TRENDS AND CHANGES

The Brain

Back in the day.

1796 to 1840, people believed in Phrenology.Initial study of the brainThe idea that the SIZE of the skull as well as BUMPS on a person’s head dictated personality.

Phrenology

Began with Franz Gall

Believed there were 27 different bumps on someone’s head that corresponded to a particular personality/psychological trait.

Brain specialists felt the bumps on a person’s head and believed they held all the answers.

So…

What’s wrong with that thinking?

So…

What’s wrong with that thinking?

Does it follow the scientific method?Horoscopes?Palm Reading?

Then there was…

Freud…

Freud

Brought everything we thought about the brain to a halt because he believed in the unconscious rather than brain activity.

For a long while, we believed the brain was basically a place to store unconscious desires

Right v. Left Brain

The right and left hemispheres of the brain have been theoretically divided for a long time.

Believed that right hemisphere has specific areas of expertise that a different from the left hemisphere.

Right Brain

Responsible for:CreativitySpatial ReasoningDimensionsMusic/ArtConceptualizing math

Left Brain

Responsible for: Language Reading Writing Listening Analysis Sequence

Your Turn

Take the test: Are you right or left brained?

More scientific?

Is this more or less scientific than phrenology? Why?

Brain Scans!

As we get more technology, brain scans become more prominent and useful.

Different brain scan techniques

EEG- electrical activity CAT- 3D images MRI- radio waves/Hydrogen atom energy

PET- chemical activity after injection of radioactive substance

fMRI- scans blood flow

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Works by amplifying the waves of electrical activity across the brain’s surface

Poor spatial resolution BUT faster

EEG

Computed Tomography (CT or CAT scan)

X-ray photographs 3D representation of the brain

More widely available, faster, easier, less expensive than MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Magnetic fields and radio waves images that allow us to see structures within the brain

More expensive, slower, BUT better at soft tissue and less harmful

Position Emission Tomography (PET Scan)

detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes during a given task

Usually used in combination

Also expensive BUT great for determining activity

Functional MRI (fMRI)

Measures brain activity by detecting change in blood flow.

Since the early 1990s, fMRI has come to dominate brain mapping research because it does not require people to undergo shots, surgery, or to ingest substances, or be exposed to radiation

It is the newest and most exciting brain scan because it can tell us more than any other scan can.

fMRI

What are the benefits of each scan?

EEG-

CAT-

MRI-

PET-

fMRI-

How has the study of the brain changed?

How is an fMRI more scientific than phrenology?

fMRI= polygraph?

fMRI can tell us which parts of a brain are activated at certain times

Can it tell when we’re lying?

Can it tell us what we’re thinking about at any given point?

Times Science

Read this short excerpt from a Times article and answer the following questions:

What is the study hoping to find out?What were the two groups they separated

people into?How was the fMRI used?What was the conclusion?

Digging deeper

What if this was true: fMRIs (or some brain scan of the future that is even better) could tell us exactly when a person is lying or not.

We could use it in courtsWe could use it in schoolParents could use itGirlfriends could use it on boyfriends…

Philosophical Debate

Rules:1. Pick a side, or go in the middle.

1. Left = You think brain scans would help the general public

2. Right = You think brain scans would be an assault on your rights as Americans

2. Before you refute someone’s statement, you MUST summarize what they said.

3. This is not an argument, it is a debate, so be respectful.

Back to your seats

Summarize what you heard: What was an argument for using brain scans, what was an argument against using brain scans

Briefly state which you agree with and why.

Using bullets is fine.

Another article…

“Getting Inside Their Heads”

Asks the question: Should we scan candidate’s brains before they have a chance to become President?

A new election is upon us…

Should we scan the brains of candidates?

Technology=society=technology

Keeping everything you learned today in mind, do you think that technology impacts society more or society impacts technology more? Is it that technology impacts how we view

neuroscience and psychological disorders, Or are we such a “futuristic” society that we are

constantly looking for ways to create new technology and new scans

Explain your reasoning (using bullets) on your paper.