382: Stress and Cognitive Ability

1. Key Terms
1. Attention: the process of selecting or focusing on one or more stimuli
2. Arousal: The global level of alertness in an individual
3. Overt Attention (explicit): Occurs when the focus coincides with the sensory orientation
4. Covert Attention (implicit): Focus is independent of sensory orientation
5. Cocktail Party Effect: Selectively enhanced attention to filter out other stimuli
6. Dichotic Presentation: Simultaneous delivery of different stimuli to both ears at the same time
7. Shadowing: A task requiring focusing attention on one ear and repeating what is heard, while receiving stimuli in both ears.  Subjects can report little about the stimuli heard in the unattended ear
8. Attentional Spotlight: Shifts around the environment, highlighting stimuli for processing
1. Dr. Steffen talked about this as though it were true but I have only heard about attention as a spotlight from a negative point of view.  That is, I have heard many arguments against it.  Any thoughts on this?
9. Attentional Bottleneck: Works as a filter to select only the most important stimuli for processing, however, some unattended stimuli are processed and may even capture attention
10. Late-selection Models: sugest the bottleneck occurs later, after some processing has occurred
1. Two parts to our memory, one is more limbic and the other is more frontal cortex
1. Before sensory information goes to the cortex it has some meaning attached to it from the limbic system
11. Top-down Processing: Previous experience or thoughts have to do with information coming in
12. Bottom-up Processing: Low order sensory systems trigger processing by higher-order systems
2. Other Notes at the Beginning of Class
1. During stress, have more exogenous, reflexive attention, involuntary reorientation
2. Attention and awareness do not necessarily mean consciousness
3. fMRI maps suggest reliance on the medial frontal cortex and cingulate
4. Hard problem of consciousness
1. it is very subjective so how do you measure it?
2. Qualia
1. purely subjective experiences of perceptions and impossible to communicate to others
3. Conscious experiences of intention may be much later than the activity of making a decision, as seen in fMRI
1. What are the implications of this on free will?  Do we still have it?
1. Perhaps it means that reactions are first processed in the limbic system, emotionally, and then it reaches the cortex 
3. Prefrontal Cortex
1. Most anterior portion of the cortex
2. Phineus Gage
1. Pre-prefrontal damage vs Post
1. His executive function was impaired
2. His inhibition went way down
1. inhibition is a key function of the prefrontal cortex
3. Preseverate
4. Neuroeconomics
1. studies brain mechanisms active during economic decision making
2. 2 Main Systems
1. Valuation system
1. Rank choices on worth and reward
2. Choice system
1. Considering alternatives
3. Research confirms that prefrontal cortex inhibits impulsive decisions, enforcing loss aversion.  Also activated when faced with uncertainty, or, with the amygdala, when feeling regret for a costly decision.