3. Attending

‘Attending’ considers the following questions: Why do some patients neglect things to their left after a stroke? Why does attending to something else decrease the feeling of pain? Why is it dangerous to use a mobile phone while driving? It shows that there is not a limit to the capacity of the brain system to take in information, but at any one time you are only interested in some of the information that is available. The anatomical systems that support functional systems in looking and attending are described along with how we locate and identify targets, how attention is focused and divided, and how inputs and outputs are processed during multitasking.

9. The future

Now that we know so much about where there is activity in the brain while people perform cognitive tasks, ‘The future’ explains that the next stage is to find out how that activity makes cognition possible. To do this we need to study that activity with methods that are sensitive to the temporal pattern of neuronal activity, but neither PET nor fMRI is well suited for the purpose. Methods currently available include: magneto-encephalography, recording with electrode arrays, recording from single neurons, and biologically plausible computational models. Future models will need to take into account both the fine and gross architecture of the brain and be more flexible and more biologically plausible.

7. Checking

Having made a decision, we need to check that we carry it out as intended. In other words we need to monitor our own behaviour. ‘Checking’ considers the following questions: How does being aware of our intentions influence our actions? How can we learn from our mistakes when we perform tasks that are difficult? How is it that human beings are able to infer the intentions of others? Various cognitive neuroscience studies show that we are aware of what we intend to do and so we can then compare it to what we actually do. We are also aware of our own mental states and have the ability to infer the mental states of others.

6. Deciding

Why do we sometimes make absent-minded mistakes? Why do we choose immediate rewards rather than longer-term rewards that are larger? What is the basis for moral reasoning? While considering these questions, ‘Deciding’ shows that the prefrontal cortex is in a unique position in the processing hierarchy. It has access to information about the current situation, information about the current needs and aims, and access to the motor system. The prefrontal cortex is critically involved in preparing, deciding, and planning for the future. Human ability to plan in the head and imagine outcomes both for themselves and others is also dependent on this area of the brain.

2. Perceiving

Do you need to recognize an object to know how to handle it? Why do some amputees continue to feel their arm even though it is absent? Why do some people see colours when they read or hear words? ‘Perceiving’ considers these questions and then provides the background information to answer them. It explains that the brain is not a single pathway from input to output, but that there are separate pathways and that pathways diverge. The different regions of the brain—such as the ventral and dorsal systems and primary sensory area—are explained in terms of how they are used for the recognition and classification of objects, and for perceptual awareness.

1. A recent field

The field of cognitive neuroscience was born in the late 1970s, but was transformed over the next two decades with the development of techniques such as positron emission tomography and functional magnetic brain imaging, which have allowed the activity of the brain in healthy people to be visualized while they carry out psychological tasks. ‘A recent field’ considers the importance of understanding and interpreting brain images and how they can be used to answer psychological questions. Imaging can advance psychology in three ways: by trying to account for human capacities, by considering human limitations, and by providing an explanation for the psychological effects of disorders of the nervous system.

8. Acting

Why is there a relation between handedness and the cerebral hemisphere that is specialized for language? How is it that we can learn the violin? Why can’t we tickle ourselves? ‘Acting’ considers these questions and in doing so, looks at right-handedness, left hemisphere specialization for gestures, spoken language, learning skills, and the sensory consequences of actions. There is a relation between right-handedness and left hemisphere dominance for speech. It is likely that in human evolution the tendency to right-handedness developed before speech. Both vocal and manual skills depend on cerebellar mechanisms, and in the human brain the cerebellum has expanded in line with the neocortex.

5. Reasoning

Why do different intellectual abilities tend to cluster together? Do we think in language? Why are human beings so intelligent? ‘Reasoning’ considers these questions by looking at the processes involved in non-verbal problem solving, spatial relations, thought, and language. Fluid reasoning, needed for IQ tests, depends on the dorsal executive system. Reasoning with verbal material involves the semantic system and also engages the parietal cortex. One reason for human intelligence is that humans are taught in a language, meaning that they inherit knowledge and understanding cumulatively. This is possible because of the expansion of non-primary areas in the human brain: the language areas, semantic system, and dorsal executive system, and in the prefrontal cortex.

4. Remembering

How can we explain amnesia for the past, yet retention of knowledge learned at school? Why do we begin to forget people’s names when we are in our fifties? Why do people with Alzheimer’s disease have difficulty in finding their way? ‘Remembering’ considers these questions and looks at the difference between ‘episodic’ and ‘semantic’ memories and the importance of the hippocampus region of the brain. Episodic and semantic memories depend on distinct anatomical systems: a medial system remembers events in our life, and a ventral and lateral system is for knowledge concerning objects. The effects of ageing, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease on memory are also discussed.