Cognitive Neuroscience

Cognitive neuroscience is the study of how the brain is able to process and function through the stimulation of neurons. The broad nature of this field allows much involvement in the scientific community including not only psychologists working to further understand the functions of the human brain, but also physicists, mathematicians, and other science related areas of study by bringing knowledge and simulations from the outside world and relating them to the processes of our own minds. In addition to researching the basis of normal cognitive functions in an average brain, cognitive neuroscience studies development of the brain, as well as damage to the brain including how the damage will affect normal operations of that brain in the future. The study of cognitive neuroscience began as a result of a movement to, rather than focus studies on behavioral actions, study the operational characteristics of the brain and how they related to knowledge, memory, understanding, and other processes.

This study investigated which areas other than the hippocampus might be involved in memory. Historically, studies show that is the primary brain area involved in storage of memories. However, Wang, Teixeira, Wheeler , and Frankland (2012) predicted that the precision of the older memories is not dependent on the hippocampus.

Some people like sweet things and others don’t , or some people may like sports and others won’t. Our brain tells us what we like and don’t like by controlling our emotions, it does this with the Cerebrum or by using our genes.

When it comes to the topic of having a growth mindset, most of us will readily agree that students who are praised are motivated to learn. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of how they are praised. Whereas some are convinced that praising students for their intelligence will motivate them to learn, others maintain that encouraging them for their efforts has a better impact on their motivation.

While on patrol, I was parked in the entrance to Mansard's plaza, facing E Ridge Rd, monitoring traffic. A female in a silver pickup truck pulled into the lot and flagged me down. The female pointed towards a white and maroon Corvette traveling east on Ridge Rd and stated that she believes the driver may be intoxicated. I immediately pulled onto Ridge Rd and got behind the Corvette. As I was following the Corvette east on Ridge, another vehicle with a male driver pulled up to the side of me and shouted out the window, "That guy is drunk". I then observed the Corvette to weave from the outside lane to the center lane, without signaling. The vehicle then abruptly swerved back into the outside lane, without signaling. The vehicle then came to

The brain is the most important organ for regulating human behavior and thought. The brain is very complex and has taken centuries to discover how it functions. The brain is separated into four distinct regions or lobes. These regions are called the frontal lobe, the occipital lobe, the temporal lobe, and the parietal lobe. The frontal lobe is located directly behind the forehead and is the brain region that controls higher level thinking such as memory, planning, and judgment. The frontal lobe also contains motor cortex which allows voluntary movements. Another vital brain region is the occipital lobe. The occipital lobe can be found in the back of the brain. Its job is to process and store visual information. The occipital lobe

The Temporal lobe located at the bottom of the brain is used to process visual information. In the temporal lobe there is an area for language comprehension and the auditory cortex processes sound. This lobe helps with processes related to recognition and associative memory.

Research has shown that there is “greater activation in the left inferior frontal and medial temporal lobes” (Stanford, 2006, p. 208) during the encoding of words which were later remembered as compared to those which were forgotten. The sensations perceived by sensory nerves are decoded in the hippocampus of the brain into a single experience (Mastin, 2010). The hippocampus analyses new information and compares and asssociates it with previously stored memory (Mastin, 2010). Human memory is associative in that new information can be remembered better if it can be associated to previously acquired, firmly consolidated information (Mastin, 2010). The various pieces of information are then stored in different parts of the brain (Mastin, 2010). Though the exact method by which this information is later identified and recalled has yet to be discovered, it is understood that ultra-short term sensory memory is converted into short term memory which can then later be consolidated into long term memory (Mastin, 2010).

The hippocampus, which is the Latin word for seahorse, is named because of the shape it holds (Hippocampus). It is the neural center in the limbic system (Myers, 368). This system is located in the temporal lobe, close to the center of the brain. The hippocampus is essentially involved with the storage of long-term memory, especially of past knowledge and experiences (Hippocampus). The hippocampus is also vitally important to the creation of new memories, and without it humans would always be living in the past.

