The emergence of cognitive neuroscience Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by neural circuits in the brain.

The emergence of cognitive neuroscience In the last 20 years advances in brain imaging techniqes enabling scientists to describe the neurologial basis of mental processes Enables scientists to establish the neurological basis of some mental disorders e.g OCD

Fmri Scans Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, is a technique for measuring brain activity. It works by detecting the changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in response to neural activity fMRI can be used to produce activation maps showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process.

Pet Scans A brain positron emission tomography (PET) scan is an imaging test of the brain. It uses a radioactive substance called a tracer to look for disease or injury in the brain. A PET scan shows how the brain and its tissues are working.

The emergence of cognitive neuroscience

‘Brain fingerprinting’ More recent methods such as computer generated models which are designed to ‘read’ the brain. We could use this to apply to things such as brain waves of eyewitnesses to see if they are lying in court. When the brain recognizes something familiar, the brain elicits a wavelike response known as a MERMER Can be used to catch criminals or terrorists

‘Brain fingerprinting’ The inventor said it has been effective in convicting criminals in court Claiming that the test is 99.99% infallible, Falwell's test convinced the court to free the convicted person. The real perpetrator pleaded guilty.

Why does CN play a huge role in understanding behaviour? We can see which brain areas are active during different cognitive tasks Provides scientific evidence to base inferences on Can look at damaged areas of the brain and make inferences