Week 6 Flashcards
Brain stem
sometimes referred to as the “trunk” of the brain. Responsible for many of the neural functions that keep us alive, including regulating our respiration, heart rate, and digestion
Includes the medulla, pons, midbrain, and diencephalon (consists of the thalamus and hypothalamus)
Cerebellum
distinctive structure at the back of the brain. Critical for coordinated movement and posture. Contains the greatest number of neurons of any structure in the brain
Cerebral hemispheres
responsible for our cognitive abilities and conscious experience
Consist of the cerebral cortex and the accompanying white matter as well as the subcortical structures of the basal ganglia, amygdala, and hippocampal formation
Largest and most visible part of the brain
Consists of two hemispheres and gives the brain its characteristic gray and convoluted appearance
Folds and grooves of the cerebral cortex
Gyri and sulci
Occipital lobe
responsible for vision
Temporal lobe
involved in auditory processing, memory, and the multisensory integration
Parietal lobe
houses the somatosensory cortex and structures involved in visual attention, as well as multisensory convergence zones
Frontal lobe
Houses the motor cortex and structure involved in motor planning, language, judgment, and decision-making
Basal ganglia
critical to voluntary movement and as such make contact with the cortex, the thalamus, and the brain stem
limbic system
A loosely defined network of nuclei in the brain involved with learning and emotion
Amygdala
responsible for emotional responses, especially in situations involving anxiety, fear, or rage.
hippocampus
with your learning and memory. It converts short-term memories into long-term memories by organizing, storing and retrieving memories within your brain.
split brain patients
corpus callosum was surgically severed (callosotomy) or due to a genetic abnormality. Because of the contralateral representation of sensory information, if an object is placed in only the left or only the right visual hemifield, then only the right or left hemisphere, respectively, of the split-brain patient will see it. Because language is very often localized in the left hemisphere, if we show the right hemisphere a picture and ask the patient what she saw, she will say she didn’t see anything
Which hemisphere is associated with language
left hemisphere
Gray matter
composed of the neuronal cell bodies. The cell bodies (or soma) contain the genes of the cell and are responsible for metabolism and synthesizing proteins
White matter
composed of the axons of the neurons, and, in particular, axons that are covered with a sheath of myelin
What is the result of the loss of gray and white matter
deficits in language, memory, reasoning, and other mental functions
Phrenology
Phrenologists assumed that various features of the brain, such as its uneven surface, are reflected on the skull; therefore, they attempted to correlate bumps and indentations of the skull with specific functions of the brain
Virtual dissection
Brain is imaged using computerized axial tomography or MRI scanners; they reveal with very high precision the various structures in the brain and can help detect changes in gray or white matter
These changes in the brain can then be correlated with behaviour, such as performance on memory tests, and, therefore, implicate specific brain areas in certain cognitive functions
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
refers to a technique whereby a brief magnetic pulse is applied to the head that temporarily induces a weak electrical current in the brain
Allows for very precise study of when events in the brain happen so it has a good temporal resolution, but its application is limited only to the surface of the cortex and cannot extend to deep areas of the brain
Transcranial direct current stimulation
uses electrical current directly, rather than inducing it with magnetic pulses, by placing small electrodes on the skull
Brain area is stimulated by a low current for a more extended period of time than TMS
When used in combination with cognitive training, tDCS has been shown to improve perfromance of many cognitive functions such as mathematical ability, memory, attention, and coordination
Neuroimaging tools
used to study the brain inaction; that is, when it is engaged in a specific task
Position emission tomography
records blood flow in the brain
PET scanner detects the radioactive substance that is injected into the bloodstream of the participant just before or while he or she is performing some task
detect the injected radioactive substance in specific brain regions, allowing researchers to infer that those areas were active during the task
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
relies on blood flow in the brain
Measures the changes in oxygen levels in the blood and does not require any substance to be injected into the participant
Electroencephalography
measures the electrical activity of the brain, and therefore, It has a much greater temporal resolution, depending on how it is used
More electrodes are used
Measure rather than produce activity
Any particular electrode can be coming from anywhere in the brain, EEG has poor spatial resolution; that is, we have only a rough idea of which part of the brain generates the measured activity
Diffuse optical imaging
can give researchers the best of both worlds: high spatial and temporal resolution, depending on how it is used
One shines infrared light into the brain, and measures the light that comes back out
Relies on the fact that the properties of the light change when it passes through oxygenated blood, or when it encounters active neurons
When DOI is set up to directly detect active neurons, it has both high spatial and temporal resolution
Psychophysiology
defined as any research in which the dependent variable is a physiological measure, and the independent variable is behavioural or mental
Physiological measures
take many forms and range from blood flow or neural activity in the brain to heart rate variability and eye movements
These measures can provide information about processes including emotion, cognition, and the interactions between them
Psychophysiological methods
a subset of the very large domain of neuroscience methods
Many neuroscience methods are invasive, such as involving lesions of neural tissue, injection of neutrally active chemicals, or manipulation of neural activity via electrical stimulation
Structural magnetic resonance imaging
a noninvasive technique that allows researchers and clinicians to view anatomical structures within a human. This image may be used to compare the size of structures in different groups of people or to increase the accuracy of spatial locations as measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
a method that is used to assess changes in activity of tissue, such as measuring changes in neural activity in different areas of the brain during thought. Builds on the principles of sMRI and also uses the property that, when neurons fire, they use energy, which must be replenished
Process of functional magnetic resonance imaging
Glucose and oxygen, two key components for energy production, are supplied to the brain from the blood stream as needed
Oxygen is transported through the blood using hemoglobin, which contains binding sites for oxygen
When these sites are saturated with oxygen, it is referred to as oxygenated hemoglobin
When the oxygen molecules have all been released from a hemoglobin molecule, it is known as deoxygenated hemoglobin
Measures the change in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin, which is known as the blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal
electroencephalogram (EEG)
uses at least two and sometimes 256 electrodes to measure the difference in electrical charge between pairs of points on the head.
electrocortiography (ECoG)
typically used prior to medical procedures for localizing activity, such as the origin of epileptic seizures
Advange of EEG
its temporal resolution. Data can be recorded thousands of times per second, allowing researchers to document events that happen in less than a millisecond
Magnetioencephalography
Technique used for noninvasively measuring neural activity. Flow of electrical charged associated with neural activity produces very weak magnetic fields that can be detected by sensors placed near the participant’s scalp. Has same temporal resolution of EEG. Not susceptible to distortions from the skull and the scalp
Positron emission tomography (PET)
A medical imaging technique that is used to measure processes in the body, including the brain. Relies on a positron-emitting tracer atom that is introduced into the blood stream in a biologically active molecule, such as glucose, water, ammonia. Allows researchers to construct a three-dimensional image of the areas of the brain that have the highest metabolic needs, typically those that are more active
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
a noninvasive method that causes depolarization or hyperpolarization in neurons near the scalp. Not considered psychophysiological because the independent variable is physiological, rather than dependent. Qualifies as a neuroscience method because it deals with the function of the nervous system, and it can readily be combined with conventional psychophysiological methods. A coil of wire is placed above the participant’s scale and when electricity flows, it produces a magnetic field.