Converging methods and decision making

Question 1

What is the Hol(e)y Trinity?

Answer 1

Mind, Brain, Behabiour

Question 2

What are the challanges in the

Brain
Mind
Behaviour?

Answer 2

Brain: massively complex
~100 billions neurons
~100 trillion synapses

Mind: not directly observable

Behaviour:
noisy, inconsistent, individualized, diverse

Question 3

What are the goals of cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 3

Determine how the brain mediates cognition and behaviour

relate neural structures to mental function and behaviour

Question 4

type on a keyboard and move mouse and then observe out put would be related to what type of neuroscience experiment?

Answer 4

Behavioral

Question 5

Record voltage and currents with multimeter would be what?

Answer 5

Single unit recording

Question 6

diconnect different components and observe effect

Answer 6

lesion method

Question 7

record content of RAM every few seconds

Answer 7

fMRI

Question 8

What method would prove to be the most effective at determining the working of a computer/ mind?

Answer 8

there is a need for converging methods

to understand from all levels we need a diverse set of research methods that span across multiple levels and approaches

Question 9

What does DTI do?

Answer 9

measuring fiber tracts between brain areas

Question 10

What does PET do?

Answer 10

Using radiotracers to track dopamine distribution in the brain

Question 11

What does pharmacological intervention do?

Answer 11

Administering a psychoactive chemical and looking at the effects of that

Ex. Effects of L-dopa on reinforcement learning

Question 12

What is the genetic method?

Answer 12

what versions of specific genes and patterns of behaviour and neural activity match up

DARPP-32 and DRD2 genes involved in D1 and D2 dopamine receptor predict individual differences in exploration and exploitation

Question 13

What is MEG?

Answer 13

Imaging of magnetic fields due to neural activity

less influenced by scale so better localization than EEG

Question 14

What is fNIRS?

Answer 14

Imaging hemodynamic response non-invasively

Question 15

What is a Brainbow?

Answer 15

Imaging of individual neurons using genetic manipulation and fluorescent proteins

Question 16

What is Optogenetics?

Answer 16

genetic manipulation to allow use of light to switch neurons on and off

Question 17

What are the benefits of converging methods (2)

Answer 17

Independent epistemic support

complementation

Question 18

What is and example of independent epistemic support?

Answer 18

an example of this would be If you use lesion study and it suggests insula plays a role in cognition and then do an fMRI study and it also points to the insula

helps re-assures that both studies are believable

good type of replication

Question 19

What is complementation?

Answer 19

To obtain complementary info about the phenomenon under investigation

not just confirming but providing additional info that helps up build a larger picture

different perspective and new insight

Question 20

Lesion method allows you to do what but does not give info on what?

Answer 20

The loss of cognitive function following lesion but does not directly reveal what info processing operation that area performed

Question 21

What are the pros and cons of Single unit recording

Answer 21

Can tell a cell is particularly active in a response to a stimuli but you need more information to know if that cell is processing that info or just conducting it

Question 22

What are the pros and cons of fMRI?

Answer 22

it can identify a network of brain areas

but this approach relies critically on a task analysis that is generally arrived at a priori by trying to image a set of operations that would perform the task