Chapter 4

Question 1

Structural imaging

Answer 1

Measures of the spatial configuration of different types of tissue in the brain (principally CT and MRI)

Question 2

Functional imaging

Answer 2

Measures temporary changes in brain physiology associated with cognitive processing; the most common method is fMRI and is based on a hemodynamic measure

Question 3

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM)

Answer 3

A technique for segregating and measuring differences in white matter and gray matter concentration

Question 4

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)

Answer 4

A technique that uses MRI to measure white matter connectivity between brain regions

Question 5

Fractional anisotropy (FA)

Answer 5

A measure of the extent to which diffusion takes place in some directions more than others

Question 6

BOLD

Answer 6

Blood oxygen-level dependent contrast; the signal measured in fMRI that relates to the concentration of deoxyhemoglobin in the blood

Question 7

Hemodynamic response function (HRF)

Answer 7

Changes in the BOLD signal over time

Question 8

Cognitive subtraction

Answer 8

A type of experimental design in functional imaging in which activity in a control task is subtracted from activity in an experimental task

Question 9

Pure insertion (also pure deletion)

Answer 9

The assumption that adding a different component to a task does not change the operation of other components

Question 10

Interactions

Answer 10

The effect of one variable upon another

Question 11

Efference copy

Answer 11

A motor signal used to predict sensory consequences of an action

Question 12

Functional integration

Answer 12

The way in which different regions communicate with each other

Question 13

Resting state paradigm

Answer 13

A technique for measuring functional connectivity in which correlations between several regions (networks) are assessed while the participant is not performing any tasks

Question 14

Default mode network

Answer 14

A set of brain regions that is more hemodynamically active during rest than during tasks

Question 15

Stereotactic normalization

Answer 15

The mapping of individual differences in brain anatomy onto a standard template

Question 16

Smoothing

Answer 16

Redistributing brain activity from neighboring voxels to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio

Question 17

Voxel

Answer 17

A volume-based unit (cf. pixels, which are 2D); in imaging research the brain is divided into many thousands of these

Question 18

Talairach coordinates

Answer 18

Locations in the brain defined relative to the atlas of Talairach and Tournoux

Question 19

Family Wise Error (FWE)

Answer 19

An approach for correcting for many statistical comparisons based on the number of tests being conducted

Question 20

False Discovery Rate (FDR)

Answer 20

An approach for correcting for many statistical comparisons based on the number of positive results obtained

Question 21

Inhibition

Answer 21

A reduction/suppression of the activity of a brain region (or a cognitive process), triggered by activity in another region/process

Question 22

Excitation

Answer 22

An increase of the activity of a brain region (or a cognitive process), triggered by activity in another region/process

Question 22

Activation

Answer 22

An increase in physiological processing in one condition relative to some other condition(s)

Question 22

Deactivation

Answer 22

A decrease in physiological processing in one condition relative to some other condition(s)

Question 23

Semantic dementia

Answer 23

A progressive loss of information from semantic memory

Question 24

Semantic memory

Answer 24

Conceptually based knowledge about the world, including knowledge of people, places, the meaning of objects and words

Question 25

Vegetative state

Answer 25

A disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal

Question 26

Multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA)

Answer 26

An fMRI analysis method in which distributed patterns of activity are linked to cognitive processes