Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
1)HowdidclimatechangeinAfricaassisthumansinthecreationoftheiruniquecognitive
talents.
2)Whatisdualrepresentationaltheory?
EXERCISE
1)Whattypesofexerciseproduceswhatcognitivebenefit?
2)Whatinourevolutionaryhistorymightpredictwhyexercisewouldprovideacognitivebenefit?
SLEEP
1)Whyisthenameopponentprocessmodelusedtoexplainthehumansleepcycle.
2)Giventherealityofofflineprocessing,whatisuniqueaboutsleepthatcoulddirectlyaidthe
learningprocess?
STRESS
1)Describetherolefeelingsofbeingincontrolplayinhumanstressresponses.
2)BDNFisdescribedasaherointhechapter.Why?
WIRING
1)Ifeverybrainiswireddifferentlyfromeveryotherbrain,howcanbrainscientistspossibly
studyonebrainandgeneralizetheirfindingstoothers?
2)Whycanyoudoopenbrainsurgeryonapatientwhoisfullyawake?Whydotheyhavetobe
awake.
ATTENTION
1)MikePosnerhashypothesizethatthreenetworksareactivatedinthebrainwhentheorgan
paysattentiontosomething.Whatarethesenetworks?
2)Whatroledoemotionsplayincompellingthebraintopayattentiontoastimulus?
MEMORY
1)Retrievalhasbeenlikenedtobothlibrariesanddetectives.Explain
2)Humanlearninghassometimesbeenreferredtoascontrolledforgetting.Why?
SENSORYINTEGRATION
1)Whydowelearnbetterinmultisensoryenvironments?
2)Whatissospecialaboutthewayournoseiswiredtoourbrainthatcausessmellstoevoke
suchemotionallypowerfulmemories?
VISION
1)Whatistheventralstream,andwhatisitinchargeofprocessing?
2)Whydoyousupposethereisbothbottomupandtopdownprocessingfeaturesinmany
typesofcognitiveprocessing,includingvision?
MUSIC
1)WhatismeantbyStevenPinkerscommentthatmusicmaybenothingmorethanauditory
cheesecake?
2)Namethreeintellectualprocessesthatareboostedbythepracticeofmusic.
GENDER
1)NamethefunctionoftheSRYgene.
2)Identifythreementaldisordersthatareexperiencedmorebymalesthanbyfemales.
EXPLORATION
1)WhywasAndyMeltzoffstonguestickingoutimitativebehaviorobservationsso
groundbreaking?
2)Thebookdescribesbabiesasnaturalscientists.Why?
BRAINRULESANSWERKEY
INTRODUCTION
1)HowdidclimatechangeinAfricaassisthumansinthecreationoftheiruniquecognitive
talents.
Answer:Theinstabilityforcedustoadapttovariationitself.Weconstructedadatabaseand
learnedtoimproviseoffofitveryearly.
2)Whatisdualrepresentationaltheory?
Answer:itistheabilitytoseeanobjectasitself,andthen,virtually,seeitassomethingelse.It
liesattheheartofsymbolicreasoning,auniquelyhumancognitivetrait.
EXERCISE
1)Whattypesofexerciseproduceswhatcognitivebenefit?
Answer:aerobicexerciseproducesboostsexecutivefunctionperformance
2)Whatinourevolutionaryhistorymightpredictwhyexercisewouldprovideacognitivebenefit?
Answer:thebraindevelopeditsunderecologicalconditionsthatfavoredhominid
huntergathering.Vigorousaerobicexercisewasournormalexperience7daysaweek.
SLEEP
1)Whyisthenameopponentprocessmodelusedtoexplainthehumansleepcycle.
Answer:arousalstatesoscillatebetweentwodriveswithopposinggoals:CASwantstokeepyou
awake.HSDwantstoputyoutosleep.Ergo,theopponentprocessmodel.
2)Giventherealityofofflineprocessing,whatisuniqueaboutsleepthatcoulddirectlyaidthe
learningprocess?
Answer:insleep,externalsensoryinformationprocessingisminimized.Thebrainisfreeof
externaldistraction,isthusavailabletoconcentrateonitsinteriorprocessing
STRESS
1)Describetherolefeelingsofbeingincontrolplayinhumanstressresponses.
Answer:mostpeopledonotrespondtostressfulsituationsperse,theyrespondtotheirabilityto
controlthestressfulsituation.Iftheyfeelincontroloversomeaversivestimulus,theymaynot
evenreportitasstressful.
2)BDNFisdescribedasaherointhechapter.Why?
Answer:BDNFisapowerfulgrowthfactorforbraincells.Theproteincancounteractmanyof
thenegativeeffectsofstresshormones.
WIRING
1)Ifeverybrainiswireddifferentlyfromeveryotherbrain,howcanbrainscientistspossibly
studyonebrainandgeneralizetheirfindingstoothers?
