fMRI and cognition

Question 1

MRIs

Answer 1

Atoms align when in the magnetic field

Send a radio wave to make them face a new direction

When they relax and return to their previous alignment, they emit energy

Hydrogen atoms in different tissues

Question 2

fMRI

Answer 2

Blood flow

Blood is diamagnetic (weak field) when oxygenated but paramagnetic (strong) when deoxygenated

Advantages

• Spatial resolution
• Non-invasive
• Reasonable temporal resolution

Disadvantages

• Not a direct measure of activity and care should be taken when interpreting it
• Noisy, have to stay still
• Expensive

Question 3

Adams et al (2010)

Answer 3

Both Jap and Ame ps performed vetter on the same vs other culture MS coding from the eyes

Performance pattern was mirrored by culturally tuned neural activity

Tells us

• Own race bias in the ability to infer MS can be consistently seen
• Cultural consistency
• Facial emotion recognition in both pops

Question 4

Kana et al (2016)

Answer 4

Explict and implicit emotions

Autistic ps

Autistic ps had reduced activation relative to the neurotypical ps for implicit emotion processing but not explicit

Brain activity is slightly different during implicit emotional processing

Question 5

Brain as predictor framework

Answer 5

Step 1) Generate hypothesis of which brain regions are involved with a specific cognitive process

Step 2) Collect data in which neural activation in hypothesised regions is measured and data on behavioural outcomes is recorded

Step 3) Test whether the activity in the brain regions specified in step 1 predicts behaviour outcomes measures in step 2