PSYC 2650 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Capgras Delusion, Electromagnetic Coil, Prefrontal Cortex
23 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Provides a picture of the brain while it is performing a cognitive task. Allows specific neural structures involved in a task to be isolated. Provides an indication of the relative contribution of neural structures over time to task performance. Shows how brains differ and how they change with experiences. Evidence that brain activity accompanies task performance but less evidence that brain activity causes cognition. More activity does not mean more efficient processing. Baseline level of activity for a particular task is difficult to measure. The subtraction technique in fmri assumes a stable baseline. Easier task serves as the baseline for the more difficult task. Response to the easier task is subtracted from the more difficult task. Brain structures involving the specific processes used in the more difficult task can be identified if a stable baseline can be established. Difficult to compare across brains due to individual differences in neuroanatomy. No differences between two tasks are difficult to interpret.
