[Paper Review] Cognitive Functions of the Brain: Perception, Attention and Memory

Jiawei Zhang|arXiv (Cornell University)|May 30, 2019

Neuroscience, Education and Cognitive Function2 references38 citations

TL;DR

A tutorial overview detailing perception, attention, and memory as core cognitive functions, including their processes, types, and theoretical models.

ABSTRACT

This is a follow-up tutorial article of [17] and [16], in this paper, we will introduce several important cognitive functions of the brain. Brain cognitive functions are the mental processes that allow us to receive, select, store, transform, develop, and recover information that we've received from external stimuli. This process allows us to understand and to relate to the world more effectively. Cognitive functions are brain-based skills we need to carry out any task from the simplest to the most complex. They are related with the mechanisms of how we learn, remember, problem-solve, and pay attention, etc. To be more specific, in this paper, we will talk about the perception, attention and memory functions of the human brain. Several other brain cognitive functions, e.g., arousal, decision making, natural language, motor coordination, planning, problem solving and thinking, will be added to this paper in the later versions, respectively. Many of the materials used in this paper are from wikipedia and several other neuroscience introductory articles, which will be properly cited in this paper. This is the last of the three tutorial articles about the brain. The readers are suggested to read this paper after the previous two tutorial articles on brain structure and functions [17] as well as the brain basic neural units [16].

Motivation & Objective

• Explain cognitive functions as brain-based skills for acquiring and processing information.
• Detail the perception process, its modalities, and types of perceptual processing.
• Summarize attention mechanisms, models of visual attention, and multitasking concepts.
• Discuss memory types (sensory, working, long-term) and memory processes (encoding, consolidation, storage, retrieval).

Proposed method

• Literature-based synthesis drawing from neuroscience and introductory sources.
• Description of perceptual processing as distal/proximal stimuli and transduction.
• Overview of attention models (spotlight/zoom-lens; FIT vs AET) and multitasking concepts.
• Categorization of memory types and stages with definitions and relationships.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the primary cognitive functions of the brain discussed in this paper?
• RQ2 How are perception, attention, and memory defined and differentiated in the context of brain function?
• RQ3 What models describe visual attention and how do they explain multitasking and simultaneous attention?
• RQ4 What are the types and processes of memory and how are they encoded, stored, and retrieved?

Key findings

• Perception involves processing sensory input and high-level interpretation shaped by learning, memory, expectation, and attention.
• Visual attention is described by two-stage models (uniform processing then focused processing) with spotlight and zoom-lens analogies.
• Multitasking incurs performance costs, with resource theory and modality interference shaping divided attention.
• Attention can be overt or covert, exogenous or endogenous, with shared neural architectures for both types of orienting.
• Memory is categorized into sensory, working (short-term), and long-term memory, with processes including encoding, consolidation, storage, and retrieval.