“It plays such a vital role in human life that many consider it the essence of life.”(Huffman 70) It contains the frontal lobes, parietal lobes, the occipital lobes and temporal lobes. The Frontal lobes receive signals from the other lobes such as motor control, speech production and other higher functions. The parietal lobes Receive signals for bodily sensations and interpret them. The occipital lobes are responsible for vision. The temporal lobes are responsible for hearing, language, memory and some emotion. All of these parts of the brain conduct essential bodily functions and need to be functioning properly like a

The hippocampus collects different bits of information that affect the senses and puts all of it into an event of a memory. In the Working Memory, it quotes, “The hippocampus is where the vast amount of knowledge you have acquired over your lifetime is housed for long-term storage.” Page 6. When the hippocampus collects different information and holds it for use at any time later in life. Said in the Working Memory…, “The PFC is the home of working memory. Located in the front of the brain, the PFC coordinates with other areas of the brain through electrical signals and receives information from those regions so your working memory can make use of it.” Page 6. Partial Frontal lobe is controlled other parts of the brain and sends signals and take in information, so it gets saved in your memory. This is important for long-term memory is used in further or moderately in life. “The amygdala is the brain’s emotional center. When you are experiencing a strong emotion, like fear, your amygdala is activated.” Quoted by the Working Memory…, page

Glial Cells (three types): Make up about 90% of the brain’s total cells. They also supply nutrients and oxygen, perform clean up tasks, and insulate one neuron from another so that their neural messages are not scrambled.

The science of neurobiology and technology of brain-imaging are rapidly advancing the understanding of cognition: how people think and learn. Brain-imaging techniques allow access into the mysterious mechanisms of the brain, and it is now possible to observe what occurs in the brain “as it performs tasks such as solving a math problem, reading a book, or improvising a melody” (Limb). This neurobiological research also indicates that, in the brain, emotion and intelligence are intricately synchronized processes (“Social-Emotional”). Brain-based learning programs apply this principle of simultaneous cognitive and social-emotional development by emphasizing how the brain learns innately, and are based on what is currently known about the

To assess functional connectivity between distinct brain regions in relation to levels of processing, the researchers used psychophysiological interaction analysis (Schott et al., 2013). To assess the correlation between levels of processing and later memory performance, the researchers computed a two-way ANOVA (Schott et al., 2013). The main findings of the results are deep and shallow study processing engaged extensive distinct (although with some overlap) cortical networks, but they both elicited pronounced activation in the bilateral hippocampus (although for deep level processing, this was greater) (Schott et al., 2013). In both study conditions, successful encoding was associated with significant activations in the bilateral hippocampus in addition to the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (Schott et al., 2013). These activations were more pronounced during deep processing verses shallow processing (Schott et al., 2013). The results of this study are consistent with recent brain research by showing that successful encoding for later episodic memory is associated with increased neural connectivity, which is the precondition during successful retrieval (Schott et al., 2013). Memory traces reside in neocortical areas, coordinated by the hippocampus (Schott et al., 2013). This hippo-campal-cortical connectivity increases during successful encoding and we can see that this

The brain is dividing into several sections, including the cerebellum, the frontal lobe, and the temporal lobe, among others. The temporal lobe exists in two parts, one on each side of the brain close to the ears. It is largely responsible for the memory system (2). On the medial surface of the temporal lobe there are three important structure that are essential for human functioning. These structures are named, in order from rostral to caudal, the olfactory cortex, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. Together these three structures are referred to as the "limbic system" (1). Their functions became understood after studying how the brain functions upon loss of each structure. For example, in 1953, a patient suffering from epilepsy underwent surgery which removed most of his medial temporal lobe (1). After the surgery, the patient was able to remember who he was and was able to carry out coherent, intelligent conversations. However, if the person with whom he was talking left the room, he would have no