Transcript The Effect of Cognition on Physiology

The Use of Technology in Brain
Research
GROUP 1
M’KYLA WALKER
IMANI ROSS
TONY HO
JOHNIA MURRAY
JANTAVIA WERTS
Research
 Researchers use a lot of
technology to study the
localization functions of the brain.
 Option to study active brain
 See where specific brain processes
take place
Invasive Techniques
 The more invasive techniques that
scientist use to study the brain are
reserved for animals such as rats
 They benefit us because we are to
complete ablations which is where a
piece of the brain is removed in order
to examine the differences in
behavior.
Invasive Technique
 Hetherington and Ranson
- Lesion part of the brain
called ventromedial
hypothalamus in rats
~ Increased food intake
dramatically & doubled
weight
~ Hypothalamus acts as a
brake on food intake
Ethics
 Raise serious ethical
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concerns
Modern Researchers use
EEG
(electroencephalogram)
Thought of as Brain Waves
Transports information
through ethical change
EFG registers patterns of
voltage change in the brain
Position Emissions Topography (PET) Scan
 Monitors glucose
metabolism in the brain
 Patient is injected with a
harmless dose of radioactive
glucose and the radioactive
particles emitted by the
glucose are detected by the
PET scanner
 Produces color maps of
brain activity
 Diagnoses abnormalities
Functional magnetic Resonance imaging (fMRI)
 Provides 3D pictures of brain
structures using magnetic
fields and radio waves.
 Shows actual brain activity
and indicated which areas of
the brain are active.
~Have higher resolution
than PET scans
~ Most frequently used
technologies in
biopsychological research
today.
Brain Plasticity
AMANDA CAULFIELD
SHELBY SMITH
JEFFREY TABOADA
Then and Now
 Then (1960’s)
-Thought that brain was
influenced only by
genetics
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Thought to be
unchangeable
 Hubel & Weisel (1965)
 Showed that brain
changes as response to
environmental input
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Were based on rats
 Now
 Generally accepted that
environment enrichment
can modify brain,
especially in cerebral
cortex (area of higher
cognitive function)
 Brain is constantly
changing as result of
experience throughout
lifespan
Brain Plasticity
 Refers to brain’s ability to rearrange the connections
between its neurons
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Changes that occur in the structure of brain as result of
learning/experience
Adapts to challenges of the environment
Can change functional qualities of various brain structures
depending on regularity and type of new tasks that neurons are
asked to perform
Neural connection density affected by high level stimulation
and learning opportunity at appropriate times
Brain Plasticity (cont.)
 Dendritic Branching
 The dendrites of the neurons grow in numbers and connect
with other neurons
Rosenzweig and Bonnett (1972)
 Studied brain plasticity with rats
 To measure the effect of either enrichment or deprivation on
the development of neurons in the cerebral cortex
 Used interesting tags to play with (stimulating) and no tags
(deprived environment)
 Last 30-60 days then were sacrificed
 Stimulated environment rats had increased thickness in the
cortex
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Frontal lobe, associated with thinking, planning, and decision
making, was heavier in rats that were in stimulated environment
Rosenzweig and Bonnet (1975) (cont.)
 Similar studies show if the rats had more rats with them,
the cortex would he was thicker
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Company + toys=best conditions for cerebral thickness
 These findings can be generalized to humans to some
extent
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Humans brains differ in genetic make-up and environment inputs
Makes it difficult to decide what is considered to be an enriched
environment
Raises questions of the importance of education in growth of new
synapses
If it works as though, environmental stimulation is important for
human cortex
Mozart Effect (Rauscher et al. 1993)
 One of the most well-known claims of brain plasticity
 Listening to Mozart temporarily increases spatial reasoning
ability
 Structurally complex musical compositions excites brain firing
pattern as when physically completing spatial tasks
Mozart Effect (Rauscher et al. 1993)
 Research shows that it has nothing to do with Mozart
but with arousal
 May just be increase in sense of attention
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Thompson et al. (2001) if mood elevates -> improved spatial
skills but if mood doesn’t elevate -> no improvement (all in
result of music)
 This idea suffers from problems with ecological
validity
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Doesn’t show behavior in a real-life situation
Videos about Brain Plasticity
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaDlLD97CLM
 (Ben Carson)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MKNsI5CWoU
 (Cameron: Today Show)
The Effect of Cognition on
Physiology
SCOTTIE AND SAM
Richard Davidson
 In 2004 he held an experiment with eight Buddhist
monks.
 They were highly experienced with meditation, and
the ten volunteers that were there were trained in
meditation for one week.
 The participants were told to meditate on love and
compassion.
The experiment
 He used a PET scan to observe that two of the
controls and all of the monks experienced an
increase in brain waves during meditation.
 As soon as they were done meditating, the gamma
waves returned to normal.
 The monks were more experienced so their gamma
waves had no difference.
 The spot where the gamma waves were found in the
monks brains during meditation on love and
compassion was found to be larger than the other
volunteers brains.
Conclusion
 Davidson argued that meditation could have long
term effect on the brain and the way it processes
emotions.
 The brain adapts to stimulation (either from
environment or our own thinking)
Mirror Neurons
 Jay
 Brad ;)
 Eli
 Bianca
Mirror Neurons
 One of the ways that people learn is by observing
others and then imitating their behavior.
 Mirror Neurons – Neurons that fire when an animal
(or person) performs an action or the animal/human
is observing an action being performed
Mirror Neurons (CONT.)
 Mirror Neurons play a vital role in the ability to learn
from – as well as empathize with – another person.
Gallese et. al. (1996)
 Researchers at the University of Parma in Italy, accidentally
discovered mirror neurons.
 Because neural messages are electrical in nature, the
researchers would hear a telltale crackling sound whenever
the neurons were activated in the monkeys.
 Every time a monkey would reach for a peanut, the
crackling sound was heard, not from just the monkey
performing the action, but from the other monkeys as well.
Real Life Examples
 At a football game or sporting event, when a player
gets hit hard, the crowd cringes and reacts as if they
were the one who had been hit.
 When you are really hungry and you see someone
taking a bite out of a burger you are like
Functions of Hormones in
the Human Body
(Biological)
ELTON LOO-ONG, WIZARD PIRRUNG,
ALEXAEUS POPE,
AMANANANANANABANANANADA PINTO
The Endocrine System
Glands that produce hormones
in the body
Enter from glands to
bloodstream (longer)
i.e. pituitary, adrenal, testes,
ovaries, etc.
Various Horomones
Hormone
Glands
Function
Adrenaline
Adrenals
Fight/flight response
Arousal
Cortisol
Adrenals
Arousal
Stress
Memory
Melatonin
Pineal
Regulation of sleep
Oxytocin
Pituitary &
Hypothalamus
Mother-child attachment
Testosterone &
Oestrogen
Gonads
Development
Emotion
Oxytocin, the “Love Hormone”
 Produced by hypothalamus
 Firing of neurons by amygdala
 From stimulation by pituitary
gland, hugs, and touches
 Plays role in inducing labor, trust,
generosity, and attachment to
others
Melatonin, the “Sleep Hormone”
• Made by pineal gland
• An unbalance of melatonin gives
symptoms of insomnia and/or jet lag
• Increase during night/darkness, viceversa
• Release correlates with circadian rhythm
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
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Side effect of excess melatonin
Found by Rosenthal in 1987
Subcategory of depression
Sleepiness, lethargy, carbohydrates
craving and apathy
• Cure is sunlight AKA go outside more