1. Psych 120 General Psychology Christopher Gade Office: 1030A Office hours: MW 4:30-5: Class MW 1:30-4:30 Room 2240

2. Pop Quiz Questions
Where do our thoughts, memories, and perceptions occur in the human body?
How do we direct the motion of our bodies (e.g. how do we get our eyes, limbs, mouth, and other parts to move the way we want them to)?
What makes human unique from other animals, and what makes each of us unique from our peers?

3. Notes about the brain…
The brain is a dense, location specific organ that controls conscious and unconscious human functioning.
The spinal cord and nervous system allow our brains to efficiently communicate with our bodies.
Our knowledge about the specific regions of the brain and how they communicates is still limited.

4. Why do we know so little? Time: Money: Variety:
We have just begun to develop technology that allows us to look at the brain in a very efficient manner.
Money:
Most of the current technologies that we have are very, very expensive to use. This limits us in both the number, and type of individuals that conduct research on this topic.
Variety:
The brain and nervous system are, in relative terms, HUGE! There’s a lot to examine, and we’re just getting started.

5. How the mind/brain is studied…
In the past:
Philosophy and debate
Autopsy

6. How the brain/mind is studied (cont.)
Currently:
Histology
Stains
Invasive Studies
Recording
Imaging

7. Stains

8. How the brain/mind is studied (cont.)
Currently:
Histology
Invasive Studies
Autopsies
Experimentation/stimulation on animals
Chance and correlation lesion studies
Phineas Gage case
Hemisphere neglect example
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Recording
Imaging

9. The Most Popular Lesion Example Ever…
Phineas Gage
Worked for a railroad company
Had a metal rod shot through his head
Survived the incident, but his behavior changed dramatically after the incident
Much more impulsive
More excitable and agitated
Struggled with the ability to maintain friendships, relationships, and conversation
“what was once a well mannered man, now became something that resembled a mere animal”

10. Example of Chance Anatomy Studies: Parietal Stroke (Hemisphere Neglect)

11. The Lesion Method Strengths: Weaknesses:
Can determine the necessity of a region for a certain cognitive process.
Weaknesses:
Lack of experimental control.
Time for plasticity.
Low number of subjects.

12. TMS Studies

13. How the brain/mind is studied (cont.)
Currently:
Histology
Invasive Studies
Recording
Electroencephalogram (EEGs)
Event related potentials (ERPs)
Electrocorticography (ECog)
Imaging

14. Human Electrophysiology
Electrophysiology can record electrical potentials of large populations of simultaneously active neurons at the scalp
A direct measure of neural activity

16. Applications of Electroencephalography (EEG)
INDIVIDUAL NEURON ACTIVITY
COMBINED NEURON ACTIVITY

17. Electrocorticography (ECoG)

19. How the brain/mind is studied (cont.)
Currently:
Histology
Invasive Studies
Recording
Imaging
Computerized Tomography (CT Scans)
Positron Emission Tomography (PET Scans)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRIs, and fMRIs)

20. Why Neuroimaging?
In comparison to lesion studies, neuroimaging experiments tell us a whole slew of information about the brain with some distinct advantages.
Noninvasive
Allows us to look at people while living
Allows us to get larger samples of individuals
Note: they also look at more specific activity that mere recording methods.

21. Blood Flow Measures Example 1: CT Scans
CT scans were first introduced in order to see the structure of the brain (great for detecting abnormalities)

22. Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Measures variations in cerebral blood flow by tracking the decay of a radioactive tracer (an unstable isotope) usually tagged to water molecules.
More blood = more neural activity…an indirect measure of neural activity

23. PET PROs CONs Decent spatial resolution (5-10mm3)
Invasive
Very expensive
Poor temporal resolution (minutes)
Cannot detect the neural response to discrete cognitive events.
PROs
Decent spatial resolution (5-10mm3)
Can also measure neurotransmitter metabolism.

24. Functional MRI (fMRI) Advances over PET How does it work?
Non-invasive (no radioactive agents required)
Better spatial resolution (1mm)
Better temporal resolution (seconds rather than min)
How does it work?
Similar to PET in that
it is an indirect measure
of changes in blood flow
Blood flow is measured
by the deoxygenating of
the hemoglobin in your
brain and a giant magnet
spinning around your
head

25. How the brain/mind is studied (cont.)
Currently:
Histology
Stains
Invasive Studies
Autopsies
Chance and correlation lesion studies
Experimentation/stimulation on animals
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Recording
Electroencephalogram (EEGs)
Event related potentials (ERPs)
Electrocorticography (ECog)
Imaging
Computerized Tomography (CT Scans)
Positron Emission Tomography (PET Scans)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRIs, and fMRIs)

26. So what have we learned by examining the brain and nervous system through these techniques?

27. Researchers look at the brain in two ways.
Functional specialization – what is NECESSARY for the mind to complete a task.
Functional integration – what is USED by the brain in the completion of a cognitive task.
LESION
NEUROIMAGING

28. Example of Specialization: Language Function
Broca’s Area
Wernicke’s Area

29. Examples of Integration:
Sensory Pathways

31. What have imaging techniques also let us understand about the brain?
Sometimes, small numbers of neurons can travel to a place where they activate large numbers of neurons

32. And… The fact that many of our areas are arranged very intricately
Layering and columns (related to brain structures and the paths to those structures)
Specialization of function
Location receptors
Orientation receptors
Ocular information
receptors
Color receptors

33. One final thing that looking at the brain can tell us about sensation and perception
Modularity – the idea that areas of the brain are specialized for very specific tasks
Modules – areas of the brain that specialize in specific tasks
FFA – fusiform face area (identifying faces)
Prosopagnosia – the inability to recognize faces
Autism – a disorder that often involves detached behavior and an inability to understand/relate effectively with other individuals
PPA – parahippocampal place area (identifying places and scenes)
EBA – extrastriate body area (identifying body parts)

36. One final note:
When studying the necessity and correlation of these measures, we need to remember that these areas and paths are associated with the brains of MOST people. Neural plasticity allows a number of individuals to display behaviors that they should not be capable of conducting based on the damage and underdevelopment of different regions of their brain/nervous system.