2. Topics PART ONE: Methods of Studying the Nervous System 5.1
Methods of Visualizing and Stimulating the Living Human Brain
5.2
Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity
5.3
Invasive Physiological Research Methods
5.4
Pharmacological Research Methods
5.5
Genetic Engineering
PART TWO: Behavioral Research Methods of Biopsychology
5.6
Neuropsychological Testing
5.7
Behavioral Methods of Cognitive Neuroscience
5.8
Biopsychological Paradigms of Animal Behavior
Wood1.

3. Ironic case of Professor P

4. Methods of Visualizing and Stimulating the Living Human Brain
Contrast X-rays – inject something that absorbs X-rays less or more than surrounding tissue
cerebral angiography
X-Ray computed tomography
Computer-assisted X-ray procedure
Provides a 3-D representation of the brain
FIGURE 5.2: Computed tomography (CT) uses X-rays to create a CT scan of the brain.

5. Methods of Visualizing and Stimulating the Living Human Brain
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
High resolution images
Constructed from measurement of waves that hydrogen atoms emit when activated within a magnetic field
Positron emission tomography (PET)
Provides images of brain activity
Scan is an image of levels of radioactivity in various parts of one horizontal level of the brain
A radiolabeled substance is administered prior to the scan
Wood1.
Credit
PET scan
©istockphoto.com/BanksPhotos

6. Methods of Visualizing and Stimulating the Living Human Brain
Functional MRI (fMRI)
Provides images of brain structure and activity
As with MRI, uses strong magnetic field
Structure is imaged using waves emitted by hydrogen ions
Function is imaged using signal created from interaction between oxygen and iron in the blood
-- BOLD signal
Magnetoencephalography
A measure of neural activity
Measures changes in magnetic fields on the surface of the scalp
Fast temporal resolution
Wood1.
Credit
PET scan
©istockphoto.com/BanksPhotos

7. Methods of Visualizing and Stimulating the Living Human Brain
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
NOT a measure of neural activity
Provides an experimental probe to alter neural activity
TMS applies a brief, strong magnetic field that alters neural activity
-- Can either activate or “deactivate” brain structures
-- Observe changes in behavior
Wood1.
Credit
PET scan
©istockphoto.com/BanksPhotos

8. Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity
Scalp electroencephalography (EEG)
Measure of gross electrical activity of the brain
Uses electrodes attached to scalp
Many techniques of EEG
Wave form assessment (e.g., alpha waves)
Event-related potentials (ERPs)
Combination of EEG with MRI
L3.42

9. Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity
FIGURE 5.8:
Some typical electroencephalograms and their psychological correlates
L3.42

10. Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity
FIGURE 5.9:
The averaging of an auditory evoked potential. Averaging increases the signal-to-noise ratio
L3.42

11. Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity
Muscle tension
Electromyography is the technique of measuring the electrical activity of muscles
Electromyogram (EMG) indicates tension of muscles under the skin
Eye movement
Electrooculography is the technique of recording eye movements
Electrooculogram (EOG) indicates changes in electrical potential between the front and back of the eyeball
Wade6.22

12. Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity
FIGURE 5.12:
The relation between a raw EMG signal and its integrated version. The subject tensed the muscle beneath the electrodes and then gradually relaxed it.
L3.42

13. Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity
FIGURE 5.13:
The typical placement of electrodes around the eye for electrooculography. The two electrooculogram traces were recorded as the subject scanned a circle.
L3.42

14. Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity
Skin Conductance
Cardiovascular Activity
Measures of electrodermal activity
Techniques include measurement of skin conductance leavel (SCL) and skin conductance response (SCR)
Often used to link physiological changes with emotional state
Measures include heart rate, blood pressure, and blood volume

15. Requires use of sterotaxic atlas and instrument
Invasive Physiological Research Methods
Stereotaxic surgery
Requires use of sterotaxic atlas and instrument
FIGURE 5.14: Stereotaxic surgery: implanting an electrode in the rat amygdala
L3.42

