Chapter 5 - The Research Methods of Biopsychology Flashcards
contrast x-ray techniques
x-ray techniques that involve the injection, into one compartment of the body, of a substance that absorbs x-rays either less than or more than surrounding tissue
cerebral angiography
a contrast x-ray technique for visualizing the cerebral circulatory system by infusing a radio-opaque dye into the cerebral artery
computed tomography (CT)
a computer assisted x-ray procedure that can be used to visualize the brain and other internal structures of the living body
positron emission tomography (PET)
technique for visualizing brain activity, usually by measuring the accumulation of the radioactive fluorodexyglucose (FDG) in active areas in the brain
ligands
ions or molecules that bind to other molecules under investigation
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
a structural brain imaging procedure in which high-resolution images are constructed from the measurement of waves that hydrogen atoms emit when they are activated by radio-frequency waves in a magnetic field
> high spatial resolution
spatial resolution
the ability to detect and represent differences in spatial location
functional MRI (fMRI)
magnetic resonance imaging technque for inferring brain activity by measuring increased oxygen flow into particular areas
> Nothing has to be injected
> provides both structural and functional information
> spatial resolution is better
> produce three-dimensional images of activity over the entire brain
BOLD signal
the blood-oxygen-level- dependent signal
temporal resolution
ability of a recording technique to detect differences in time (to pinpoint when an event occurred)
Diffusion tensor imaging
MRI technique that is used for identifying major tracts
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
technique that can be used to turn off an area of human cortex by creating a magnetic field under a coil positioned next to the skull
> temporarily turns off part of the brain while the effects of the disruption on cognition and behavior are assessed
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
technique used to stimulate (“turn on”) an area of the cortex by applying an electrical current through two electrodes placed directly on the scalp
electroencephalography
electroen- cephalogram (EEG) is a measure of the gross electrical activ- ity of the brain. It is recorded through large electrodes by a device called an electroencephalograph (EEG machine), and the technique is called electroencephalography
alpha waves
regular, 8- to 12-per-second, high-amplitude waves that are associated with relaxed wakefulness
event-related potentials (ERPs)
accompanying EEG waves are generally referred
sensory evoked potential
change in the
cortical EEG signal elicited by the
momentary presentation of a sensory
stimulus
signal averaging
method used to reduce the noise of the background EEG
P300 wave
the positive wave that occurs about 300 milli- seconds after a momentary stimulus that has meaning for the subject
far-field potentials
small waves, they originate far away in the sensory nuclei of the brain stem
magnetoencephalography (MEG)
measures changes in magnetic fields on the surface of the scalp that are produced by changes in underlying patterns of neural activity
Electromyography
usual procedure for measuring muscle tension, resulting record is called an electromyogram (EMG), EMG activity is usually recorded between two electrodes taped to the surface of the skin over the muscle of interest
electrooculography (eye movement)
Electrooculography is based on the fact that a steady potential difference exists between the front (positive) and back (negative) of the eyeball
> when the eye moves, a change in the electrical potential between electrodes placed around the eye can be recorded
skin conductance level (SCL) and the skin conductance response (SCR)
SCL: a measure of the background level of skin conductance associated with a particular situation
SCR: the transient change is skin conductance associated with a discrete experience
cardiovascular activity - heart rate
electrocardiogram (EKG) - recording electrical signals associated with heart beats
cardiovascular activity - blood pressure
systoles, and a measurement of the minimum pressure during the periods of relaxation, the diastoles
> hypertension: chronically high blood pressure
cardiovascular activity - blood volume
Plethysmography: refers to the various techniques for measuring changes in the volume of blood in a particular part of the body (plethysmos means “an enlargement”)
stereotaxic atlas
used to locate brain structures in much the same way that a geographic atlas is used to locate geographic landmarks
bregma
the point on the top of the skull where two of the major sutures (seams in the skull) intersect
stereotaxic instrument
two parts: a head holder, which firmly holds each subject’s brain in the prescribed position and orientation; and an electrode holder, which holds the device to be inserted
aspiration
lesion technique in which tissue is drawn off by suction through the fine tip of a gals pipette
Reversible lesions
methods for temporarily eliminating the activity in a par- ticular area of the brain while tests are being conducted
neurotoxins
neural poisons
autoradiography
technique of photographically developing brain slices that have been exposed to a radioactively labeled substances ( such as 2-deoxyglucose) so that regions of high uptake are made visible
