Methods In Cognitive Neuroscience Flashcards
What are some pupil responses?
Pupil light response
Pupil near response
Spontaneous response
Psychosensory pupil response
What are psychosensory pupil responses?
Arousal
Alertness
Effort
Workload
Attention
What are some observable behavioural methods for performance and behaviour?
Reaction times
Discrimination
Facial expressions
Eye movements
What are some psychophysiological behavioural methods?
Pupil size
Skin conduction
What is fMRI?
Based on changes in blood oxygen due to localised brain activity
Able to detect amount of water - hydrogen in molecules align with magnetic field depending on tissues holding water
BOLD imaging - blood-oxygenated-level dependent
What is BOLD imaging?
Haemoglobin doesn’t have same magnetic properties when oxygenated + not - delivered to neurons when activity increases
Indirect measure of neuronal activity depends on vascularisation of brain
Best spatial precision with non-invasive techniques
Slow response
What is an EEG? (Electroencephalogram)
Electrical activity recorded at the scalp (potential)
Imbalance in electrical activity due to columnar organisation of cortex
What are some invasive recordings at the neuron and circuit level?
Congee-cell (comparative) neurophysiology
Intracranial recordings in humans
What is Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)?
Magnetic coil held above the head, affecting the intracranial field with an electric field - causing depolarisation
How can pupils be stimulated with micro stimulations?
Superior colliculus (SC) contains maps of visual field
Stimulating certain location on SC triggers eye movement and visual selection before eye movement is executed
Stimulate group of cells representing dark location in visual field, increase in pupil size
What are some neuropsychological methods?
Relies on lesion studies to infer function
Double dissociations - lesion A preserves function X but not Y. Lesion B preserves function Y not X
How can pupil size be used as a neurological assessment?
Pupil size anomalies after TBI suggest injury
