Chap 3 Flashcards
(24 cards)
Method of Converging Operations
Research technique of examining whether all the
answers obtained from a set of interrelated
experiments lead to the same conclusion.
Phonology
Study of the sounds that compose a language
and the rules that govern their combination.
Syntax
The rules of grammar.
Semantics
The meaning of language.
Neuropsychological assessment
Evaluation performed to determine the degree to
which damage to the central nervous system may
have compromised a person’s cognitive,
behavioral, and emotional functioning.
Neuropsychological test battery
Multiple tests used to detect any type of brain
dysfunction of either neurological or psychiatric
origin; most common is the Halstead–Reitan
battery.
Estimate of premorbid
functioning
A reasonable guess as to how well a
person was performing before an injury.
Magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI)
Technique that relies on the use of magnetic
fields to distort the behavior of protons;
information about how long the protons take to
recover from this distortion is used to create an
image of the anatomy of the brain.
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
Anatomical MRI method that can provide
information not only about the structural integrity
of brain regions, but also about the anatomical
connectivity between different brain regions.
Tractography
Method that builds on diffusion tensor
information to ascertain information about
probable white matter tracts in the brain.
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)
An MRI method that allows the concentration
of certain biologically active substances, such
as the neurotransmitters glutamate and
GABA, to be determined in specific regions of
brain tissue.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Method most commonly used by cognitive neuroscientists to discern which areas of the brain are physiologically active; uses a variation of MRI techniques to measure changes related to blood flow and the metabolic changes in compounds used by different brain regions.
Resting-state networks or intrinsic connectivity networks
Networks of brain regions whose activity rises and falls in a similar pattern over time while the brain is at rest, generally assessed when people are simply looking at a fixation cross or lying in the magnet with their eyes closed.
Functional connectivity
Communication or synchronization of activity between brain regions.
Event-related potentials (ERPs)
Recordings of brain activity that is linked to the occurrence of an event; derived from scalp-recorded EEG.
Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
Method related to EEG that relies on the recording of magnetic potentials at the scalp (rather than electrical potentials) to index brain activity.
Functional near-infrared optical spectroscopy (fNIRS)
A method of examining brain activity which uses a laser source of near-infrared light positioned on the scalp.
Noninvasive brain stimulation
A group of techniques, including TMS and tDCS, whereby the brain is stimulated using noninvasive means.
Pulse sequence
An oscillating magnetic field that creates a perturbation in the static field.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
Methodology by which researchers modulate or change brain activity in neurologically intact people; a pulsed magnetic field, created by a coil or series of coils placed on the scalp, induces an electrical field that alters the pattern of brain activity in the underlying tissue.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Application of a weak electrical current between two large electrodes, whereby neuronal activity is increased in regions below the anodal (i.e., positive) electrode, and decreased below the cathode (i.e., negative) electrode.
Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)
Similar to tDCS, except that it applies sinusoidal stimulation to the brain to modify ongoing brain oscillations between the two electrode sites.
Computational models
Specific algorithms used in neural networks to simulate human mental functions; the basic component of most computational models is a “unit,” which exhibits behavior like an individual neuron.
