Neuroscience Terms: Comprehensive Glossary of Vision & Brain Concepts, Quizzes of School management&administration

Download Neuroscience Terms: Comprehensive Glossary of Vision & Brain Concepts and more Quizzes School management&administration in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 ablation DEFINITION 1 this is usually done in experiments on animals, to determine the function of a particular area. Also called lesioning. TERM 2 brain imaging DEFINITION 2 Procedures that make it possible to visualize areas of the human brain that are activated by different types of stimuli, tasks, or behaviors. The two most common techniques used in perception research are positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) TERM 3 complex cells DEFINITION 3 A neuron in the visual cortex that responds best to moving bars with a particular orientation. TERM 4 contralateral eye DEFINITION 4 The eye on the opposite side of the head from a particular structure. TERM 5 contrast threshold DEFINITION 5 The intensity difference that can just barely be seen between two areas. This is often measured using gratings with alternating light and dark bars. TERM 6 dissociation DEFINITION 6 A situation that occurs as a result of brain damage in which one function is present and another is absent. See also Double dissociation; Single dissociation. TERM 7 dorsal pathway DEFINITION 7 Pathway that conducts signals from the striatev cortex to the parietal lobe. This is also called the where, the how, or the action pathway to indicate its function TERM 8 double dissociation DEFINITION 8 In brain damage, when function A is present and function B is absent in one person, and function A is absent and function B is present in another. Presence of a double dissociation means that the two functions involve different mechanisms and operate independently of one another. TERM 9 end-stopped cells DEFINITION 9 A cortical neuron that responds best to lines of a specific length that are moving in a particular direction. TERM 10 experience-dependent plasticity DEFINITION 10 A process by which neurons adapt to the specific environment within which a person or animal lives. This is achieved when neurons change their response properties so they become tuned to respond best to stimuli that have been repeatedly experienced in the environment. See also Neural plasticity; Selective rearing. TERM 21 module DEFINITION 21 A structure that processes information about a specific behavior or perceptual quality. Often identified as a structure that contains a large proportion of neurons that respond selectively to a particular quality. TERM 22 neural plasticity DEFINITION 22 The capacity of the nervous system to change in response to experience. Examples are how early visual experience can change the orientation selectivity of neurons in the visual cortex and how tactile experience can change the sizes of areas in the cortex that represent different parts of the body. TERM 23 neuropsychology DEFINITION 23 the study of the behavioral effects of brain damage in humans. TERM 24 object discrimination problem DEFINITION 24 The behavioral task used in Ungerleider and Mishkins experiment in which they provided evidence for the ventral, or what, visual processing stream. Monkeys were required to respond to an object with a particular shape. TERM 25 ocular dominance DEFINITION 25 The degree to which a neuron is influenced by stimulation of each eye. A neuron has a large amount of ocular dominance if it responds only to stimulation of one eye. There is no ocular dominance if the neuron responds equally to stimulation of both eyes. TERM 26 ocular dominance column DEFINITION 26 A column in the visual cortex that contains neurons that respond best to stimulation of the same eye. TERM 27 orientation column DEFINITION 27 A column in the visual cortex that contains neurons with the same orientation preference. TERM 28 orientation tuning curve DEFINITION 28 A function relating the firing rate of a neuron to the orientation of the stimulus. TERM 29 Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA) DEFINITION 29 An area in the temporal lobe that is activated by pictures of indoor and outdoor scenes. TERM 30 PET scan DEFINITION 30 A brain mapping technique that is used in awake human subjects to determine which brain areas are activated by various tasks. TERM 31 primary visual receiving area DEFINITION 31 The occipital cortex, where visual signals that originate in the eye first reach the cortex. TERM 32 prosopagnosia DEFINITION 32 A form of visual agnosia in which the person cant recognize faces. TERM 33 retinotopic map DEFINITION 33 A map on a structure in the visual system, such as the lateral geniculate nucleus or the cortex, that indicates locations on the structure that correspond to locations on the retina. In retinotopic maps, locations adjacent to each other on the retina are usually represented by locations that are adjacent to each other on the structure. TERM 34 rod and frame illusion DEFINITION 34 An illusion in which the perception of the orientation of a rod is affected by the orientation of a surrounding frame. TERM 35 selective adaptation DEFINITION 35 A procedure in which a person or animal is selectively exposed to one stimulus, and then the effect of this exposure is assessed by testing with a wide range of stimuli. Exposing a person to vertical bars and then testing a persons sensitivity to bars of all orientations is an example of selective adaptation to orientation.