Summary: Psyc20006

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• 1 General Methods and Intro to TMS

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• How do we measure activity of neurons in humans?

  Non-invasive methods that rely on on techniques that measure activity indirectly and from the outside

• When are action potentials generated?

  Action potentials are generated when the voltage changes at the membrane and then an electrical signal gets sent along

• Why can't we study individual neurons?

  To study an individual neuron, we need to open the skull and put electrodes into the brain (highly invasive)

• If we can't study individual neurons, then how do we study the electrical signals of the brain?

  Neurons cluster together and thus, will emit a large enough signal that will be detectable

• 2 concepts related to signal processing

  Frequency - Rate of change in a signal along some dimension eg. time/space
  
  Frequency components - Biological signals contain sub-signals called frequency components, that have 3 parameters:
  

  1. Frequency
  2. Amplitude - how much it goes up and down
  3. Phase - when it goes up and down

• Do biological signals contain just 1 frequency?

  No, biological signals never contain just 1 frequency. Only artificial signals (TMS)

• Methods that measure fast-changing electrical activity from outside the scalp

  EEG - Electroencephalography

• How does EEG work?

  It picks up the magnetic field which is generated by the action potentials of the neurons

• What does Hemodynamics measure?

  Oxygenated blood

• How does hemodynamics work?

  The changes at the cell membrane leading up to the generation of action potentials and the neurotransmitter release at the synapse all require energy.
  
  For this, oxygenated blood is transported to “active” brain regions, because oxygen is used there to produce the necessary energy