PSYCH 15 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Agonist, Somatosensory System, Multiple Unit
Chapter 5: The Research Methods of Biopsychology
Methods of Visualizing and Stimulating the Living Human Brain
- Contrast x rays
o Use this to figure out blockages of blood vessels
o Simple diagnostic tools
- Xray computed tomography
o Computer looks at different sections of the brain
o All computer automated
o Compose a picture of the brain based on blood flow
o Do’t use these as uh aore
- MRI
o Really good alternative to other things
o Really high resolution and can choose which sections of the brain you wanna see
o Blood is being sent to the tissue → can see different densities of the brain
o Downside: can only take pictures of the brain, can only determine structural things of the brain,
NOT the functions of the brain
o Good: for detecting tumors
- PET
o Tells you function but not structure
o Heat map of the most active parts of the brain
▪ Red: being used the most, blue: not as used
o Injection of a substance radioactive FEG
▪ Minimally harmless but it is invasive
o Whichever part of your brain is being used, increased blood flow to the region
o Downside: invasive
- fMRI
o gives you function and structure of the brain
o measures the BOLD signal
o he a part of the rai is orkig reall hard, a lot of lood is goig to go there so it’ll use a
lot of oxygen
▪ bodies response: dilate blood vessels to bring more blood to these areas
▪ whenever a region of the brain is being used a lot, youll see a lot of oxygenated blood
being sent to it
o heat map superimposed on the MRI scan
- MEG
o More on the scalp
- TMS
o NOT a measure of neural activity
o Artificially make different parts of the brain work and not work
Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity
- EEG
o Noninvasive; Electrodes just touch your head
o Neurons create and electrical field when its working so the electrodes will measure the
brainwaves
o Wave form assessments
o Used a lot in sleep studies
o Bad: stops at the skull
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Methods of visualizing and stimulating the living human brain. Contrast x rays: use this to figure out blockages of blood vessels, simple diagnostic tools. Xray computed tomography: computer looks at different sections of the brain, all computer automated, compose a picture of the brain based on blood flow, do(cid:374)"t use these as (cid:373)u(cid:272)h a(cid:374)(cid:455)(cid:373)ore. Not the functions of the brain: good: for detecting tumors. Pet: tells you function but not structure, heat map of the most active parts of the brain, red: being used the most, blue: not as used. Tms: not a measure of neural activity, artificially make different parts of the brain work and not work. Intracellular unit recording: membrane potential of a neuron, need really large neurons (squid, not rats, extracellular unit recording, firing of a neuron, much easier to do, multiple unit recording. Invasive eeg recording: usually done on animals, not humans. Agonist molecule: promote communication between synapses by giving it a fake key.
