Methods Flashcards
Cognitive neuroscience
Branch of neuroscience that focuses on brain function and dysfunction on a cognitive level - relate behavior to brain function
Cognitive psychology
Branch of psychology that focuses on complex mental processes, such as perceptions, learning, and memory - study mental processes and information-processing problems
Electroencephalography (EEG)
Records brain’s electrical activity with electrodes on surface of the scalp - time locked to an event
Event-related potentials (ERPs)
A signature of the electrical activity that occurred in the brain in response to a specific event, or an EEG trace that is elicited by an event - spatial accuracy is bad, temporal accuracy is good
ERP research considers electrical activity in response to an event in terms of:
– Latency
– Amplitude and Polarity (positive or negative)
– Scalp Topography
Two categories of neuroimaging
Structural imaging and functional imaging
Imaging technologies used for structural imaging
CT, MRI, DTI
Imaging technologies used for functional imaging
PET, fMRI
The type of imaging technology that detects radioactive material in metabolically active areas
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
The type of imaging technology that uses X-ray technology to produce a series of brain images
Computed Tomography (CT)
The only method that allows you to alter brain functioning instead of simply recording it
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS):
Non-invasive method that causes a transient disruption of brain activity by emitting a brief magnetic pulse that is either excitatory or inhibitory
True or false: it is best to combine the information gained from multiple imaging technologies
True
True or false: brain scans show exactly what the brain looks like
False! The image of the brain is flipped in scans
