Week 6 - Methods + Limitations of Neuroscience Flashcards
(24 cards)
Who was Phineas Gage?
Rail worker who survived frontal lobe injury; showed behavioural changes.
What did Karl Lashley propose?
Mass action theory: memory distributed across the brain.
What did Wilder Penfield’s Montreal Procedure show?
Electrical stimulation produced vivid memories, suggesting brain localisation.
Who was Auguste Deter?
First patient diagnosed with Alzheimer’s; showed plaques and tangles on autopsy.
What is histology used for in neuroscience?
Visualise, identify, and quantify brain cells using fixation, sectioning, staining.
What is experimental ablation?
Destruction of brain tissue to study behavioural changes.
How are lesions created?
Using electrical current or excitotoxic chemicals.
What is stereotaxic surgery?
Procedure to precisely target brain areas for lesions or electrode placement.
What is anterograde labelling?
Traces efferent neuron connections.
What is retrograde labelling?
Traces afferent neuron connections.
What is single-unit recording?
Microelectrode measurement of one neuron’s activity.
What is EEG?
Scalp recording of electrical activity using macroelectrodes.
What is polysomnography (PSG)?
Sleep study combining EEG, EMG, and EOG data.
What does a CT entail?
X-rays to examine brain structure.
What does MRI use?
Magnetic fields to examine brain anatomy.
What does a PET entail?
Radioactive tracers to study metabolic brain activity.
What does an fMRI use/measure?
Blood oxygen levels to infer brain activity.
What is the main difference between PET and fMRI?
PET uses radioactive tracers; fMRI uses magnetic fields and oxygen levels.
What are the four main sleep stages in EEG?
N1 (drowsy), N2 (light sleep), N3 (deep sleep), REM.
What does sleep latency mean?
Time from lights out to Stage N1.
What is the Borkovec et al. (1981) finding?
Insomniacs report being awake during sleep despite identical EEG to good sleepers.
What is one limitation of objective neuroscience methods?
They may not capture subjective experience.
Why can’t neuroscience replace psychology?
It doesn’t fully explain subjective phenomena like consciousness, relationships, or mental illness.
What is David Chalmers’ view on consciousness?
Conscious experience may be beyond current scientific explanation.