Cerebral dialysis
method of measuring the extracellular concentration of specific neu- rochemicals in behaving animals
Immunocytochemistry
procedure for locating particular proteins in the brain by labeling their antibodies with dye or radioactive element and then exposing slices of brain tissue to the labeled antibodies
in situ hybridization
technique takes advantage of the fact that all peptides and proteins are transcribed from sequences of nucleotide bases on strands of mes- senger RNA
Gene knockout techniques
procedures for creating organisms that lack a particular gene under investigation
Gene replacement techniques
Pathological genes from human cells can be inserted in other animals such as mice—mice that contain the genetic material of another species are called transgenic mice
Green fluorescent protein (GFP)
protein that exhibits bright green fluorescence when exposed to blue light
Opsins
light-sensitive ion channels that are found in the cell membranes of certain bacteria and algae,
When opsins are illuminated with light, they open and allow ions to enter the cell
optogenetics
inserting an opsin gene into a particular type of neuron, a neuroscientist could use light to hyperpolarize or depolarize neurons
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
widely used test of general intelligence that includes 11 subtests
digit span subtest
identifies the longest sequence of random digits that a patient can repeat correctly 50 percent of the time; most people have a digit span of 7
token test
preliminary test for language-related deficits that involves following verbal instructions to touch or move tokens of different shapes, sizes and colors
sodium amytal test
involves injecting the an- esthetic sodium amytal into either the left or right carotid artery in the neck. This temporarily anesthetizes the ipsi- lateral (same-side) hemisphere while leaving the contralat- eral (opposite-side) hemisphere largely unaffected
dichotic listening test
sequences of spoken digits are presented to volunteers through stereo headphones
> Three digits are presented to one ear at the same time that three different digits are presented to the other ear
Repetition priming tests
tests of implicit memory, in one example, a list of words is presented then fragments of the original words are presented and the subject is asked to complete
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
neuropsychological test that evaluates a patient’s ability to remember that previously learned rules of behavior are no longer effective and to learn to respond to new rules
constituent cognitive processes
simple cognitive process that combine to produce complex cognitive processes
paired-image subtraction technique
the use of PET or fMRI to locate constituent cognitive processes in the brain by producing an image of the difference in brain activity associated with two cognitive tasks that differ in terms of a single constituent cognitive process
default mode network
the network of brain structures that tends to be active when the brain is in default mode
default mode
the pattern of brain activity that is present when humans sit quietly and let their minds wander
mean (averaged) difference image
in the context of functional neuroimaging, the average of the difference images (obtained via paired-image substraction) obtained from multiple participants
Species-common behaviors
behaviors that are displayed in the same manner by virtually all like member of a species
open-field test
in this test an animal is placed in a large, barren chamber and it’s activity is recorded
thigmotaxic
tending to stay near the walls of an open space such as a test chamber
colony-intruder paradigm
a paradigm for the study of aggressive and defensive behaviors in male rats, a small male intruder rat is placed in an established colony in order to study the aggressive responses of the colony’s alpha male and the defensive responses of the intruder
elevated plus maze
an animal model of anxiety, anxious rats tend to stay in the enclosed arms of the maze rather than venturing onto the open arms
lordosis quotient
the proportion of mounts that elicit lordosis
Pavlovian conditioning paradigm
a paradigm in which the experimenter pairs an initially neutral stimulus (conditional stimulus) with a stimulus ( unconditional stimulus) that elicits a reflexive response (unconditional response); after several pairings, the neutral stimulus elicits a conditional response
operant conditioning paradigm
paradigm in which the rate of a particular voluntary response is increased by reinforcement or decreased punishment
self-stimulation paradigm
paradigm in which animals press a lever to administer reinforcing electrical stimulation to particular sites in their own brains
conditioned taste aversion
an avoidance response that develops to the taste of food whose consumption has been followed by illness
radial arm maze
widely used test of rat’s spatial ability in which the same arms are baited on each trial, and the rats must learn to visit only the baited arm once per trial
Morris water maze
pool of milky water that has a goal platform invisible just beneath its surface and is used to study the ability of rats to learn spatial locations
conditioned defensive burying
the burial of a source of aversive stimulations by rats