16. Lesion methods Invasive Physiological Research Methods
Bilateral and unilateral lesions
Several procedures each requiring careful interpretation of effects
Aspiration lesions
Radio-frequency lesions
Knife cuts
Cryogenic blockade
L3.42

17. Invasive Physiological Research Methods
Electrical stimulation
Lesioning can be used to remove, damage, or inactivate a structure
Electrical stimulation may be used to “activate” a structure
Stimulation of a structure may have an effect opposite to that seen when the structure is lesioned

18. Invasive Physiological Research Methods
Invasive electrophysiological recording methods:
Intracellular unit recording
Membrane potential of a neuron
Extracellular unit recording
Firing of a neuron
Multiple-unit recording
Firing of many neurons
Invasive EEG recording
L3.42

19. Invasive Physiological Research Methods

20. Pharmacological Research Methods
Routes of drug administration
Fed to subject
Injected through a tube into stomach of subject
Injected hypodermically into the peritoneal cavity of the abdomen, into the fatty tissue beneath the skin, or into a large surface vein of the subject
Selective chemical lesions
Wood1.

21. Measuring Chemical Activity of the Brain
2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) technique
Inject animal with radioactive 2-DG and allow it to engage in behavior or interest
Use autoradiography to see where radioactivity accumulates in brain slices
Cerebral dialysis – measures extracellular concentration of specific chemicals in live animals
Credit
hand holding rat
©iStockphoto.com/sidsnapper

22. Locating Neurotransmitters and Receptors in the Brain
Dye or radioactive labels used to visualize the protein of interest
Immunocytochemistry – based on the binding of labeled protein-specific antibodies
Immune response – antibodies created that bind and remove/destroy antigens (foreign proteins)
In situ hybridization – uses labeled RNA to locate neurons with complementary mRNA

23. Genetic Engineering Gene knockout techniques
Subjects missing a given gene can provide insight into what the gene controls
Difficult to interpret results – most behavior is controlled by many genes and removing one gene may alter the expression of others, including compensation for missing gene
Antisense drugs block expression of a gene
Gene replacement techniques
Insert pathological human genes in mice
Wood1.

24. Fantastic Fluorescence and the Brainbow
Green fluorescent protein (GFP) exhibits bright green florescence when exposed to blue light
Variants of the gene for GFP can express other colors
These GFP genes can be inserted into DNA of neurons—color can then be viewed when targeted neuronal genes are expressed
Brainbow
Wade6.7

25. Neuropsychological Testing
Time-consuming – only conducted on a small portion of those with brain damage
Assists in diagnosing neural disorders
Serves as a basis for counseling/caring
Provides information on effectiveness and side effects of treatment
L1.20

26. Modern Approaches to Neuropsychological Testing
Single-test
Used to differentiate brain damage from functional (psychological) causes
Standardized-test-battery
Same goal as single-test approach
Halstead-Reitan, for example
Customized-test-battery
Now predominant
Characterizes nature of psychological deficits
L1.20

27. Tests of the Common Neuropsychological Test Battery
Intelligence
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
WAIS, an IQ test
Memory
Digit span subtest
Language – problems of phonology, syntax, or semantics
Language lateralization – used to identify language-dominant hemisphere
Sodium amytal – anesthetize one hemisphere
Dichotic listening – ear contralateral to dominant hemisphere shows superior hearing ability

28. Tests of the Common Neuropsychological Test Battery
Memory – exploring nature of deficits
Short-term, long-term, or both?
Anterograde or retrograde?
Semantic or episodic?
Explicit or implicit? (repetition priming tests)
Language – problems of phonology, syntax, or semantics
Frontal-Lobe Function
Wisconsin Card Sorting Task 28

29. Behavioral Methods of Cognitive Neuroscience
Each complex cognitive process results from the combined activity of simple cognitive processes (constituent cognitive processes)
Each complex cognitive process is mediated by neural activity in a particular area of the brain
Goal is to identify the parts of the brain that mediate various constituent cognitive processes
Paired-image subtraction technique: compare PET or fMRI images during several different cognitive tasks
Wood1.

