Neuroscience Research Methods (3b)

Question 1

electroencephalography (EEG)

Answer 1

• measures gross electrical brain activity
• good temporal resolution
• weak spatial resolution
• various waveform frequencies are associated with different levels of arousal/ sleep
• event related potential (ERP) or frequency analysis methods are often sued to ink EEG activity to cognitive function

Question 2

advantages of ERP techniques

Answer 2

non-invasive
direction reflection of neuronal activity
good temporal resolution

Question 3

disadvantages of ERP techniques

Answer 3

• poor spatial resolution due to recording made at the scalp
• ERPs are small - need many trials per condition to differentiate signal from noise
• eyes need to remain still during ERP recording

Question 4

how do structural MRI scans work

Answer 4

• a strong magnetic field (1.5-7 Tesla) causes hydrogen atoms to align in the same orientation
• when a radio frequency pulse is passed through the head, atomic nuclei emit electromagnetic energy
• the scanner is turned to detect radiation emitted from the hydrogen molecules
• computer reconstructs image using FFT modelling techniques allowing the construction of brain images in multiple planes
• different types of tissue produce different RF signals

Question 5

DTI

Answer 5

diffusion tensor imaging

Question 6

diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)

Answer 6

• reveals fibre tracts
• measures movement of water molecules (diffusion)
• molecules movement is constrained to travel along white matter pathways
• molecule movement is more random elsewhere in the brain

Question 7

advantages of fMRI

Answer 7

good spatial resolution
non invasive
combines functional/ structural information

Question 8

disadvantages of fMRI

Answer 8

limited temporal resolution
correlational method
noisy and claustrophobic
no metal in scanner

Question 9

TMS

Answer 9

transcranial magnetic stimulation

Question 10

how does TMS work?

Answer 10

• electrical induction
• faraday principle (an electric current passed through one coil induces a current in a nearby coil)

Question 11

how do you measure the strength of the TMS pulse intensity?

Answer 11

relative to maximum output
relative to the (cortico) motor threshold

Question 12

application of TMS

Answer 12

parkinson’s disease
depression
schizophrenia
stroke recovery

Question 13

advantages of TMS

Answer 13

• non-invasive
• allows causal inferencing
• allows the creation of ‘virtual lesions’ or the ‘excitation’ of brain areas

Question 14

what does spatial accuracy depend on in TMS

Answer 14

experimental procedure

Question 15

what are neuroscience techniques sorted by

Answer 15

spatial resolution
temporal resolution
correlational method
causal method

Question 16

what is typically used for ERP research

Answer 16

IAPs

Question 17

valence effects

Answer 17

are there ERP differences between positive (pleasant) and negative (unpleasant) pictures?

Question 18

early posterior negativity

Answer 18

frontocentral negative
temporo-occipital positive ERP
more negative waveform from 200 ms until stimulus offset for more arousing stimuli

Question 19

function of early posterior negativity

Answer 19

automatic attention processes (maybe subconscious)

Question 20

late positive potential

Answer 20

• ERP arousal effect is consistent but amplitude can vary depending on task relevance
• ERP arousal effects can be inhibited by emotional reappraisal and task instruction

Question 21

function of late positive potential

Answer 21

motivation and selective attention for memory encoding and storage

Question 22

what is the rule of thumb of valence effects

Answer 22

processed very early (100-300ms) and there is a negativity bias

Question 23

when are arousal effects processed?

Answer 23

later than valence effects but they stay fro longer (200-300 ms onwards)

Question 24

what are late potentials modulated by

Answer 24

emotional regulation

Question 25

what do verbal and pictorial stimuli induce and reveal? (Schlochtermeier et al., 2013)

Answer 25

induce emotions
reveal the involvement of a network of brain areas including limbic and para-limbic regions

Question 26

pictorial superiority effect

Answer 26

pictorial stimuli induce stronger emotional responses than words

Question 27

why is there a pictorial superiority effect?

Answer 27

• have a faster an more direct access to meaning (words requires additional translational activity)

Question 28

what was Schlochtermeier et al. (2013) study?

Answer 28

160 positive and neutral concrete objects were presented as stimuli - half as words and pictograms / half as phrases and photos

Question 29

behavioural results from Schlochtermeier et al., (2013) study

Answer 29

• no RT differences between valence judgements for pictorial and word materials
• no RT differences between positive and neutral materials
• valence ratings: positive > neutral

Question 30

imaging results from Schlochtermeier et al., (2013) study

Answer 30

• both modalities activated the same emotion network - no picture superiority effect
• network activation for pictures less strong and widespread than for words
• complexity effect only found for pictures