Abstract
This chapter intends to name and describe briefly the most important groups of techniques used in neuroscience. Two groups of techniques are discussed in more detail: electrophysiologic and imaging methods for being particularly important in neuroscience and for being of special interest for psychologists. Ideally, the reader should be informed about the potential and the shortcomings of the diverse methods, from the physical background to economic considerations. A special effort has been made to describe and explain the modern imaging techniques, particularly magnetic resonance imaging, for being of outstanding importance in cognitive neuroscience and, hence, in psychology.
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Notes
- 1.
The French mathematician Fourier has shown that any continuous function can be understood as an integral over an indefinite number of sine waves.
- 2.
X-ray images traditionally are photonegatives; low intensity appears lighter than high intensity.
- 3.
Aneurysm is a widening of an artery that, when it bursts eventually, may be life-threatening particularly in the brain.
- 4.
Half-life means the time taken by a radioactive material to decay to 50% of its initial activity. This can vary from seconds to thousands of years.
- 5.
Holes are places where an electron could be, but, at the moment considered, are not occupied by one.
- 6.
Some metals acquire superconductivity (electrical resistance close to 0 Ω) when they are cooled down to below about −190 °C.
- 7.
Materials that are not influenced by external magnetic fields are called diamagnetic materials, whereas those that contain magnetic dipoles that align in magnetic fields are called paramagnetic materials.
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Fredes, P., Raff, U. (2021). Tools of Neuroscience. In: Zeise, M.L. (eds) Neuroscience for Psychologists. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47645-8_10
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