Session Overview
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Understanding how the brain makes the mind takes an array of research methods. In this session, you'll learn the key principles, strengths, and limitations of brain injury studies, neural stimulation, and various recording techniques. The lecture video ends with a look at how research methods can help answer big questions about higher-level cognition, such as:
Keywords: lesion, neural stimulation, TMS, recording, structure vs. function, CT, DTI, EEG, MEG, PET, fMRI A patient in a MEG scanner. (Public domain image from National Institute of Mental Health.) |
Session Activities
Readings
Read the following before watching the lecture video.
- Finish the chapter you started for the previous session:
Lecture Videos
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- Lecture 4: Brain II (01:11:01)
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- Methods of Studying the Human Brain (00:03:18)
- Lesion (Injury) and Stimulation Studies (00:09:26)
Lesion (Injury) and Stimulation Studies
> Download from iTunes U (MP4 - 154MB)
> Download from Internet Archive (MP4 - 154MB)
- Recording Studies of Structure: CT, MR, DTI (00:15:41)
Recording Studies of Structure: CT, MR, DTI
> Download from iTunes U (MP4 - 154MB)
> Download from Internet Archive (MP4 - 154MB)
- Recording Studies of Function: Electrical (EEG, MEG) & Metabolic (PET, fMRI) (00:28:09)
Recording Studies of Function: Electrical (EEG, MEG) & Metabolic (PET, fMRI)
> Download from iTunes U (MP4 - 154MB)
> Download from Internet Archive (MP4 - 154MB)
- Sample Studies: Social Cognition (Empathy) & Vegetative States (00:14:25)
Sample Studies: Social Cognition (Empathy) & Vegetative States
> Download from iTunes U (MP4 - 154MB)
> Download from Internet Archive (MP4 - 154MB)
Video Resources
- Higher resolution version of animation played during lecture: cortical brain growth, ages 4 to 21, top view (MOV). From Gogtay, N., et al. "Dynamic Mapping of Human Cortical Development During Childhood Through Early Adulthood." PNAS 101, no. 21 (2004): 8174-9.
- Lecture Slides (PDF - 4.5MB)
Discussion: Brain
The brain: let's talk about its major systems, how we study them, and how they make the mind. This is just really cool to think about the fact that there's this organ that sits in your cranium, that sits between your two ears… Read more »
Check Yourself
Name four ways that scientists can study the brain. Describe each of these methods. Provide a description of a study or experiment that used one of these methods.
› Sample Answer
Further Study
These optional resources are provided for students that wish to explore this topic more fully.
TYPE | CONTENT | CONTEXT |
---|---|---|
Video | "Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight." February. 2008. TED Talks. Accessed August. 19, 2011. [00:18:42] | A neuroscientist describes her experience having a massive stroke and subsequent recovery |
Web resource | Johnson, K. A., and J. A. Becker. The Whole Brain Atlas. | Includes a detailed primer on neuroimaging and a library of brain images |
Video | NIMHgov. "The Brain's Inner Workings Part II: Cognition." Aug. 12, 2009. YouTube. Accessed Feb. 14, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKj9i1qS08M | Short video on imaging techniques that illustrate the neurological basis of higher brain function |
Textbook supplement | Study materials for Chapter 3, "The Biology of Mind and Behavior," in Study Site for Psychology in Context, 3/e (Pearson Education, 2007) | Practice test questions, flashcards, and media for a related textbook by Kosslyn & Rosenberg |