Methods in Neuropsychology Chapter 4
Anatomical Methods Identifying anatomical connections –Axoplasmic transport Anterograde Retrograde Structural imaging methods –Angiography (opaque dye in blood) –Pneumoecephalography (air in ventricles) –Computerized Tomography (CT) Scan (subtle x-ray shadows) –Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) (hydrogen atoms line up in magnetic field show density)
Methods Measuring Function Functional imaging methods –Regional Cerebral Blood Flow (rCBF) radioactive isotope in blood –Positron Emission Tomography (PET) radioactive ion -metabolism –Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography (SPECT) –Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) active neurons increase blood flow in vicinty Neurophysiological methods –Single cell recording –Electroencephalography –Event related potentials (ERP’s) averaging techniques –Electrocorticography (ECo) direct stimulation of exposed cortex
Lesion Methods Dissociation of function Interpretation of single and double dissociation Associated impairments Dissociations as a window on the structure of cognition and on localization of function Limits on the interpretation of dissociations
Commissurotomy Split brain surgery Dichotic listening suppression
Sodium Amobarbital Test Hemispheric specialization and handedness Use in management of focal seizures Testing procedure
Studies of People Studies of people with behavioral and cognitive abnormalities Studies of normal people: laterality studies