Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis

“Scientists think that as many as 4.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease” (Soliz, 2006, pg. 13).

Due to this, it has been deemed difficult to determine which deficit is the consequence of which part of a lesion. To overcome this problem, other methods are being used to aid in the visualisation of memory processes in the healthy parts of the brain. These come in the form of functional neuroimaging studies using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). These studies have allowed researchers to target specific memory processes using targeted psychological experiments. However, with all psychological experiments, there are limitations to using neuroimaging equipment. PET and fMRI attain their signals from local changes in blood flow or metabolism correlated with neural activity rather than from brain waves (or signals). The local vascular changes affect the distribution of an injected radionuclide (e.g. O15) in PET or magnetic properties that are blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) in fMRI. The indirect measure of neural activity limits the temporal and spatial fidelity of activations.

Using Functional MRI helps to visualize the brain functionality through local metabolism. In this technology it allows the researcher to measure and track the brain functions by discovering the correlated changes in blood flow. From this functional Mri when a brain function is acted out the flow of oxygenated rich blood is detected and highlighted on the specific location where the functionality came from on the brain.

Different maps are taken of the brain in order to determine if there are any problems with the brain. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is used an amplified read out of the brain waves. A magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI) gives a detailed picture of the brain’s soft tissues. It also shows the structure of the brain. A function magnetic resonance imaging scan or function MRI (fMRI) shows the function of parts of the brain as well as the brain’s structure. It also has the ability to show when a person is lying. Scientists also use a neuroimaging technique called a positron emission tomography scan (PET scan) to view the brain. (Barron’s AP Psychology 6th Edition) The PET scan shows each brain area’s consumption of chemical fuel which is glucose. There is a scale for the PET scan to determine activity in the brain when performing a certain action. The colors range from purple to red, purple represents no activity while red represents very high activity. The PET scan can

In the article brain on fiction, A very interesting article by Annie Murphy Paul appeared in the New York Times yesterday. It was titled “Your Brain on Fiction” and deals with how the written word affects our brains. In the article, she talks about several studies done with functional MRIs (fMRI). A functional MRI looks at brain activation by revealing changes in blood flow. If a certain area of the brain is stimulated, then that area will receive increased blood flow and this can be measured with a functional MRI. Such testing is currently being looked at to perhaps develop a more reliable lie detector. It appears that different parts of the brain activate when someone is remembering an event as opposed to making it up. Hopefully, this technique

Using fMRI, the first task will measure initial activation of the amygdala (fear) and anterior cingulate cortex (empathy). All

Neuroscience evidence has impacted some cases in the history. In 1991, the structural neuroimaging evidence was presented in the criminal proceeding, Herbert Weinstein was being tried for second-degree murder, he was the primary suspect in his wife’s death. It was believed that during the heated argument, he strangled her and threw her body from the window of their apartment to make it look like a suicide (Rojas-Burke, 1993). His defense attorney claimed that Weinstein is not responsible for his actions due to a mental defect. Where a large cyst located in his membranous casing of his brain had increased the pressure on his frontal cortex, metabolic imbalances in the region that resulted to decreased his ability to tell right from wrong.

Humans have used deception and trickery as a means of protection, survival, and personal gain from the very beginning. At the primitive level this deception was required, for example, by using camouflage to catch prey. Move forward several thousand years, and human deception can result in massive profit gains, injury or death to others, and identity fraud, among many others. Across different civilizations a variety of techniques were devised to seek the truth from those who wished to deceive others. Currently a new technology aims to more accurately read minds by using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or fMRI, by mapping the brain’s activity. The implications of this technology are immense; however there are many ethical hurdles to be crossed before it can become more mainstream. This paper examines the practicality as well as the ethical hurdles of using fMRI for lie detection.

When discussing the ethical issues at play for the use of sMRI and fMRI as biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease detection some facts must be taken into account. When it comes to medical tests even the best possible tests available can be prone to some degree of false positive or false negative results. The ethical issue here is what percentage of successful diagnoses are deemed beneficial enough to out weight the potential of a possible wrong diagnosis. Diagnosing a patient with Alzheimer’s disease who doesn’t, or a patient with pre-Alzheimer’s disease when they don’t could have a huge psychological impact on that person’s life in a negative way. If a cure isn’t discovered but a pre-symptomatic detection test was, the scenario raises a few ethical

In this essay I will be discussing how the reporter used fMRI imaging techniques to measure the brain activity while playing violent M- rated video games. Their theory was that violent video games can produce violent tendencies in people that play M-rated games. In contrast, I feel as if the reporters didn’t go into detail about the control groups and how they were detected whether they were desensitized to emotions. I personally believe that violent video games cause violent tendencies because you are what you do repeatedly. These men spend at least two hours daily playing these violent games like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and other extreme games. What is that really teaching them?

Ever since the early days of science fiction, man has dreamt of using computers to see into another’s mind, to see what they see, and what they think. Until recently, this hope was just that, a dream. But now, using magnetic resonance imaging, statistical analysis programs, and a new encoding model, scientists have turned this dream into a reality. MRIs use strong magnetic fields to trigger and measure a charge in the tissue scanned, which is then translated to an image of the scanned area. Functional MRIs expand on this technique by using the change in charge in specific parts of the brain to measure the oxygenation of blood in these areas over time. Using this technique, known as blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast (BOLD), changes in

In the past few years the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging has exploded and it has really over-flooded the market in terms of its applicability. There are a multitude of companies that are really pushing this technology for many different uses such as replacing the polygraph, using it to make life support withdrawal decisions, and even as a form of risk reduction for dating (Stix, 2008). This all sounds good in theory but the downside is that these companies are pushing fMRI technology for all these different uses without having a significant research performed to back up such hare-brained claims.

Title: Evaluate experimental and brain-imaging techniques and consider what they tell us about the brain and cognitive behaviour in typical and atypical individuals.

2. Functional brain mapping (scanning a person's brain while he or she is performing a certain physical task such as squeezing a ball, or looking at a particular type of picture) is helping researchers better understand how the brain works.

The department of neurology of Harvard University did an experiment on college students. They showed pictures of someone special to them and by using the fMRI to scan their brain compare to the time they look at the picture and the time they did not. The fMRI scan shows two parts