Brain and Nervous System (Chapters 2-3) Flashcards
Forensic Psychologists
- work in criminal, civil and family legal areas
- provide services to criminals, victims, justice personnel and police
- aim to understand the cause, treatment and prevention of criminal behaviour
- they do many jobs to do with the courts, criminals and victims psychological treatment, and do profiling.
Educational Psychologists
- focused on how people develop and learn through their lives
- works with young children, adolescents, young adults on educational, social and developmental issues
- work with people with learning difficulties, attachment problems, difficult behaviour, developmental concerns/disabilities
- help teachers, parents, and child with school avoidance, learning difficulties, bullying and other behavioural problems
Health Psychologists
- Work within the health care system and promote the prevention and treatment of illness
- understand how the effect of psychological factors related to health and illness can affect a person’s ability to function
- develop health promotion programs to assist with the prevention of illnesses such as cancer, heart attacks, stroke.
Brain vs Heart Debate
- this debate is about if the heart or the brain is the source and centre of intelligent thought, personality, decision making and consciousness.
- there is still not a debate winner
Greeks View on the Brain vs Heart Debate
- Ancient Greeks: believed the brain was the seat of all mental processes and the mind was split into three parts (Tripartite, Logistikon, Epithumetikon) There were some that suggested the heart was the centre of thought.
- Aristotle said the mind/soul described the non-physical aspect of being human. it was a word to represent our consciousness, thinking, emotions and imagination or any mental processes that could not be seen.
Egyptians view on the Brain vs Heart debate
- Ancient Egyptians: believed the heart was the centre of intelligence, reason and personality as well as the most vital organ. (Either granted afterlife or damned them)
Phrenology
- it is a pseudo-science (false science). it is the view that mental processes and personality were controlled by 37 different specific brain organs.
- by studying these 37 brain organs, a phrenologist was supposedly able to determine a person’s character, intelligence and other behaviours and functions.(its size determined how much it was used)
- first developed in 1796 by Franz Joseph Gall
Monism
the view that the mind is the same as the body
dualism
- it is the view that the mind and body are two separate entities
mind body problem
- Descartes tried to explain the mind-body problem. he viewed the mind and the body as two distinct systems.
- the mind is the non-physical aspect and responsible for awareness, ability to think, reflect and reason - reasonable for consciousness
- he believed that the non-material mind that constructs reality and causes to exsist.
Case Studies
this is an in-depth study of some behaviour/event through observation, diagnostic tests, interviews and analysis of medical records.
Autopsy
- surgically opening up the body of a deceased person to examine the location of damage/illness/cause of death
- they are not only carried out to determine the cause of death, this method has been used for centuries to either determine the cause of death or confirm a hypothesis
Hemispheric Specialization surgeries
important information has been gained through split-brain patients who have undergone a surgical procedure that severs the corpus callosum
Non-Surgical Procedures
Direct electrical stimulation of cortical areas and the advent of more sophisticated neuroimaging devise, has allowed researchers to build their understanding of normal as well as damaged brains.
Electrical Brian stimulation
Originally, in order to examine which brain structures were damaged, doctors and researchers had to wait for the patient to die.
Wilder Graces Penfield is known for his work of mapping the brain using an ESB device. This device is a probe that sends a mild electrical pulse. (Montreal procedure: involving opening a patient’s skull and destroying the neurons in the brain where the epileptic seizures originated). While conducting this experiment, he would also symmetrically map the brain using the ESB device.
EEG
▫ This device known as the electroencephalograph (EGG) is when small electrodes are placed on the head to detect abnormalities in brain function.
▫ Today the EEG detects, amplifies and records electrical activity of the brain and portrays this as brain waves on a computer.
Although it is useful in showing electrical activity of the brain, it is unable to show the specific location of that activity.
Positron Emission Tomography
- PET is a therapy technique based on the increase of blood flow and glucose consumption when areas of the brain are activated during cognitive processing.
- it measures the volume and location of blood flow by tracking radioactive
- Advantage:
Allows the researcher to see the brain in action when a person is under the
influence of drugs - Disadvantage:
It uses radioactive material to show areas of activation, meaning there is a
small-time limit.
Single photon emission computed tomography
- SPECT uses radioactive tracers and a scanner that detects gamma rays.
- the SPECT takes a series of 2D images that are combined to form a 3D image.
Advantage:
SPECT provides a true 3D image of the brain that can be manipulated on
the screen for examination
Disadvantage:
Uses a radioactive tracer that requires an injection into the bloodstream.
Computerised tomography
- Computerised tomography produces a high-resolution 3D image of the brain
- The patient is injected with a substance called “contrast” iodine. This highlights the blood vessels in the brain and enables the interpretation of the CT image
Advantage
Computerised tomography
- Computerised tomography produces a high-resolution 3D image of the brain
- The patient is injected with a substance called “contrast” iodine. This highlights the blood vessels in the brain and enables the interpretation of the CT image
Advantage
produces a detailed 2D/3D image of the brain
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- MRI uses harmless magnetic fields and radio waves to produce a computed enhanced image of the brain
- the patient lies in a chamber with a huge magnet that lines the protons of hydrogen atoms into parallel lines. creating a faint signal that is processed and produced into an image by the computer
- Advantage
produces detailed 3D image - Disadvantage
cannot be used on people with internal metal devices
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- fMRI works the same as the traditional MRI but it also monitors blood flow and oxygen consumption to reveal areas of brain activity
- as a patient performs a task, this technology produces an image to show the locations and levels of brain activity
- advantage
enables researchers to view blood flow and oxygen consumption levels in
the brain - disadvantage
unable to detect which receptors are being activated by particular
neurotransmitters.
Diffuse Optical Tomography
- DOT is a non-invasive device that uses dozens of tiny infrared lights to produce images of the brain and other soft tissue
- it works on the basis of tracking the absorption of oxygenated blood and produces a spatial map of the brain while mental processes are taking place in multiple brain networks
- advantages
it provides a spatial map of the brain while mental processes are taking place - disadvantage
no significant disadvantage for using DOT
Magentoencephalography
- MEG is a non-invasive imaging technique enabling the researcher to investigate ongoing human activity in the brain on a millisecond’’ ‘’ basis
- it operates on that the brain produces electrical activity and a measurable magnetic field outside of the brain (like an electroencephalograph)
- advantage
non-invasive technique that records brain activity and functions - disadvantage
no significant disadvantage
Functional near infrared spectroscopy
- fNIRS is a research technique offering a non-inwasive method of monitoring brain activity.
- it works by measuring changes in near-infrared light so blood flow is monitored. it tracks oxygenated blood and works on the fact that structures are most active and will have more oxygenated blood.
- advantage
it uses specific wavelengths of light to monitor changes in oxygenated blood. so active areas of the brian are viewed - disadvantage
it cannot detect neural activity deeper than 4cm
