4.3 Research Methods

Question 1

Lesion

Answer 1

Damage to a structure

Question 2

Stereotaxic instrument

Answer 2

A device for the precise placement of electrodes in the brain

Question 3

Transcranial magnetic stimulation

Answer 3

The application of an intense magnetic field to a portion of the scalp, temporarily inactivating neurons below the magnet

Question 4

Ablation

Answer 4

Removal of brain area, generally with a surgical knife

Question 7

ElectroEncephaloGraph, EEG

Answer 7

A device that records electrical activity of the brain through electrodes attached to the scalp

Question 8

MagnetoEncephaloGraph, MEG

Answer 8

A device that measures the faint magnetic fields generated by brain activity

Question 9

Position-emission tomography, PET

Answer 9

Method of mapping activity in a living brain by recording the emission of radioactivity from injected chemicals

Question 10

Evoked potentials (evoked responses)

Answer 10

Electrical recordings on the scalp from brain activity in response to a stimulus

Question 12

Phrenology

Answer 12

A process of relating skull anatomy to behavior

Question 14

Functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI

Answer 14

A modified verson of MRI that measures energies based on hemoglobin instead of water;
determines the brain areas receiving the greatest supply of blood and using the most oxygen

Question 16

Magnetic resonance imaging, MRI

Answer 16

Method of imaging a living brain by using a magnetic field and a radio frequency field to make atoms with odd atomic weights all rotate in the same direction and then removing those fields and measuring the energy that the atoms release

Question 20

Computerized axial tomography, CT or CAT scan

Answer 20

Method of visualizing a living brain by injecting a dye into the blood and placing a person’s head into a CT scanner;
x-rays are passed through the head and recorded by detectors on the opposite side