First Chapter thingy!! Flashcards
Bacteriorhodopsin
A light-sensitive protein which is used to precisely control neuronal activity by light pulses
Cognitive Psychology
The study of mental activity as an information processing problem
ischemia
inadequate blood supply especially in the brain
Most common form of stroke
Occlusion of the normal passage of blood by a foreign substance
Atherosclerosis
Fatty tissue may accumulate in the arteries leading to a stroke.
Infarct
A a small localised area of dead tissue
Aneurysm
A bulge in a blood vessel
Degenerative disorders
are associated with genetic aberrations and environmental agents
Edema
swelling in the brain
TBI
Traumatic Brain Injury
DAI
Diffuse axonal injury which disrupts the axonal cytoskeleton and transport
Epilepsy
Excessive and abnormally patterened activity in the brain. Seizures can be confirmed by EEG when large oscillations can be seen.
Double dissociations
offer the strongest neuropsychological evidence that a patient or patient group has a selective deficit in a certain cognitive function.
Limitations of lesion approach
- There is considerable variability
- Lesions may alter the function of connected regions
Agonist Drugs
Drugs have a similar structure to a neurotransmitter and mimic its actions
Knockout Genetic Procedures
Specific genes can be manipulated so they are no longer expressed
Hippocampi in PTSD
They have smalled Hippocampi that typical individuals.
But PTSD did not cause atrophy
A smaller hippocampi was a risk factor for developing PTSD
DBS
Deep Brain Stimulation, where electrodes are implanted into brain regions for an extended period of time to modulate neuronal activity.
The electrodes deliver continuous electrical stimulation.
Optogenectics
A biological techinique to control the activity of neurons with light to potentially manipulate behaviour.
Used in mice to reduce anxiety through light sensitive neurons in the amygdala.
Noninvasive Stimulation Methods
Electrical or magnetic fields created on the scalp create changes in the brain
TMS
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
It sends an electrical current through the brain into specific regions which inhibit or enhance brain activity.
CAT
Computerised Tomography
An extension of X-Rays in which a computer constructs a 3d pic form many 2d pics
MRI
Magnetic Resonance Imaging where it exploits the magnetic properties of atoms. It creates a powerful magnetic field
DTI
Diffusion Tensor Imaging where an MRI scanner studies the anatomical structure of the axon tracts that forms the brain’s white matter
It measures the motion of water in axons and reveal the major white matter tracts
Single Cell Neurophysiology
Measuring the action potential of a single cell
The goal is to see if manipulations produce a consistent change in the response rate of the cell compared to baseline activity.
Raster Plot
Shows data of neuron activity from many trials
Peristimulus histogram
A bar graph that shows the average response of the neuron over a trial
Multiunit Recording
Recording the activity of many neurons at once. (Over 400 at times)
ECoG
Electrocorticography, is when a strip of electrodes are placed directly on the surface of the brain
EEG
Electroencephalography, when non-invasive electrodes are placed on the scalp. Not as good as ECoG but does not require brain surgery
ERP
Event Related Potential, is a tiny signal embedded in the EEG triggered by a stimulus or movement
Are best at addressing questions about the time course of cognition, rather than to localise the brain structures that produce electrical events
MEG
Magnetoencephalography measures the magnetic fields produced by the brain’s electrical activity that is parallel to the surface of the skull.
Very expensive as the magnetic fields are weak so the room needs to be magnetically shielded.
Hemodynamic Response
The change of blood levels in regions in the brain
PET
Positron Emission Tomography
Uses radioactive-labeled compounds to measure local variations in cerebral blood that are correlated with neural activity
A common isotope is oxygen-15 and is administered in water
The results are reported as a change in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF)
fMRI
Focuses on th magnetic propeties of deoxygenated form of hemoglobin. It measures the ratio or the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD)
MRS
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, a tool to obtain information about the chemical composition of tissues. Added onto an MRI machine
Pittsburgh Compound B
PiB, a biomarker that PET scans can pick up which can be useful in the diagnosis of Alzheimers
Simulation
an imitation of a behaviour in another medium
