental event has a corresponding brain event.
What did phrenology assume about brain organization?
That specific mental functions are localized to specific brain regions and reflected in skull shape.
What is equipotentiality (Lashley)?
The idea that all brain regions contribute equally to complex mental functions.
What is the modern view of brain organization?
Functional specialization within highly interconnected brain networks.
What is functional specialization?
The idea that certain brain regions are more important for some functions than others.
What is the default mode network?
A network of brain regions that is active during rest and internally directed thought.
What is the logic of lesion studies?
If brain region X is necessary for function Y, then damaging X should impair Y.
What is a double dissociation?
When damage to region A impairs function X but not Y, and damage to region B impairs Y but not X—evidence for distinct neural systems.
What is a key strength of lesion studies?
They provide evidence for causal roles of specific brain regions.
What is a major limitation of human lesion studies?
Lesions are often messy and affect multiple regions, making localization difficult.
What is cortical plasticity in lesion studies?
The brain’s ability to reorganize and redistribute functions after damage.
What are reversible lesions?
Temporary deactivation of brain regions (e.g., via cooling) that preserve tissue integrity.
Why are animal lesion studies useful?
They allow researchers to target specific regions and make stronger causal claims.
What is neuropsychology?
The study of psychological impairments following brain injury in humans.
What characterizes Broca’s aphasia?
Difficulty producing speech with relatively preserved comprehension.
What characterizes Wernicke’s aphasia?
Fluent but meaningless speech with impaired comprehension.
What is prosopagnosia?
Face blindness—difficulty recognizing familiar faces, often due to fusiform gyrus damage.
What is the function of the fusiform face area (FFA)?
Selective processing of faces.
What is observed in split-brain patients?
Loss of communication between hemispheres, revealing left-hemisphere verbal dominance and right-hemisphere visuospatial strengths.
What does EEG measure?
Electrical activity from large populations of neurons recorded at the scalp.
What is EEG’s major strength?
Very high temporal resolution.
