studying the brain

Question 1

problem with light microscope

Answer 1

light defracted when it hits objects, one dot can look like a whole distribution because of wave like tendencies of light
therefore we cant see anything smaller than the wavelength of light

Question 2

how do we overcome light microscope problems?

Answer 2

laser to eliminating samples, find the centre of light creating a more defined image
switch on molecules separately, they dont overlap

Question 3

spatial resolution

Answer 3

how fine detail we can see

Question 4

temporal resolution

Answer 4

seeing things happen

Question 5

patch clamp electrode tip

Answer 5

tiny tube that can be brought dow on surface of neurons, measure change in voltage

Question 6

electroencephalogram (EEG)

Answer 6

on scalp to give sum of electrical activity
neurons align -> dipole b/c align -> results
global info (doesn’t tell where)
- bad temporal res???

Question 7

CT / CAT SCAN

Answer 7

fire x ray all around then subtract to see
spatial image ONLY
(is there a bleed?)

Question 8

PET SCAN

Answer 8

gamma rays
inject brain with glucose, neurons fight off positrons letting off gamma rays which are detected
accumulate where there is more activity
stim - ctrl= diff

Question 9

MRI
(T1 vs T2)

Answer 9

radio waves
high spatial info -> structural
T1 weighted: high detail
T2 weighted: map of H2O density (ions in water) -> tumours are inflammatory and show in T2

Question 10

FMRI

Answer 10

functional
activated regions have more oxygen
shows oxygenated vs deoxy
low temporal resolution

Question 11

MR tractography

Answer 11

measures water concentration in brain