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Psychological Psychology > Methods of Research > Flashcards

Methods of Research Flashcards

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1
Q

What can be used to measure structures in the brain?

A

Computerized Tomography (CT or “CAT”)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

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2
Q

Strength of CT scans:

A

Cheap and easy; usually first scan given after injury.

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3
Q

Weakness of CT scans:

A

not very detailed pictures.

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4
Q

What is a MRI?

A

Uses an interaction between radio waves and a strong magnetic field to reproduce a picture of body tissue.

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5
Q

Strength of using an MRI?

A

High resolution pictures.
Can measure size of brain structures.
3-D representation from many angles.

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6
Q

What is DTI?

A

A type of MRI that measures movement of water through the brain

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7
Q

What is a DTI good for?

A

Great for reproducing a picture of white matter tracts.
Can measure thickness and how tightly packed the tracts are.
Gives you info about the quality of connections between brain regions.

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8
Q

Water in _________ tends to move faster and in straighter lines.

A

white matter

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9
Q

What are the 6 measuring functions of the brain?

A
  1. Ablation
  2. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
  3. Microelectrodes
  4. Macroelectrodes – Electroencephalography (EEG)
  5. Functional MRI (fMRI)
  6. Positron Emission Tomography
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10
Q

What is ablation?

A

Disrupt brain functioning by removing part of the brain and measure behavior.

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11
Q

What is an example of ablation?

A

Split brain

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12
Q

What is a weakness of ablation?

A

You cannot do it experimentally on humans, only animals.

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13
Q

_______= Can measure effects in people who have had part of their brain damaged or removed for medical reasons.

A

Ablation

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14
Q

What is TMS (Trascranial Magnetic Stimulation)?

A

Disrupt brain functioning by stimulating neurons with electrical current from outside of the skull and measure behavior.

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15
Q

What are microelectrodes?

A

Records the activity of individual neurons from inside the brain.

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16
Q

Strengths of using microelectrodes?

A

measure exactly what a neuron is doing.

17
Q

Weakness of using microelectrodes?

A

Invasive

18
Q

Give an example of a macroelectrode:

A

EEG

19
Q

What does an EEG do?

A

Record electrical activity of groups of neurons (inside or outside of the brain). (Thousands or millions of neurons).

20
Q

Weakness of an EEG:

A

can’t localize which part of the brain the signal came from aka bad spatial resolution.

21
Q

Strength of EEG:

A

Records very quickly (milliseconds) aka good temporal resolution.

22
Q

What does a functional MRI (fMRI) do?

A

Measures the amount of oxygenated blood in your brain.

23
Q

Why is a fMRI important?

A

More oxygen is very closely related to more neuronal activity

24
Q

Strengths of fMRI:

A

can localize where the changes in oxygenated blood flow (aka neuronal activity) happened aka good spatial resolution
Can measure the entire brain.

25
Q

Weakness of fMRI:

A

can’t record very quickly (blow flow is slow) aka poor temporal resolution.
indirect measure of neuronal function (it can be wrong).

26
Q

What does a Positron emission tomography test do?

A

Inject radioactive glucose in to brain

27
Q

_______ _______ is very closely related to neuronal activity.

A

Glucose consumption

28
Q

Weaknesses of a Positron emission tomography test?

A

Worse temporal and spatial resolution than fMRI.

Radioactivity isn’t safe to do many times within a short period of time.

29
Q

__________ - study of the microscopic structure of tissues

A

Histology

30
Q
  1. Fixative – A chemical such as formalin; used to prepare and preserve body tissue.
  2. Slice brain into thin sections (about 1/100th of a millimeter)
  3. Attach a stain (either has a color or a fluorescent protein) to an antibody that binds to your protein of interest.
A

Histology

31
Q

What do targeted mutations do?

A

Remove (knockout) or over activate (over express)a gene and measure behavior.
Only done in animals.
Can also insert a gene in an animal related to a disease in humans to make a “model” of the disease.

Psychological Psychology (9 decks)

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