PSYC 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Neurotransmitter, Cerebral Atrophy, Pipette
16 Mar 2017
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Visualising the living human brain (iii) - pet. Measures the metabolic activity of specific brain regions. The person is injected with radioactive 2-dg (2- deoxyglucose) into the carotid artery. It is taken up by active energy consuming molecules of the brain. However, unlike glucose, 2-dg cannot be metabolised, so it is broken down. As the radioactive 2-dg molecules decay, they emit positrons, which are detected by the scanner. The computer determines which regions of the brain have taken up the radioactive 2-dg and produces a picture of the brain showing different activity levels. Visualising the living human brain (iv) - fmri. The most recent advance in imaging technology. It produces images of the increase in oxygen flow in the blood to active areas of the brain. Has four major advantages over other imaging tools: nothing has to be injected, provides both structural and functional information in the same image, high spatial resolution, produces 3d images of the whole brain.
