Neuroscience Flashcards
(29 cards)
Brain plasticity
The brains ability to adapt and to change in response to internal and external demands
FMRI
Functional MRI captures the function/activity of the brain by detecting levels of oxygen in the blood and blood flow. Areas with increased blood flow are considered more active.
MRI or sMRI
Structural MRI captures the structure/anatomy of the brain by using strong magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of internal structures
CSF
Cerebrospinal fluid = water ventricles of the brain and functions as a cushion (prevents bursts)
Gray matter
Computational- contains cell bodies and dendrites
White matter
Communicational - made up of myelinated axons
Taxi Drivers (200)
Found that there was more brain tissue in an area responsible for memory formation
Musicians (2003)
Found more brain tissue in areas responsible for the processing of auditory, somato-sensory, visual-spatial and motor information.
What is the problem with these studies?
They are cross-sectional studies (compare data across data sets). Highlights the fact that causation does not mean correlation
What type of study would be better?
Longitudinal study
Jugglers (2004)
Researchers compared two brain sets of scans from pre-training and post-training and found increased brain tissue in an area responsible for the spatial perception and anticipation of a moving object
Students (2006)
Researchers compared two brain sets of scans of students during and after an intense exam period and found increased brain tissue in an area responsible for memory storage
The Meditation Project
Wanted to see if long-term meditation changes brain structure compared to non-meditators
Who were the participants?
Meditators: 50+ people, aged 24-77, with between 5 - 46 years of practice.
Controls: 50 matched for age and gender. Their brain scans came from a database (inexpensive)
What brain scan was used?
sMRI
What brain features were measured using a global design?
Total grey/white matter, Total CSF, TIV = Total Intracranial voume
What brain features were measured using a regional design?
Hippocampus volume (ROI = Region-of-interest analysis) , corpus callosum area (Topographical organisation = subsections)
What is a hybrid Measure?
A combination of regional and local measures and provides specific information about specific areas within a structure, helping researchers spot subtle differences that total volume alone might miss.
Corpus Callosum - Point-Wise Distances Example (2D)
point-wise distances are calculated from a medial core to the upper and lower boundaries of the corpus callosum in a mid-saggital slice, and the meditation project found increased thickness in certain areas for meditators.
Hippocampus - Point-Wise Distances (3D)
involves tracing the hippocampus across slices, creating a medial core, and calculating point-wise distances to its outer surface, revealing enlarged hippocampal regions in meditators, especially in specific sub-areas.
What brain features were measured using a local design?
Local brain emasures give detailed info at the voxel level, focusing on small, specific brain features. They measure Point-Wise Cortical Thickness, Point-Wise Cortical Gyrification (folding), Voxel-wise Grey Matter Concentration
Explain Point-Wise Cortical Thickness
This measure calculates teh distance (in mm) between the inner (white/grey matter) and outer (grey/CSF) surfaces of the cortex at each vertex point across the brain.
Method & Application of PWCT
The cortex is modelled as a parametric mesh with identical vertices across brains to allow direct comparisons; distances are then colour-coded to show how thickness varies by region
Explain Point-Wise Cortical Gyrification
gyrification measures how folded the brains surface is, based on the number and shape of gyri and sulci, using a formula called mean curvature
