PSY 322 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Diffusion Mri, Visual Cortex, Artificial Neural Network
Document Summary
Cognitive neuroscience study of physiological basis of cognition. Understanding both nervous system and its individual units. Levels of analysis: examine topics from various angles, different point of views summated into a greater understanding. Neural net theory: thought to have been a network of connections. Diffusion tensor imaging - how water diffuses along length of nerve fibers. Contradicted by the neuron doctrine by ramon y cajal: individual nerve cells transmit signals and are not continuous. Neurons: sense changes in environment, communicate these changes to other neurons, command body"s responses: soma: central cell body with cytosol, organelles, neuronal membrane: encloses cytoplasm and excludes substances. Studded with proteins: dendrites/dendritic tree: antennae of the neuron, covered with synapses. Detects neurotransmitters: axon: highly specialized for info transfer. Action potential: size is constant, rather a stronger signal would have higher intensity/rate. Measure ap by placing microelectrodes near axon to pick up electrical signals. Information travels down the neuron to the dendrites of another neuron.