Answer:therearecircuitsinthebrainthatactlikegiantinterstatehighways.Thesemajortrunks
arenearlyidenticalfromonepersontothenext.Othercircuitslookandactlikesmallcountry
roads.Thesearewherethewiringdifferenceslie.
2)Whycanyoudoopenbrainsurgeryonapatientwhoisfullyawake?Whydotheyhavetobe
awake.
Answer:theycanbefullyawakebecausetherearenotpainneuronsinthebrain.They
havetobeawakesothatthesurgeoncan,viaelectricstimulation,interrogatethe
patientandtherebycreateafunctionalrealtimemapofthepatientsbrain.Eachpatient
hastobequestionedbecauseeachbrainiswireddifferently.
ATTENTION
1)MikePosnerhashypothesizethatthreenetworksareactivatedinthebrainwhentheorgan
paysattentiontosomething.Whatarethesenetworks?
Answer:theArousing(Alerting)Network,theOrientingNetworkandtheExecutiveNetwork.
2)Whatroledoemotionsplayincompellingthebraintopayattentiontoastimulus?
Answer:thefunctionascognitivepostitnotes,taggingcertainpiecesofinformation,recruiting
themforfurtherprocessingattheexpenseofother,lessemotionallysalientstimuli.
MEMORY
1)Retrievalhasbeenlikenedtobothlibrariesanddetectives.Explain
Answer:wheninformationisnewandfresh,itcanberetrievedasifonehastakenabookfroma
libraryandsimplyreadit.Wheninformationisold,ithastobereconstructedfromcomponent
parts,muchlikeadetectivereconstructingthesceneofacrime.
2)Humanlearninghassometimesbeenreferredtoascontrolledforgetting.Why?
Answer:thesensesarecapableofsupplyingtothebrainmuchmoreinformationthanitcan
processinareasonableperiodoftime.Forcingthebraintoselectfromtheseinputsmeansit
hastoignore,orsoonforget,inputsirrelevanttoaspecificlearninggoal.
SENSORYINTEGRATION
1)Whydowelearnbetterinmultisensoryenvironments?
Answer:becauseourworldissimultaneouslymultisensory.Oursensesevolvedtoprocessthe
realworld,whichmeansprocessingmultiplesensoryinputssimultaneously.
2)Whatissospecialaboutthewayournoseiswiredtoourbrainthatcausessmellstoevoke
suchemotionallypowerfulmemories?
Answer:thesmellsystemsbypassthethalamusandinputdirectlyintotheemotionprocessing
centersofthebrain(amygdaloidcomplex)
VISION
1)Whatistheventralstream,andwhatisitinchargeofprocessing?
Answer:theventralstreamispartofthevisualprocessingsystemofthebrain.Itallowsusto
recognizewhatobjectsareandwhatcolortheypossess,thewhatoftheinformationwe
observe.
2)Whydoyousupposethereisbothbottomupandtopdownprocessingfeaturesinmany
typesofcognitiveprocessing,includingvision?
Answer:manypossibleanswers.Topdownprocessingallowsustoinsertpreviouslylearned
experiencesontopresentreality,creatingamoreefficient,potentiallywiserprocessing
experience.
MUSIC
1)WhatismeantbyStevenPinkerscommentthatmusicmaybenothingmorethanauditory
cheesecake?
Answer:wedonthavearegioninthebrainspecificallydedicatedtolikingcheesecake.
Thatsjustanevolutionaryaccidentfromthefactthatwehavespecificpredilectionsfor
sweetsandfats,whichcheesecakehasinabundance.Hethinksourpredilectionsfor
musicmaybeasimilarevolutionaccident.
2)Namethreeintellectualprocessesthatareboostedbythepracticeofmusic.
Answer:manychoiceshere,fromeffectsonlanguage(suchaswordrecognition,vocabulary
andauditorystreamsegregation)toeffectsonsocialbehavior(empathy,forexample)
GENDER
1)NamethefunctionoftheSRYgene.
Answer:theSRYgeneisresponsibleforthesexassignmentofmammals.Ifitisartificially
inactivatedinamalelabembryo,theembryorevertstoafemale.Ifitisartificiallyaddedtoa
femalelabembryo,theembryoconvertstoamale.
2)Identifythreementaldisordersthatareexperiencedmorebymalesthanbyfemales.
Answer:schizophrenia,antisocialpersonality,drugaddiction.
EXPLORATION
1)WhywasAndyMeltzoffstonguestickingoutimitativebehaviorobservationsso
groundbreaking?
Answer:itshowedthatbabieswerebornwithawidevarietyofcognitivepreloadedsoftware.
BeforeAndysexperiments,manyresearchersthoughtthatbabiesweretabularasas(blank
slates)bornwithout.
2)Thebookdescribesbabiesasnaturalscientists.Why?
Answer:becausetheyarebornwiththeabilityusehypothesistestingstrategiestodiscover
thingsabouttheirworld.