1. Brain Scanning Technology BLOA

2. How do we know what’s going on inside the brain?

3. What do these techniques involve? Ablation Lesioning

4. Ablation – removing part of the brain Lesion – scarring or damage (either intentionally as part of an operation, or due to accidental brain damage

5. Fat Rats How do we know when to stop eating?

6. Hetherington and Ranson (1942) Experimented using rats Lesioned the ventromedial hypothalamus Rats ate far more than usual Researchers believed this proved that the hypothalamus stops us from eating too much. More recent research suggests that we still do not fully understand the role of the hypothalamus (though it is involved in the regulation of hunger)

7. What alternatives do we have now to lesioning and ablation?

8. One technique is the EEG Show Brain Story

9. Electroencephalogram (EEG) EEG

10. EEG

11. EEG Watch

12. EEG

13. EEG

14. PET A PET scan monitors glucose metabolism in the brain Patient given radioactive glucose PET detects radioactive particles Produces coloured maps of brain activity Can detect abnormalities like tumours Used in Alzheimers research Can compare differences in normal and abnormal brains

15. Positron Emission Topography (PET)

16. PET

17. PET

18. PET Gur et al (1995)

20. functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) fMRI uses magnetic fields and radiowaves Shows actual brain activity Higher resolution than PET

21. fMRI