HIGHER PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES: CONCEPT AND TYPES - NEUROPSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The psychological processes superiors consist of a very broad concept that encompasses a structure known as the cerebral cortex. It is the outermost layer that forms our brain and reaches its maximum development in adulthood. These areas are called integrative, since they process a large amount of information from different structures and give it a unique meaning.

Higher brain functions are what place us at the peak of evolution. Many consider it as higher thinking, the most developed part of the brain that makes us reflective. This is so because these functions seem to be associated with attention, decision-making, awareness, language, judgment, the ability to think ahead, etc.

Phylogenetically they arose as our cranial capacity increased, probably due to the need to adapt to hostile and changing environments.

What are the higher brain functions?

Lower brain function refers to an innate reaction to a stimulus from the environment (if I burn my hand, I withdraw it); while the superior ones are more elaborate, such as deception or the call of attention to others.

These functions are necessary for typical school learning activities such as reading, writing, arithmetic, music, sports, arts, etc. These are knowledge that is transmitted from generation to generation, assumed as an element of human cultural heritage.

They can be seen through our behavior and are very useful for developing artistic abilities and creativity.

Azcoaga (1977) defines that higher brain functions are, basically, praxias (learned movement patterns), gnosias (giving meaning to what our senses capture) and language. They are based on these aspects:

• They are exclusive to humans, that is, they do not exist in other animal species.
• Unlike the lower functions, the higher ones are developed through learning mediated by social interaction. The reciprocal influence of neurological maturation and the experiences that are lived build these functions.
• They are necessary for other learning processes to take place.
• They give us the ability to handle two or more types of information or events simultaneously.

Main higher mental processes

-Gnosias

They are associated with perception, but a more complex sense: giving meaning to what we grasp. It consists of the ability to recognize stimuli that are stored in our memory. Thus, gnosias allow us to know or recognize our environment, its objects and ourselves and find meaning in it.

It involves the different sensory systems and the areas of the brain that give it different meanings according to each moment and place. As well as our memory, with the aim of relating aspects already learned with the new ones.

For this type of learning to appear, several elements must arrive together from the senses to the cerebral cortex. When these elements appear together repeatedly, your learning is consolidated. For example, we associate a place with a certain smell and when that smell appears in another context, we are surprised.

There are two types of gnosias according to their complexity:

- Simple gnosias: simple perceptions that allow us to give meaning to information that comes directly from the senses: visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory and olfactory.

- Complex gnosias: these are simple but integrated gnosias, forming in a combined way other more elaborate perceptions. For example, the perception of time or space, movement, speed or our own body and its position (the latter is called somatognosia).

Inside here we frame the visuospatial gnosias, which involve the recognition of planes, distances, geometric shapes… all associated with spatial orientation.

When it is damaged it results in a condition called agnosia. It is characterized by a lack of recognition of the world either visually (visual agnosia), audibly (auditory agnosia), tactile (tactile agnosia), olfactory (anosmia) or in the body scheme (asomatognosia). The funny thing is that the damage is not in their sensory organs (eyes, ears, skin…) but in their brain centers that give it meaning.

It is a typical manifestation of dementia and is observed in that they already have difficulty recognizing familiar faces, objects, familiar smells, their own body, etc.

-Praxias

It consists of performing controlled and voluntary learned movements. They can already be simple or complex and appear in response to certain environmental stimuli.

Some examples can be playing an instrument, communication by gestures, buttoning a shirt, tying our shoes, lighting a candle, brushing our teeth, etc.

Thus, it requires that we do not have damage to our muscles, joints, bones… That the brain centers that direct movement are preserved, as well as the areas that supervise the movements we are doing; and a preserved memory, since we have to remember how to execute the movements that we have learned.

For praxia to occur, the entire brain needs to function properly, mainly the motor and sensory systems.

When certain brain injuries occur, a condition called apraxia appears. It means an inability to do learned motor tasks without any motor paralysis, problems with muscle tone or posture, or sensory deficits.

You have to know that praxis and gnosias are not separate concepts, and that at the level of brain activity they work together and indivisible. In fact, there is the so-called "constructive praxia" in which visuospatial gnosia and praxis work at the same time. It is observed in tasks such as copying pictures, doing puzzles or constructions with cubes.

-Language

It is the capacity that most represents human beings and that differentiates us from other species. Humans have been able to create languages, facilitating the learning of each individual and causing our intelligence and knowledge to advance by leaps and bounds.

This human form of language is considered the "symbolic language", characterized by very varied discrete sounds that can be infinitely combined, giving the freedom to express what we want.

