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dumb brain > 4 - Investigating the Brain > Flashcards

4 - Investigating the Brain Flashcards

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1
Q

describe structural brain imaging

A

knowing the physical components in the brain, where they are to describe structure in detail

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2
Q

disadvantage of structural imaging

A

may not know what the component is for

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3
Q

what does structural imaging help to localise

A

changes in white (myelinated axons) matter and grey (neurons)

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4
Q

describe functional brain imaging

A

knowing the roles of brain regions and how areas work together

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5
Q

define direct measurement

A

directly measuring electrical activity or consequences of the activity in the brain

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6
Q

examples of electrical activity measured

A

post synaptic potentials

action potentials

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7
Q

how does the cap in EEG collect electrical activity data

A

macroelectrodes detect minute electrical changes across scalp’s surface then eephalogram created

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8
Q

what do EEGs show about electrical activity

A

frequency (divided into EEG correlates) and location

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9
Q

what does alpha data represent

A

visual and mental effort

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10
Q

what does beta data represent

A

motor control changes, alertness, wakefulness, anxious thinking

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11
Q

what does gamma data represent

A

cognitions, neurons linking cognition and motor function

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12
Q

what does delta data represent

A

sleep

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13
Q

what does theta data represent

A

alertness

mental activity

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14
Q

advantages of EEGs

A

relatively cheaper
good temporal resolution as neurons firing detected instantly
non-invasive, comfortable for children to use
portable

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15
Q

disadvantages of EEGs

A

can’t measure deep-brain electrical activity

poor spatial resolution so can’t pinpoint areas

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16
Q

describe magnetoencephalography

A

SQUID sensor detects weak magnetic field of current produced by APs in axons of cortical surface of the brain to map active regions

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17
Q

direct methods

A

EEG

MEG

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18
Q

indirect methods

A

fMRI
PET
DTI

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19
Q

advantages of MEG

A

good temporal resolution

good spatial resolution for sperficial brain parts i.e. cortex

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20
Q

what are the general disadvantages of MEG

A

poor spatial resolution for deep brain
not portable
v expensive
have to put head in machine so uncomfortable

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21
Q

specific disadvantage for MEG

A

if sensor and magnetic field aligned incorrectly then info can be missed

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22
Q

define indirect methods

A

picking up signals indirectly related to action potentials

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23
Q

how do fMRIs work

A

go into a tunnel to measure changes in local blood flow, volume, O2 consumption

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24
Q

describe the haemodynamic response

A

o2 flooding to area where neurons fired to support it and levels dropping below baseline when neuronal firing stops

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25
Q

how do fMRI magnets work

A

magnet picks up differences in magnetic properties of de/oxyg blood

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26
Q

what does BOLD stand for

A

Blood Oxygen Level Dependent signal

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27
Q

what graph do fMRIs create

A

brain diagram w voxels

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28
Q

fMRI advantages

A

more powerful magnet so better spatial resolution

better spat res for deep/superficial regions

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29
Q

general disadvantages of fMRI

A

uncomfortable due to tunnel

poor temporal res as O2 flows 7 seconds after firing and drops 15 secs after firing stops

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30
Q

fMRI disadvantages related to the magnet

A

safety issues, e.g. pacemaker
more powerful means more expensive
noisy magnet movement so unpleasant and can’t do auditory research

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31
Q

fMRI disadvantage related to BOLD signal

A

not fully understood or its relation to neural activity

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32
Q

describe PET

A

radioactive tracer taken and goes to active parts of brain as tracer in blood

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33
Q

what happens after the PET tracer breaks down

A

positron released and moves into immediate env and collides w electron to produce a gamma ray which sensor picks up

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34
Q

PET advantages

A

better spatial res than direct

tracers specific to nts can be taken to allow specific nt system activity to be mapped

35
Q

disadvantages of PET

A 
invasive
poor spatial res as gamma ray picked up not nt
expensive
biohazard
can't use w kids, pregnant women
36
Q

why does PET have a poor temporal resolution

A

relies on blood changes

37
Q

describe diffusion tensor imaging

A

water molecules within axons diffuse in parallel direction to axon so can work out axon orientation and locations

38
Q

what types of diffusion are there and what matter do they correspond to

A

free diffusion = grey

restricted diffusion = white

39
Q
  • of DTI
A

noisy
poor temporal res compared to direct
expensive

40
Q

+ of DTI

A

better temp res than fMRI and PET
can measure brain/white matter maturation
only method to see pathway communication and which area active first

41
Q

why is DTI more sensitive than MRI

A

decreased blood flow can be detected before neuronal death

42
Q

how may animals feel in unfamilar environments and what can be done about this

A

nervous/stressed

acclimatise and have regular contact w experimenter

43
Q

what can be difficult for animals being in an artificial environment

A

not around others and don’t live in a perfectly controlled environment, neither do humans

44
Q

how may animals be incentivised

A

food but don’t incentivise humans w basic needs for tasjs

45
Q

what’s not good about training animals lots

A

spontaneous things in humans may be over-trained in animals

46
Q

what’s difficult about rat species

A

interspecific variation so not equally able/inclined to do tasjs

47
Q

what is face validity with animals

A

are they exhibiting the right behaviours like humans would in that condition?

