CogniFit - Brain Functions

FOCUSED ATTENTION: Being alert. The ability to respond to a stimulus.

SUSTAINED ATTENTION: The ability to hold attention during a period of at least 3 minutes. It is was we more commonly call "concentration". When we read a book we are concentrating.

SELECTIVE ATTENTION: The ability that allows us to maintain attention on a task and inhibit distractions from the environment around us, like background noise or activities. Following the previous example, selective attention allows us to read a book while listening to music or the TV on.

ALTERNATING ATTENTION: The mental flexibility that allows us to change our focus from one task to another fluidly. For example, when we are reading and a song we like comes on, we are able to stop for a moment while we listen or sing, and then quickly get back to the book where we left off.

DIVIDED ATTENTION: The ability to respond to more than one task at a time, or do two things at once. For example, when we talk to a friend while write a text to someone else, or when we talk on the phone while cooking.

There is not one single anatomic structure that is in charge of attention, but there are actually various circuits that are implied in this process. There are an additional three systems:

Reticular activating system (RAS) or arousal system: This is the state or base level of consciousness that optimizes the processing of sensory stimuli that reach the cerebral cortex. It is made up of the reticular activation system, the thalamus, the limbic system, the basal ganglia, and the frontal cortex.

Posterior attention system: Permits the orientation and localization of stimuli, especially visual. It is used in perception, visual-spatial attention, the processing of new information... The main structures related to it are in the posterior parietal cortex, the lateral pulvinar, the hippocampus, and the anterior cingulate.

Anterior attentional system: Allows us to direct our attention to the action. It regulated and controls the make complex cognitive tasks possible. This system makes up part of the anterior cingulate, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the orbital-frontal cortex, the neostriatum, the suplemental motor area, and the ventral tegmental area.

1-TEMPORAL CRITERION:

Short-term memory:

-Immediate memory

-Operative or working memory: Short-term passive storage system that allows us to work with information. For example, when we try to remember a telephone number before writing it on a piece of paper.

Long-Term Memory

2- AREAS THAT MEMORY OPERATES ON:

Declarative (explicit) memory: References memories that may be consciously evoked.

-Episodic: the autobiographical memory that allows us to remember concepts and events from our past. For example, where did we go on vacation last year? When did I graduate? When did I get married?

-Semantic: This memory references what we've learned and our general knowledge of the world. What is the capital of France? What is a square root?

The medial temporal lobe and the diencephalon are the structures associated with this kind of memory.

Non-declarative or implicit memory: References subconscious memories and some skills like riding a bike or ice-skating. The neocortex, the amygdala (when emotions are involved), the striatum, and the reflex arcs.

We also have to keep in mind that the storage zones are in the temporal lobes, but the more strategic components are more related to the frontal lobes. (See image below)

1- Goal setting:

-Motivation

-Self-awareness

-How we perceive our relationship with the world

2-Planning strategies to achieve goals:

-Ability to abstract

-Cognitive flexibility, or the ability to create alternative thoughts

-Ability to assess different possibilities and choose one to direct a behavior

3-Skills used in the execution of a behavior:

-Ability to simply and neatly start, maintain, and sequence behaviors.

4-Aptitudes to effectively carry-out behaviors or activities:

-Time control

-Feedback

-Behavioral self-regulation

Without executive functions, we wouldn't be able to make it through the day. We subconsciously use these functions constantly and for every activity that we do. For example, when we go on vacation and we have to plan the trip: choosing where to go, How much time do we have and what can we do in that time? What route looks most interesting? What kind of transportation will we use to get around? Even something as simple as cooking requires executive functions: from choosing the foods and utensils we'll use, to watching the pots and pans, timing how long something has to cook, following the recipe in the right order... For example, if we have to make an omelette, we first have to put in the veggies, then whip the eggs, then cook.

1-LANGUAGE EXPRESSION AREA: Includes different areas of the cerebral cortex.

- Pre-frontal area: Involved in the motivational processes of language. It is where both verbal and written communication starts (related to the executive functions).

-Broca's area: Located in the left frontal lobe. It is related to speech production and spoken language processing.

-Primary motor cortex: Starts the movements to start to pronounce words and movements to guide writing.

2-LANGUAGE RECEPTION AREA: Includes:

-Occipital Lobe: Allows us to identify linguistic images.

-Parietal lobe: In charge of integrating visual and auditory stimuli.

- Left temporal lobe: In charge of synthesizing and understanding spoken sounds. It is integrated by: Helsch's Area (primary auditory area. It receives the sounds to code them in the multimodal area) and the Wernicke's Area (related to language comprehension. It gives meaning to these perceived sounds.)

Aside from the cortical areas, other areas are also essential for proper language function. The interconnection between these cortical areas with other subcortical structures, like the arcuate fasciculus (connects the Broca's area to the Wernicke's area), the thalamus (important for language regulation, as it connects sympathetic with expressive areas), the pulvinar nucleus and geniculate, basal ganglia, and the cerebellum (which intervenes in language fluency, rhythm, and tone), etc.

Visual-spatial functions are used to analyze, comprehend, and mange the space in which we live (whether it be in two or three dimensions). These functions include processes like mental navigation, distance and depth perception, visual-spatial construction, and mental rotation. We use visual-spatial functions when we read a map, orient ourselves in a city, or estimate distances.

If the left hemisphere is dominant for language tasks, the right is dominant in perception. Spatial analysis, facial recognition, recognizing maps or objects, music processing, somaesthetic sensations, facial mimicry, and motor activities that don't require verbal control are predominantly regulated by the occipital and parietal lobes in the right hemispheres and their connections with the rest of the brain.