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 Cognitive Neuroscience Test yourself 2.1 1. How did early brain researchers describe the brain in terms of a nerve net? How does the idea of individual neurons differ from the idea of a nerve net? The brain appears to be almost solid when seen with naked eye. However, a stained view of the brain tissues under a microscope shows that billions of smaller units form the brain by contrasting different types of tissues. The electrical signals and the pathways through which they travel in the brain appear like a continuous network called the nerve net that connects directly to another for conducting signals uninterrupted through the network. Brain has a continuous, interconnected nerve net; but microscopes and early staining techniques could not resolve the small details. Later, Camillo Golgi stained the brain tissues in a solution of silver nitrate by which the cells were stained randomly making this technique more suitable for viewing the 1% stained cells that stood out from the rest ...

Albert Gatton was referred by a prominent psychiatrist in another state for assessment and possible treatment of heterosexual pedophilic behavior. At the time of his presentation, Albert was a 51-year-old married Caucasian minister from the Midwest. He had three grown children, two girls and a boy, the youngest of whom was a 19-year-old daughter who was attending college in another state. He was tall and quite serious and, although he was cooperative, Albert did not volunteer a great deal of information during the initial interview.  Albert reported that he had been touching and caressing girls between the ages of 10 and 16 for more than 20 years. He estimated that he had had some interaction with at least 50 girls. Most typically this interaction was restricted to hugging or caressing their breasts. On occasion, he would also touch their genitals. Albert did not expose himself to girls or ask them to touch him in any way. Generally, he reported achieving a partial erection during ...

1. Why could we say that Donders and Ebbinghaus were cognitive psychologists, even though in the 19th century there was no field called cognitive psychology? Describe Donders's experiment and the rationale behind it, and Ebbinghaus's memory experiments. What do Donders's and Ebbinghaus's experiments have in common? Cognitive psychology is the field of psychological study about the cognition of mind. The cognition refers to the mental processes, such as perception, memory, attention and other processes of the mind. Cognitive psychology was not derived until 1967. However, there were some experiments by researchers in the 19 th century, which paved way for the modern day cognitive psychology field of study. These early experiments were the ‘Reaction time experiment’ by Donder and ‘Memory experiment’ by Ebbinghaus. These researchers first attempted to study the mind and the mental processes, scientifically. Donder’s experiment dealt with the mental process of decision maki...

The overwhelming majority of individuals with bulimia are within 10% of their normal weight (Fairburn & Cooper, in press; Hsu, 1990). In contrast, individuals with anorexia nervosa (which literally means a “nervous loss of appetite”— an incorrect definition because appetite often remains healthy) differ in one important way from individuals with bulimia. They are so successful at losing weight that they put their lives in considerable danger. Both anorexia and bulimia are characterized by a morbid fear of gaining weight and losing control overeating. The major difference seems to be whether the individual is successful at losing weight. People with anorexia are proud of both their diets and their extraordinary control. People with bulimia are ashamed of both their eating issues and their lack of control (Brownell & Fairburn, 1995). Consider the case of Julie. Julie was 17 years old when she first came for help. She looked emaciated and unwell. Eighteen months earlier she had be...

Mr. J., an older gentleman, was brought to the hospital emergency room. He didn’t know his own name, and at times he didn’t seem to recognize his daughter, who was with him. Mr. J. appeared confused, disoriented, and a little agitated. He had difficulty speaking clearly and could not focus his attention to answer even the most basic questions. Mr. J.’s daughter reported that he had begun acting this way the night before, had been awake most of the time since then, was frightened, and seemed even more confused today. She told the nurse that this behavior was not normal for him and she was worried that he was becoming “senile.” She mentioned that his doctor had just changed his hypertension medication and wondered whether the new medication could be causing her father’s distress. Mr. J. was ultimately diagnosed as having substance-induced delirium (a reaction to his new medication); once the medication was stopped, he improved significantly over the course of the next 2 days. Diagnosis T...