48
Q

what is construct validity

A

does the animal have the same underlying pathology and nervous system changes as humans when better understanding a condition?

49
Q

what does it mean when using prediction with animal models

A

thinking about if their improvements will be seen in humans using the same treatments

50
Q

what is an open field test

A

put animal in a chamber, see what it does, where it is, movement speed, where it’s looking, usually by computers

51
Q

disadvantages of open field trests

A

footage takes hours to analyse

data can be flawed and include repeated movement

52
Q

what’s a morris water maze

A

underwater maze testing spatial learning/memory, e.g. Alzheimer’s treatment, seeing if they understand platform’s position relative to surrounding environment

53
Q

what is impulsivity testing

A

after training, seeing if rat chooses to go left to get rewards immed or right, wait longer, get more rewards

54
Q

what is an operant chamber

A

training a rat to concentrate, look for a light to come on and put nose in right box for reward - impulsivity test

55
Q

what is a rat invasive procedure

A

make incision in skull to insert electrode and get measurements from desired area after putting under anaesthetic

56
Q

define experimental ablation

A

destroying part of animal’s brain to observe subsequent behaviour

57
Q

define lesion studies

A

creating a lesion and inferring the destroyed brain part’s function based on functions the animal can’t do anymore

58
Q

difference between non-selective and selective lesions

A

n-s destroys all types of neurons, fibre, tissue in an area, but selective destroys neurons with specific neurotransmitters

59
Q

what is a radio frequency/electrical lesion

A

using RF/elec to destroy tissue around electrode tip irreversibly but must create sham lesions

60
Q

define sham lesions

A

carrying out a procedure without turning on the electrode to make a more valid comparison

61
Q

define excitotoxic lesions

A

irreversibly removing cell bodies only by using kainic acid to excite cells to death by binding to glut receptors

62
Q

excitotoxic lesion advantage

A

spares axons passing by and so preserves fibres

63
Q

describe aspiration

A

irreversibly sucking out brain tissue from cortical regions

64
Q

describe local anaesthetic

A

blocking all Na+ channels to prevent APs so activity in an area is suppressed irrreversibly

65
Q

limitation of local anaesthetic

A

judging extent of suppression is hard as there’s no marker of how far it’s diffused

66
Q

how do selective toxins work

A

soma taking up toxins so they’re transferred to axon terminals leading to cell death irreversibly

67
Q

what is acute electrophysiology

A

taking recordings for a short amount of time

68
Q

what is chronic electrophysiology

A

permanent implants needing amplifies due to the small signal which may be used for treatment introduction, learning tasks, etc.

69
Q

what is intracellular electrophysiology

A

sharp instrument piercing a cell to record electrical activity inside

70
Q

what is patch clamping

A

using an electrode to suck onto the side of the cell

71
Q

what is extracellullar electrophysiology

A

recording electrical activity outside cell but may end up getting info from more than one cell

72
Q

single and multi unit difference

A

single neuron activity vs multi neuron activity

73
Q

describe microdialysis

A

tiny canula inserted into brain region to extract fluid for analysis where moleculres diffuse into dialysis fluid

74
Q

what does microdialysis analysis involve

A

detecting neurotransmitters and their products

75
Q

what is voltammetry

A

electrical markers of chemicals where release of chemicals causes a certain type of signal

76
Q

evaluation of voltammetry

A
  • expensive

+ can be sure amino acid excites only soma not axons as only soma affected

77
Q

what is studied in post-mortems

A

glia:neuron and gross measures for different conditions calculated
visualise neurons by using stains

78
Q

describe immunohistochemistry

A

selective labelling where a stain binds to a secondary antibody which is bound to a primary AB which is bound to a cell to see what cells/chemicals there are

79
Q

toxins do what in immunohistochemistry

A

bind to antibodies which bind to specific proteins and so kill specific cells

80
Q

describe tract tracing

A

anterograde tracers are taken up by dendrites then released at synapses or retrograde tracers are taken up by axon terminal and travel to soma

81
Q

in tract tracing, what method of identification is used

A

using fluroescent tagging

82
Q

describe transneuronal tracing

A

infecting cells w a virus then releasing it to infect other cells which infected cells has formed synaptic connections with to see pathways

83
Q

limitations of tract tracing

A

need to determine if observation is an action potential or post-synaptic potential
retro/anterograde tracers identify single neuronal chain only

dumb brain (9 decks)

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