Lecture 21: Techniques Used In Healthcare

Question 0

How do our thoughts, feelings and behaviours etc. normally occur?

Answer 0

With a continuous background of physiological responding

Question 1

Why are we multiple determined?

Answer 1

We are complicated due to the things we do, how we think and how we feel

Question 2

What is an example of our physiology adjusting to meet a demand?

Answer 2

When we stand up, our heart rate and blood pressure adjust

Question 3

What is an example of our physiology altering for no actual demand?

Answer 3

When we are stuck in traffic, our heart rate and blood pressure also increase, but does not do so to meet a demand.

Question 4

What is the reactivity hypothesis?

Answer 4

A big demand = big trouble.

But this is not conclusive

Question 5

What is the relationship between physical output and demand?

Answer 5

Sometimes we require a big physical output to meat a high demand
Sometimes our body causes a big physical output with no demand

Question 6

What is recovery?

Answer 6

Sometimes this is not how much you respond, but how you get back to your original state

Question 7

What can help us get a clearer picture about our mind and bodies?

Answer 7

Examining bodily responses as well as what one does and says.

Question 8

What is an example of us saying one Thing and our bodys showing something different?

Answer 8

Lie detectors. These are called polygraphs

Question 9

What are lie detectors?

Answer 9

One type of psychophysiological technique.

It is based on the measuring of physiological responses that are thought to be mostly out of our conscious control

E.g. Sweat gland activity
Respiration changes
Muscle activity changes
Heart rate

Question 10

What is psychophysiology?

Answer 10

The branch of physiology that is concerned with the physiological bases of psychological processes.
We use this perspective to study the interface between the mind and the body.

Question 11

What is the brief history of psychophysiology?

Answer 11

It was a discipline off the mainstream psychological and medical science prior to the 1960-1970s

Recently, it has found itself positioned at the intersection of psychological and medical science.

Its popularity and importance have expanded commensurately with the realisation of the inter-relatedness of mind and body

Question 12

What main techniques/equipment/tests are part of modern psychophysiology?

Answer 12

Cardiovascular measures (EKG) including heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood pressure

Brain activity (ERP) which measures brain waves. Also use electroencephalography (EEG)

fMRI- functional magnetic resonance imaging
Muscle activity (electromyography, EMG)

Question 13

What is an EKG?

Answer 13

transthoracic interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time, as detected by electrodes attached to the surface of the skin and recorded by a device external to the body.

Measures heart rate, and its variability

Question 14

What is an ERP?

Answer 14

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) are a non-invasive method of measuring brain activity during cognitive processing. The transient electric potential shifts (aka ERP components) are time-locked to the stimulus onset. Each component reflects brain activation associated with one or more mental operations.

Question 15

What is an EEG?

Answer 15

a recording of the electrical waves of activity that occur in the brain, and across its surface.

Electrodes are placed on different areas of a person’s scalp, filled with a conductive gel, and then plugged into a recording device.

The brain waves are then attracted by the electrodes, travel to the recording device and then amplified so that they can be more easily seen and examined.

The EEG recording can be used to examine a variety of brain functions including sleep (the different stages of sleep) and different psychological disorders.

Question 16

What is fMRI?

Answer 16

Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, is a technique for measuring brain activity.

It detects the changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in throughout the brain

when an area is more active it consumes more oxygen and to meet this increased demand blood flow increases to the active area.

This can be shown with different colour schemes.

fMRI can be used to produce activation maps showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process.

Question 17

What is an EMG?

Answer 17

A measurement of the electrical activity of skeletal muscles.

This is recorded with the placement of small metal discs, called electrodes, applied to the skin’s surface.