neuropsychology-method

Transparency assumption

________: damaged brain is like a normal w /something missing.

Clinical

________: Devoted to diagnosing troubles of a given individual, & devising a rehabilitation strategy for that patient (medical)

Magnetic field

________ induces a current in neurons near coil.

Universality assumption

________: All people have more or less same brains, & same functional organization- so that a small of patients tells us about humans in general.

Overall idea

________: selective in who is assessed in studies.

Localizationist neuropsychology

________: Map deficits onto lesion locations.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation

________ (TMS) as an alternative to neuropsychology.

Coil

________ contains a wire carrying an electric current.

B c effect

________ has a sudden onset and is temporary, no gradual brain re- organization.

Classical localizationist

________: Map cognitive deficits onto location of brain damage to try to localize cognitive functions.

Causality vs correlation

________: only secure way of showing a causal link b /w brain area & task performance.

Stimulation

________ is capable of causing seizures & short- term complaints.

Single dissocation

________: A patient is normal (or at least decent) in performing Task A, but impaired in performing Task B.

Sample size

________: Can apply TMS to same location in numerous subjects- greater standardization than w /natural lesions.

Spatial resolution

________: Lesion location and size depends on nature of damage.

Specificity of damage

________: Circumscribed brain region versus widespread.

Electric current

________ adds noise to normal intricate pattern of electrical communication among neurons.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

relationship to traditional neuropsychology

Neuropsychology

The study of brain-damaged patients

Clinical

Devoted to diagnosing troubles of a given individual, & devising a rehabilitation strategy for that patient (medical)

Classical localizationist

Map cognitive deficits onto location of brain damage to try to localize cognitive functions

Cognitive

understand what basic cognitive functions ARE, by seeing how different abilities hang together or separate after brain damage

Ex

if damage to a region disrupts reading, but not understanding speech, not identifying faces (etc), then one might conclude that the region is specialized for some aspect of processing text

Stroke

disruption of blood flow

Brain infection

usually viral

Specificity of damage

Circumscribed brain region versus widespread

Onset

Sudden versus gradual

When patient is stable, standard neuropsychological testing to determine general nature of problems

are they in language, memory, perception

Overall idea

selective in who is assessed in studies

Localizationist neuropsychology

Map deficits onto lesion locations

Old version

Wait for patient to die, examine brain visually for general location of damage

Modern version

Do structural (anatomical) MRI scan while patient is still alive

All MR images consist of individual image elements

voxels (3D pixels)

Localizationist neuropsychology

Map deficits onto lesion locations (STEPS)

Blue

unrelated to language test

Red

deficiency part of language processing

transparency assumption

damaged brain is like a normal w/ something missing

Single dissocation

A patient is normal (or at least decent) in performing Task A, but impaired in performing Task B

hard to intepret b/c of possible role of task difficulty

brain damage will impair a harder task before it influences an easier task

Safety

Noninvasive better

Cost

Cheaper better

Sample size

How much data is sufficient, and how easy is it to collect that much data

Coverage

How much of the brain can we investigate

"In New York State"

Low spatial resolution answer

"111 Chestnut St Binghamton, 13905"

High spatial resolution answer

Low temporal resolution

both active while people did the task

High temporal resolution

temporal lobe area was active BEFORE (or AFTER) frontal lobe area

Temporal THEN Frontal

Sensory cortex is feeding info to frontal lobe

Frontal THEN Temporal

frontal lobe is guiding sensory cortex about how to process sensory input

Temporal resolution

None really

Spatial resolution

Lesion location and size depends on nature of damage

Safety

Zero risks

Sample size

How many similar patients can we find

Cost

Relatively low

Causality vs correlation

only secure way of showing a causal link b/w brain area & task performance

"Temporary lesion" method

Transcranial magnetic stimulation

Spatial resolution

not precisely known, maybe a centimeter, maybe several

Cost

Moderate