science section 5 - Technology & neuroscience Flashcards
which scientist used early microscopes to see individual neurons in the brain?
santiago ramon y cajal
what was the goal of the brain research through innovative technologies (BRAIN) project?
to give scientists the resources they needed to get a “dynamic picture of the brain in action”
Human connectome project
the largest map of neural circuits structure
perturbing (The brain)
changing something in the brain and seeing how cells in the brain/subject behavior changes in response
lesion studies
damaging part of the brain and seeing how the subject then interacts with the world. still done on animals
paul broca
met a patient with an extreme speech impediment. Broca later did an autopsy on this patient, and found that the patient had a massive lesion in the left side of his brain. led broca to believe that speech and language areas are localized on the left side of the brain.
electrical brain stimulation
implanting an electrode into the brain and stimulating a certain region; led to important treatments such as electroshock therapy
transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
uses a positive and negative electrode on the scalp to change brain activity. stimulation created with this is very small
optogenetics
genetically modifying a neuron to have a ChR2 gene, which manifests as an ion channel that depolarizes in light. in this way, scientists can trigger an action potential just with light and be highly specific about which neuron they’re targeting.
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
creates an electric field within the cortex, causing neurons in the targeted region to turn “on” or “off”. used to confirm what brain regions correlate to what functions (e.g. if a subject can’t speak when the left side of their brain is “turned off”, then left side must correlate with speaking.)
pro of TMS
can target a small area without spread
con of TMS
can only stimulate brain regions near the surface
intracellular/single-unit recording
implanting an electrode in one neuron and recording changes in membrane potential; hard bc neurons are small
extracellular recording
electrode measures membrane potential from a population of cells, not just one
phrenology
developed by Franz Joseph Gall, who believed you could determine traits and abilities by feeling bumps on a subject’s skull. this pseudoscience was used to justify belief that some people are inferior (e.g. enslaved people in America)