Psych January 23rd Notes Pages 91 103 Neural Plasticity How and When the Brain Changes o Plasticity The nervous system s ability to change o Our brain is most capable of changing during early development when much of our nervous system has yet to be set in place o The network of neurons in the brain changes over the course of development in four primary ways Growth of dendrites and axons Pruning Death of certain neurons and the retraction of axons Synaptogenesis The formation of synapses to remove connections that aren t useful Myelination The insulation of axons with a myelin sheath o Potentiation When synapses imply perform better and show stronger and more prolonged excitatory responses o Stem Cells Cels that have the potential to become a wide variety of specialized cells o NOTES ENDED Pages 106 110 Mapping the Mind The Brain in Action A Tour of Brain Mapping Methods o Phrenology Assessing various bumps on the head and attributing various personality and intellectual characteristics WRONG o Brain Damage Understanding how the brain works by seeing how it doesn t o Electrical stimulation and recording of nervous system activity Electroencephalograph A device that measures electrical activity generated by the brain o Brain Scans Enable us to peer inside the brain s structure it s function and sometimes both CT Scans and MRI Images Allow us to visualize he brain s structure CT A three dimensional reconstruction of multiple X rays taken through a part of the body MRI Measures the release of water in biological tissues following exposure to a magnetic field more detailed PET Measures changes in the brain s activity in response to stimuli Scanner measures where in the brain most glucose like molecules are consumed to discover which brain regions are most active during a task fMRI Measures the change in blood oxygen level Magnetic stimulation and recoding TMS transcranial magnetic stimulation Applies strong and quickly changing magnetic fields to the skull to create electric fields in the brain TMS can either enhance or interrupt brain function in a specific region indicating what is going on there Magnetoencephalography MEG Detects electrical activity in the brain by measuring tiny magnetic fields
View Full Document
Unlocking...