According to Russell Poldrack’s article, what fMRI can tell us is often overrated despite its powerful impact on the study of the human brain. fMRI is a useful technique that allows us to image brain activities by measuring blood flow in the brain. It expanded our understanding of mental disorders from a biological perspective and helped us understand structures and functions of the brain. However, there are several limitations on what neuroimaging can tell us because it is difficult to determine how our brain works or how we can diagnose and treat mental disorders from them.
Research using fMRI is based on seeing which part of the brain is activated in certain conditions. Findings from this research showed strong evidence of associations between mental disorders and the brain by comparing regions that function and look differently between
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They also showed changes in structure and function in the brains over time, such as brain development. In terms of diagnosis and treatment, neuroimaging widened our view on diagnostic categories of mental disorders and prospective treatments that can be specialized for individuals from their brain images.
However, these findings are not the complete answer for the effects of mental disorders on brains due to the limitations of neuroimaging. Most importantly, brain images do not provide information on causality. They do not show the whole physiological process of what is happening in our brains and other parts of the body. Thus, we cannot draw any causational conclusion from them. In addition, we cannot tell how the degree of activation affects brain function and whether it is proportional to the strength of emotion or performance. For example, strong activation in the amygdala does not mean that a person is extremely fearful. Moreover, findings from fMRI may not be replicable. This highlights the fact that more research needs
...owell, E. R., Thompson, P. M., & Toga, A. W. (2004). Mapping changes in the human cortex
...structural changes in subcortical and cortical regions, and may have some diagnostic utility in various psychiatric conditions causing FEP. Still, more research on the cost-effectiveness of neuroimaging in FEP focused on the US needs to be conducted, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, in order to better assess the economic benefits of routine neuroimaging.
... its underlying pathophysiology, and the best opportunities to understand the abnormal brain processes that underlie major psychiatric disorders and their remarkable resolution by inducing seizures (Fink 4). I can say no better sentiment on the subject than that.
The processor chosen for my computer build is the Intel BX80662G4400 Pentium Processor G4400 which also comes with a CPU cooler. The software I will be running on my computer is mainly Google Chrome and Microsoft Office 365 Suite. The CPU requirements for Google Chrome is an Intel Pentium 4 or later with that’s SSE2 (Streaming SIMD Extensions 2) capable, the processor I chose is SSE2 capable and is also SSE4 capable making the processor fully capable of running Google Chrome. Now looking at the Microsoft Office 365 Suite the CPU requirements of this software is that the software has to be 1GHz or faster, a x86-bit or x64-bit processor with a SSE2 instruction set. The processor speed for my processor is 3.3GHz which is way more than 1GHz and is a x64-bit processor with a SSE2 instruction set.
Throughout this course, much of what we have discussed has depended strongly on an interpretation of scientific information. We have questioned, criticized, accepted, rejected, and formed our own ideas about topics in neural and behavioral science. A book which I have read recently seems to fit in with this type of discussion. Blaming the Brain, by Eliot Valenstein, describes the major biological theories of mental illness and the lack of evidence we have to fully support them.
The brain, a component of the nervous system that is located in our skulls is a complex organ that determines almost everything about us, from actions to personality traits. It controls voluntary movement, conscious thinking, language, memory, and emotion (“Brain” 2014). Through the use of brain imaging technologies, psychologists are able to break down the complexity of the active brain and study its particular processes. Such technologies include Positron Emission Topography (PET), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Electroencephalogram (EEG), and Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT). These instruments are useful in the field of neurology, but have their own set of benefits and drawbacks depending on different situations. Hence, this essay will discuss and evaluate the brain technologies of PET and fMRI in its role of investigating the relationship between biological factors and behavior in terms of schizophrenia.
Raine, Adrian, Monte Buchsbaum, and Lori LaCasse. "Brain abnormalities in murderers indicated by positron emission tomography." Biological psychiatry42.6 (1997): 495-508.