Even our way of communicating gives rise to multiple nuances and games: rhymes, poetry, metaphors…

Language is a very complex task that requires a preserved orophonatory device, a good memory to remember expressions, words, sounds, syllables, letters…

In addition to that the areas that control the movement of our organs involved in speech are preserved, and that we are able to monitor what we are saying / writing and correct it if necessary. The latter implies that we are aware that what we say has a meaning and coherence and that it is appropriate for the moment in which we find ourselves.

For the understanding of language the same thing happens: understanding what another tells us requires sophisticated and multiple mechanisms. All this integrative process occurs thanks to our higher brain functions.

This is so because language is something we are predisposed to, but if we don't have someone to teach us, we are not going to develop it. It is a skill that grows and is enriched as it is practiced.

When this superior capacity is damaged, the well-known aphasias appear in which the person cannot produce language or understand it due to some cerebral alteration. This in the absence of motor speech problems. You can see in this article what aphasia is, the types that exist and their treatment.

-Executive functions

It can be said that they are the most complex mental processes that are responsible for directing, supervising, organizing, and planning our actions. They are considered superior brain functions for integrating and handling a large amount of information continuously.

They are involved in making proper decisions, predicting consequences, solving problems more effectively, abstract ideas, etc. In short, it is our most "rational" part, the "boss" who is in charge of organizing all the other systems in the best possible way.

Within the executive functions, a type of attention can be included: that which is voluntary and consciously directed to a stimulus, even if it is not our preference, making an effort to inhibit other distractions.

For example, we can choose to attend the teacher in class, even if it is not very motivating for us, while avoiding being distracted by noise or interruptions. This would be the form of attention most typical of executive functions.

The same can happen with memory, when we make an active effort to remember a word or concept that we temporarily do not have access to.

Or, those strategies that we learn in school to voluntarily memorize mathematical formulas. And even our own methods that we are perfecting to learn the content of an exam. All this requires a conscious and controlled use of our memory.

On the other hand, executive functions also allow us to make assessments: see if the decision we have made has been a good one or we could have done something better.

There is also a capacity called metacognition, which enables us to regulate our own learning and reflect on our own thoughts and reasoning. It would be something like thinking about our way of thinking.

Executive functions are located throughout the prefrontal cortex of our brain, and the main neurotransmitters involved are norepinephrine and dopamine.

When this structure is damaged, problems appear to regulate their own behavior, the person can become uninhibited, childish, not controlling their impulses, not foreseeing consequences, having difficulties directing their attention, decreased motivation, persistent behaviors, etc.

Behavior and disturbances

One of the methods for discovering the behavior of higher brain functions has been through injury studies. That is, it is observed with some neuroimaging technique which region of the brain is damaged and is associated with the behaviors in which the person has difficulties.

By comparing many studies of different injuries, we end up discovering areas that if damaged cause the same behavioral results in all individuals.

Through neuroimaging studies it has also been possible to observe how several participants, who carried out certain activities, activate certain brain areas according to each moment.

However, unlike the lower functions, it is important to know that the higher brain functions are not located in limited areas of the brain; but rather they are integrated into groups that make up a brain network full of neural connections.

Four types of bark

To better understand how higher brain functions are organized, we are going to describe the four types of cerebral cortex that exist and their location.

Primary barks

They are the ones that directly receive sensory information from the periphery.

They are mainly the visual area (located in the occipital cortex), the auditory area (temporal lobes), gustatory area (parietal operculum), olfactory area (frontobasal areas), motor areas (pre-rolandic gyrus) and somatosensory area (post-rolandic gyrus).

If these cortices are injured, they will cause sensitivity difficulties such as blindness, hypoesthesia or decreased sensitivity or partial paralysis. The information that these zones process is sent to the unimodal cortices.

Unimodal association barks

These would be the most related to higher brain functions, since they give meaning to the information that comes from the unimodal cortices according to what has been learned in previous experiences.

Its neurons send projections to the heteromodal cortices and Paralympic regions.

Heteromodal association barks

Also called multimodal, they are also associated with higher brain functions because they integrate both motor and sensory information from different different modalities.

This processing is what allows us to develop attention, language, planning of voluntary movements, visuospatial processing, etc.

Limbic and paralimbic cortex

They are those involved in emotional processing and consist of the oldest phylogenetically speaking regions. They include areas such as the amygdala, hippocampus, cingulum, insula, etc.

It establishes multiple connections with the unimodal, heteromodal cortices and other structures such as the hypothalamus.

References

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