Discuss the use of technology in

investigating cognitive processes

Discuss the use of technology in investigating cognitive processes

This could be a short or long answer question.

You could be asked to write an essay on cognitive processes or you could be asked to discuss how technology is used to investigate just one cognitive process.

You already know a great deal about brain scanning technology

How does it work?

What is it used for?

What are its strengths?

What are its limitattions?

MRI

fMRI

PET

Use the following website, compare PET, MRI and fMRI scans.

In particular, look at the hippocampus, amygdala and the temporal lobes.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/assets/swf/1/mapping-the-brain/mapping-the-brain.html

What we’ll be doing

Mainly focusing on how technology can be used to investigate memory.

What we’ll be doing

Mainly focusing on how technology can be used to investigate memory.

What did Corkin discover once it became possible to scan HM’s brain in an MRI scanner?

What did Maguire et al (2000) find out about spatial navigational memory with the aid of MRI scans?

How did Mosconi et al (2005) use PET scans to detect Alzheimer’s didease?

ALZHEIMERS DISEASE

SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS ALZHEIMERS?

Who does it affect?

Can it be cured?

Ruby’s room

Ruby Wax speaks to the wife of a man with Alzheimer’s Disease.

PET scans

Cast your mind back to the Biological Level of Analysis

What is a PET scan?

What is it used for ?

How does it work?

Visit this website for an overview of how brain imaging is used in dementia research.

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?categoryID=200299&documentID=311&pageNumber=3

ALzheimers

Dr Lisa Mosconi (read p86)

PET scans can detect brain tumours or memory disorders like Alzheimer’s.

It identifies cellular level metabolic changes in an organ or tissue.

Alzheimer’s

New technology has enabled PET scanning to pick up abnormalities related to Alzheimer’s even before the patient has realized that there is something wrong.

New York University School of Medicine

Developed a brain-scan-based computer programme that quickly and accurately measures metabolic activity in the hippocampus.

Alzheimer’s

In the early stages of Alzheimer’s, PET scans (in collaboration with the computer programme) show that there is a reduction in brain metabolism in the hippocampus.

Alzheimer’s longitudinal study

Mosconi and colleagues (2005)

In a longitudinal study at NYU school of medicine

53 normal, healthy participants (9-24 years)

People with reduced metabolism in the hippocampus were more likely to go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Make detailed notes on the NYU study.

watch

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/how-memory-works.html

The history of HM

Read the extract from Suzanne Corkin’s book Permanent Present Tense

And http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2009/12/13/project-hm-phase-i/

Create a timeline of HM’s life and death (for it is ongoing) in terms of how technology has been used to study his brain - and in doing so, understand how memory works.

Maguire et al (200)

http://www.google.com.hk/imgres?imgurl=http://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/65/38/6da532f3fa68bba2e35ea7a0d106.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/C0019622.html&h=547&w=800&tbnid=MPwDu7k_5chusM:&zoom=1&docid=0yaaU5bqTd6TQM&ei=U2zHVPGgFtD88QWMgoLoAg&tbm=isch&ved=0CB8QMygDMAM

Don’t forget to mention the issues that are involved in using technology.

E.g. overreliance, inaccuracy, ethics etc.