30. Biopsychological Paradigms of Animal Behavior
Procedures developed for the investigation of a particular behavioral phenomenon
Assessment of Species-common behaviors:
Open-field test
Tests of Aggressive and Defensive Behavior
Tests of Sexual Behavior
Credit
hand holding rat
©iStockphoto.com/sidsnapper

31. Biopsychological Paradigms of Animal Behavior
Traditional Conditioning Paradigms:
Pavlovian conditioning (pairing an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned stimulus)
Operant conditioning
Self-stimulation
Credit
hand holding rat
©iStockphoto.com/sidsnapper

32. Seminatural Animal Learning Paradigms:
Biopsychological Paradigms of Animal Behavior
Seminatural Animal Learning Paradigms:
Conditioned Taste Aversion
Radial Arm Maze
Morris Water Maze
Conditioned Defensive Burying
Seminatural Animal Learning Paradigms include:
Conditioned Taste Aversion
Pairing something that makes an animal ill (emetic) with a taste
Challenged existing assumptions about conditioning
Animals appear prepared to associate tastes and illness
Radial Arm Maze
Spatial learning
Morris Water Maze
Rat must find hidden platform in an opaque pool
Conditioned Defensive Burying
Following a single aversive stimulus delivered from an object, rats will spray bedding at the object
Anti-anxiety drugs decrease the amount of burying behavior
L3.42

33. Watch: Visit to a Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory
Watch: Robert Sternberg on Intelligence
Note: To view the MyPsychLab assets, please make sure you are connected to the internet and have a browser opened and logged into

34. Acknowledgments Slide Image Description Image Source template
lightning
©istockphoto.com/Soubrette
background texture
©istockphoto.com/Hedda Gjerpen
ch05 image
Someone whose brain is being studied in a lab
©istockphoto.com/annedde 3
Figure 5.2
Pinel 8e, p. 103 4
PET scan
©istockphoto.com/BanksPhotos
7, 17
someone whose brain is being studied in a lab 8
Figure 5.8
Pinel 8e, p. 107 9
Figure 5.9
Pinel 8e, p. 108 10
eye
©istockphoto.com/Tyler Stalman 11
Figure 5.12
Pinel 8e, p. 109 12
Figure 5.13
Pinel 8e, p. 110 14
Figure 5.14
Pinel 8e, p. 111 15
Figure 5.15
Pinel 8e, p. 112
Figure 5.16
Pinel 8e, p. 113 16
EKG Heartbeat
©istockphoto.com/dan ionut popescu 18
Figure 5.17
Pinel 8e, p. 114 19
pill background
©istockphoto.com/Fotografia Basica 20
hand holding rat
©iStockphoto.com/sidsnapper
21, 28
brain
©istockphoto.com/Stephen Kirklys 22
DNA
©istockphoto.com/Mark Evans
22, 29
white rat
©iStockphoto.com/Elena Butinova

35. Acknowledgments 23 colored smoke ©istockphoto.com/Wolfgang Amri 24, 25
blue sky & clouds
©istockphoto.com/kertlis 24
neuron
©istockphoto.com/ktsimage
26, 27
book
©istockphoto.com/Carmen Martínez Banús 27
Figure 5.23
Pinel 8e, p. 122 30
salivating dog
©istockphoto.com/Jess Wiberg
hand
©istockphoto.com/Stas Perov
bell
©istockphoto.com/Igor Sandra
dog food bowl
©istockphoto.com/Jonas Engström 31
Figure 5.26
Pinel 8e, p. 126 32
laptop
©istockphoto.com/CostinT
table and wall
©istockphoto.com/David Clark