A walk through the brain - week 5 - How to measure brain activity

Question 1

How is stereotaxic surgery conducted?

Answer 1

is to insert an electrode
directly into the brain and send an electric
current through it

y (see C&B, pp. 102-103)

Question 2

Functional MRI (fMRI)

Answer 2

Uses measures of the level of
oxygen in the brain’s blood
vessels
* This is assumed to represent
actual brain activity in a
particular region.
* Can reveal more detailed
information about brain activity
rather than just brain state.

Question 3

(BOLD= blood oxygen
level dependent signal).

Question 4

EEG: Electroencephalography

Answer 4

Places an electrode onto the
surface of the brain to detect
the electrical activity under
that electrode.

Question 5

EEG: Electroencephalography

Answer 5

Places an electrode onto the
surface of the brain to detect
the electrical activity under
that electrode.

Question 6

“Brain waves

Answer 6

The electrical signals from each
electrode can be classified into
frequency of signals, in terms of how
often it fluctuates per second (called a
“hertz”).

Question 7

Exercise: what kind of brain activities
are each of these EEG ‘frequency
bands’ associated with?

Question 8

IQ: What do the Greek letters
refer to?
See page 20 of lesson

Question 9

How could you use EEG to teach yourself something important about
your own brain functioning?

Question 10

How could you use EEG to teach yourself something important about
your own brain functioning?

Question 11

Do a quick search of Google Scholar, and see if you can find a few
research articles that use EEG to detect differences between
participants with disorders.

Question 12

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Answer 12

involves analysing the brain’s electrical activity via the magnetic fields it generates just outside the skull

Question 13

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Answer 13

involves analysing the brain’s electrical activity via the magnetic fields it generates just outside the skull