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Brain Scanning Technology. BLOA. How do we know what’s going on inside the brain?. What do these techniques involve? Ablation Lesioning. Ablation – removing part of the brain Lesion – scarring or damage (either intentionally as part of an operation, or due to accidental brain damage.
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What do these techniques involve? • Ablation • Lesioning
Ablation – removing part of the brain • Lesion – scarring or damage (either intentionally as part of an operation, or due to accidental brain damage
Fat Rats • How do we know when to stop eating?
Hetherington and Ranson (1942) • Hetherington and Ranson (1942) • Experimented using rats • Lesioned the ventromedial hypothalamus • Rats ate far more than usual • Researchers believed this proved that the hypothalamus stops us from eating too much. • More recent research suggests that we still do not fully understand the role of the hypothalamus (though it is involved in the regulation of hunger)
One technique is the EEG • Show Brain Story
EEG • Watch
PET • A PET scan monitors glucose metabolism in the brain • Patient given radioactive glucose • PET detects radioactive particles • Produces coloured maps of brain activity • Can detect abnormalities like tumours • Used in Alzheimers research • Can compare differences in normal and abnormal brains
PET • Gur et al (1995)
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) • fMRI uses magnetic fields and radiowaves • Shows actual brain activity • Higher resolution than PET