Methods Flashcards
Describe how direct recording of neural activity works and the strengths and limitations
of this approach
What is it:
inserting electrodes directly into brain of an animal
Strengths:
it is very specific
Weaknesses:
invasive
Describe – very briefly – how tDCS works and why you shouldn’t try doing it at home
o Transcranial direct current stimulation
o Passes weak electrical current through the scalp
o Most people just end up with burns on their scalp…
Describe what a meta-analysis is and why it’s meaningful
a combination of many studies on the same topic to give a clear picture of what is going on
it is useful because it can be sort of an overview on the topic, also it has converging evidence which is stronger than evidence from any one standalone study
Explain why we’d want to combine behavioral and brain measures in our studies
More evidence; converging evidence
Explain the different types of evidence provided by lesion, correlational, and stimulation
studies
o Lesion- Observe what happens to functioning when brain is damaged due to injury or surgery
o Correlational- Observe what’s happening in the brain as animal is doing various things
o Stimulation- Stimulate a region or network and observe how it affects behavior
Respond to a friend who says that we have a specific neuron in our brains devoted to recognizing our grandmothers, explaining how this idea of a “grandmother cell” – or a Jennifer Aniston neuron – is a bit problematic
o While that neuron might specifically respond to that one stimulus, it likely would respond to many other stimuli too
o Also even after one association it can start to respond to something linked to Jennifer Aniston
Explain what converging evidence is and why it’s important
Converging evidence
o Converging evidence is evidence from multiple different types of methods that all suggest/support one conclusion
Explain what forward inference is, particularly as it pertains to fMRI. Describe how Nancy Kanwisher’s study of the fusiform face area is a good example of forward inference. Describe some of the drawbacks of forward inference
given activation of this area (FFA) it must be responsible for recognizing faces
FORWARD INFERENCE: GIVEN BEHAVIOR, CAN WE INFER BRAIN ACTIVITY
Explain what reverse inference is, particularly as it pertains to fMRI. Describe where it’s
appropriate to use and where it is less appropriate and why
REVERSE INFERENCE: GIVEN BRAIN ACTIVITY, CAN WE INFER BEHAVIOR
use of brain activation (fMRI) data to infer the engagement of a certain mental function
If given a claim like the one put forth in the “You Love Your iPhone” article, be able to describe several reasons why it’s problematic
o Reasoning backwards from brain activity
o fMRI: “it reasons backwards from the presence of brain activation to the engagement of a particular cognitive function.”
o it’s only really appropriate to use with big data
Briefly describe the peer review process and why it is important to know whether a study has been published in a peer-reviewed journal
Peer reviewing is our best way to fight against biases researches can’t see; its someone informed on the issues but not biased, fresh eye
forward vs. reverse inference
Forward inference = the question of what brain activity/region is associated with a given experimental condition
Reverse inference = the question of what cognitive process/behavior etc. is occurring given the brain activity. Basically, reasoning backwards from brain activity
FORWARD INFERENCE: GIVEN BEHAVIOR, CAN WE INFER BRAIN ACTIVITY
REVERSE INFERENCE: GIVEN BRAIN ACTIVITY, CAN WE INFER BEHAVIOR