Sharma, V., Burt, V., & Ritchie, H. (2010, April 1). Drs. Sharma, Burt, and Ritchie Reply [Letter to the editor]. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 167(4). Retrieved November 17, 2013
The biologic basis of Clinical Depression originates in the brain. Your brain is made up of a complex network of nerve cells, called neurons and of brain chemicals, called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters transmit messages from one neuron to another. Two of these neurotransmitters are not produced in sufficient quantities in a depressed person’s brain. Because of this lack, too few messages get transmitted between neurons and the symptoms of depression occur. In Clinical depression the chemicals in the brain are out-of-balance. New technology allows researchers to take pictures of the brain that show activity levels in the brain. These imaging techniques such as f-MRI and PET scan actually create images of how active different parts of the brain are. Some studies with these kinds of techniques have suggested that the patterns of activation in the brains of depressed people are different than those who are not. These tests can help doctors and researchers learn more about depression and other mental illnesses. Since this research is fairly new, it is not yet used to diagnose clinical depression.
Previous studies that have researched the functions of the cerebellum have focused on investigating individuals that have damage to their cerebellum, such as was the case with the Phineas Gage’s frontal lobe study that proved that the frontal lobe served an important role in personality and behavior. Recent studies have had the advantage of new technologies that could significantly aid in identifying whether or not the cerebellum plays a role in specific functions, these include functional imaging techniques such as fMRI and PET imaging, and these recent technological advances have paved the way for new studies that focus on brain region activation. This new method in researching the cerebellum has created new hypotheses for the functions of this crucial brain region, which include but are not limited to cognitive and perceptual functions as well as the already examined motor functions.
In the world of man, one would think everyone sees the world in the same way. That person would be greatly mistaken. The human brain is more complex than most can believe; some would say the brain is still a modern mystery. When it comes to psychology, the idea behind perception and cognition is usually through the psyche of a ‘normal’ individual. However, some argue that studying abnormal brains, or persons with brain disorders could help better understand perception and cognition. It is correct that unusual brains can perceive differently from a standard brain. These studies can only help the scientific field expand its understanding of the brain by encompassing all brains, including those suffering from disorders. In short, brain disorders
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI),which is one of the most exciting recent developments in biomedical magnetic resonance imaging, allows the non-invasive visualisation of human brain function(1).
Psychopathology is indeed a fascinating topic within the field of psychology. Researchers and scientists alike attempt to understand how the human mind works, in both efficient and deficient ways. It is, however, the deficiencies that most scientists want or strive to understand because most deficiencies lead to mental illness. In order to pinpoint those various deficiencies that lead to mental illness, scientists and researchers must use and follow through different research methodologies. In the field of psychopathology, a systematic fashion of exploring questions and observations about disorders, syndromes, and/or diseases is imperative. We, as scientists and researchers, cannot just pick, choose, and share whatever information off our
Antidepressant drugs are designed to correct the imbalance. Sutton believes that feedback between his brain machine and MRI pictures of the brain at work will provide more insight not only of depression and Alzheimer's, but of stroke, multiple sclerosis, and other disorders that affect large areas of the brain. In one experiment, he and his colleagues looked at pictures of brains while their owners did simple motor tasks, such as tapping their fingers in simple and complex patterns. As expected, they saw activity in small networks of cells located in brain areas that control movements.
Although all four structures work in concert with one another, each is observed to have a distinct function. Specifically, the amygdala is thought to be responsible for recognizing other’s emotional states; the STC analyzes body movements in order to predict the actions, or intentions, of others; the OFC is involved in social reinforcement; and the FFG plays a role in face detection (Pelphrey, Shultz, Hudac & Vander 2011). Support for this model can be found in numerous studies. For example, in an fMRI study of facial identity and expression, it was found that the amygdala was activated to various degrees when subjects were shown different emotional expressions (Gläscher, Gläscher, Weiller & Büchel 2004). In another fMRI study, the STS was activated when subjects observed humans moving, but not while inanimate objects moved (Pelphrey, Shultz, Hudac & Vander 2011). Furthermore, evidence for the OFC as an important structure for reward was seen when monkeys worked for electrical stimulation of this region when they were hungry, but not if they were satiated (Rolls 2000). Finally, the FFG, which contains a region called the fusiform face area (FFA), was shown to be