Section 3: Technology and Neuroscience Flashcards
Review/Learn Section III of the Science Pentathlon 23-24 Study Guide.
What is Broca’s Area associated with?
Speech and language
Who was Paul Broca?
A French surgeon and scientist who provided evidence that speech and language areas are found on the left side of the cerebral cortex
Who proposed the first neural network?
Santiago Ramon y Cajal
Which U.S. president launched the BRAIN research campaign?
President Barak Obama
When was the BRAIN research campaign LAUNCHED?
2013
When did the BRAIN research campaign first get FUNDED?
2014
What is the Human Connectome Project working on?
Making the world’s largest map of the neural circuit structure and function
What is a connectome?
a map of a neural circuit structure and its functions
What are 3 results of the BRAIN research campaign?
the Human Connectome Project, publishing of an atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex, and new innovations in microscopy technology
What is perturbing the brain
damaging or lesioning an area of the brain to see the effects on the brain
Parkinson’s disease can be treated by which form of electrical stimulation?
deep brain stimulation or DBS
Severe depression can be treated by which form of electrical stimulation?
electroshock therapy
How does tDCS work?
It uses one positive and one negative electrode to influence the activity of particular regions
How does optogenetics work?
foreign genes that respond to light are placed inside the brain and they target specific brain areas or neurons
ChR2 is an ion channel that is sensitive to what?
light
DNA sequences for which chemical is introduced to a mammal with optogenetics?
channelrhodopsin-2, or ChR2
What does TMS do?
TMS uses a magnetic field to make the neurons there depolarize or repolarize depending on how strong the magnetic field is
What do scientists mainly use TMS for?
they mainly use it to confirm lesion studies
TMS creates a lesion that returns to normal in what amount of time?
in a short amount of time
Intracellular recordings are recordings that target what part of the nervous system?
an individual neuron
Why are intracellular recordings difficult to do?
because they have to target one neuron and neurons are microscopic, making them hard to target individually
What are multi-unit recordings or extracellular recordings?
where an electrode measures the membrane potentials of a population of neurons from outside
When was phrenology popular?
the 19th century or 1800s
What was phrenology?
when a person would feel the bumps on your skull to determine the traits of your brain.
Who invented phrenology?
German neuroanatomist Franz Joseph Gall
What type of science is phrenology?
pseudoscience
What is pseudoscience?
something that is thought to be scientific but has little to no science backing it
Phrenology developed what idea that became true?
the theory of localization
What is the theory of localization?
the idea that specific brain regions have unique functions
What was the first truly non-invasive way of recording information from actual neurons?
the EEG
Who invented the EEG?
Hans Berger
Who was Hans Berger?
A German psychiatrist
What decade was the EEG invented?
the 1920s
How did the EEG record information traditionally?
it used to involve sticking metal wires into the subject’s skull
What does the EEG record brain activity as?
brain waves
What is a dipole?
an area of negative charge next to an area of positive charge
EEGs show the activity over what time period?
a few milliseconds
What is an event-related potential, or ERP?
changes in the membrane potential in response to a stimulus
What are N170s?
N170s are spikes in EEG recordings, occurs mainly when met with visual or auditory stimuli, shows 170 milliseconds after
What are the downsides to EEG?
It has bad spatial resolution and can only detect areas near the skull
What was the truly groundbreaking invention for cognitive neuroscience?
MRIs, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging
True or false, MRIs can’t be used for other parts of the body and only the brain.
False, MRI’s can have many other uses, including finding injuries in other parts of the body
What type of atoms align when under an MRI scanner?
hydrogen atoms
What is an RF or Radio Frequency in an MRI?
A radio signal used in an MRI that lasts a moment and changes the alignment of hydrogen atoms
What colors are used in MRI maps?
shades of black, white, and gray
When the hydrogen atoms return to their original locations, what do they send off or emit?
the emit faint radio signals
True or false: Oxygenated blood has the same magnetic properties as deoxygenated blood?
False, oxygenated and deoxygenated blood have different magnetic properties, these show up on the MRI scanner
What is an fMRI or BOLD Imaging?
A type of MRI scanner that tracks where oxygenated blood flows when brain regions are activated.
What decade was the fMRI developed?
the 1990s
fMRI gave evidence for what brain area?
the fusiform face area, or FFA
What is an FFA?
An FFA is a brain area solely focused on processing faces
Where is the FFA found?
the lower surface of the temporal lobe
Is an MRI more or less specific than an EEG or a direct neural recording?
MRIs are less specific because they track the blood and overall activity, rather than targeting specific neurons and brain areas
What is a BMI?
a system that allows people to control a machine or device using only their thoughts
What decade did research on BMIs begin?
the 1970s
Where was neuroprosthetic technology invented?
UC San Fransisco
What does neuroprosthetic technology do?
It records from the brain’s speech centers and translates it into speech
How fast with what percent accuracy was neuroprosthetic technology able to perform?
up to 18 words per minute with a 93% accuracy
What are 2 ways you can take brain activity?
implanted and wearable devices
What are implanted devices?
devices that are surgically attached to tissue
When are implanted devices used?
they are used with people that have severe disorders or damage to their nervous system
What are wearable devices?
devices you can wear that use external electrodes, often based on tDCS technology
When are wearable devices used?
they are used with people who have less severe damage and have fewer risks with it
Why would someone choose an implanted device over a wearable device?
implanted devices are stronger and have a better ability to record information from the brain
What is computation (theoretical) neuroscience?
Any type of neuroscience that uses mathematical models, computer simulations, or theoretical analysis to better understand the nervous system
What decade was computational neuroscience first thought of?
the 1980s
Who do most computational neuroscientists collaborate with?
experimentalists
Who are experimentalists?
people who work with actual neurons, brains, or living organisms
What is computational neuronal modeling?
the use of computer algorithms or simulator programs to model the behavior of neurons to learn more about their processes
What are artificial neural networks made to do?
they are made to mimic existing networks of neurons in the brain
Artificial networks have nodes that act as _________ in the nervous system.
neurons
Finish the analogy: ______ are to AI as neurons are to humans
nodes
In artificial neural networks, what are synapses represented as?
mathematical weights
How are artificial neural networks trained?
input is fed to the nodes, and they compare their output to the output desired and change the weights based on the networks’ output
What is a deep neural network?
a highly complex version of an artificial neural network that is capable of solving extremely difficult problems
What type of system was able to beat the board game Go?
a deep neural network
Go was first beat in 1996. When did a system beat the record?
2015
How many possible moves are there on each turn of Go?
10^360
What is psychiatry?
a medical field that involves the patient reporting on their physical and emotional states to come up with a diagnosis for their problem
What is computational psychiatry?
adding computer algorithms to patient descriptions to help come up with a diagnosis, made to improve patient outcomes
What decade did computational psychiatry start?
2010s
What is the goal of computational psychiatry?
to help improve a patient’s response to treatments and drugs, and to improve patient outcomes
