Lecture 9 - fMRI Research: Localising Cognitive Functions Flashcards
What is one of the main reasons fMRI is useful for the study of psychology?
fMRI is one way to visualise where certain cognitive functions occur (mainly) in the brain.
What is one of the early classical fMRI studies that looked at cognitive functions in the brain, specifically face processing?
Kanwishe and collegues in 1997 looked at face processing/identification in the brain and found an area in the back of the brain (the fusiform gyrus on both hemispheres of the brain) that is significantly activated during facial recognition.
What was the result of Kanishwe et al’s (1997) proposal that there was a specific area in the brain area responsible for the recognition of faces?
This research prompted a lot more research looking at other areas, modules in the occipital lobe responsible for recognition of other objects.
What was the name of the module/area proposed to be responsible for the recognition of faces by Kanwishe et al (1997)?
The Fusiform Face Area (FFA).
What was the argument used by Gautier et al to design a study using “Greebles” and what did they find and propose?
Gautier et al argued that perhaps the FFA was actually doing something different than just facial recognition. They found that the FFA was activated when participants became experts in recognition of the made up figures/objects called “Greebles”. They then proposed that the FFA was responsible for processing images that we are experts in recognising, such as faces, as opposed to being an exclusive area for facial recognition, which is what Kanwishe et al proposed.
What did Malach et al propose about both Gautier and Kanwishe’s interpretation of the activation seen in the FFA when participants perceive faces and Greebles?
Malach et al argued that both Gautier and Kanwishe misinterpreted the activation of the FFA when participants perceived faces and Greebles. They proposed that as the visual cortex was organised in a manner where objects that tend to be front and centre are processed in the FFA whereas objects that tend to be in the periphery are processed in the areas around the FFA. So, it is not that this area is specialised in facial recognition nor is it to do with expertise in certain object recognition, rather it is to do with where in our visual field we generally encounter these objects.
Is there consensus about whether the FFA is in fact an area in the brain focused on recognition of faces or expertise or if the ventral visual cortex is organised based on our field of vision?
No. Some say that the findings of Kanwishe, Gautier, Malach and collegues could all be true, however, there is no consensus and this still an active area of research that uses fMRI..
How did Haxby and colleagues suggest the brain recognises objects?
Instead of thinking about the ventral visual cortex (responsible for object recognition) as being made up of modules whose role it it is to recognise specific types of objects, Haxby et al proposed that the brain is able to recognise objects through unique distributions of neurons, a “distributed code” across the entire ventral visual cortex.
The “distribute code” theory of object recognition has allowed for advancements in reading fMRI scans. Give an example of this.
Using the “distributed code” theory of object recognition scientists have developed ‘classifiers’ or computer programs that are able to decode fMRI scans and determine what an individual is observing as well as predicting brain behaviour/activation patterns based on what an individual is observing.
What was the experiment done by Gautier et al to propose that FFA was more for expertise than face recognition?
They used “Greebles” and showed that familiarisation with greebles excited the same area.
What did Malach et al say about Gautier and Kanwisher?
Malach et al suggested that neither of these propositions were correct and suggested instead that faces tend to appear in the centre of our vision and the ventral visual cortex is spatially organised.
What did Haxby et al suggest about object recognition in the ventral visual cortex?
Haxby et al suggested that the whole of the ventral visual cortex is used in object recognition in a “distributed code” manner.
