Describe cognitive neuroscience and the techniques used to map the brain.
Researchers like Hall, Broca and Fluorens had worked in the 18th and the 19th centuries to map the functions of the human brain. Methods like electrical stimulation and extirpation were used by the researchers to discover the particular parts of the brain that controlled the complex functions. A hybrid of the neurosciences and the cognitive psychology, called as the cognitive neurosciences, is used by the modern day researchers.
The main objective of this study was to understand the correlation between the mental activity and the brain function. Striking advances have been made by the cognitive neuroscience researchers to map the brain functioning. This has been made possible due to the development of the various imaging techniques.
Some of them are described as follows:
1. CS (cross sections) of the brain could be revealed by CAT (Computerized axial tomography) scan.
2. Electrical activities in certain parts of the brain can be recorded by the EEG (electroencephalogram).
3. The three-dimensional images of the brain could be produced by MRI (magnetic resonance imagery).
4. The live images of various complex activities could be visualized by the PET (positron emission tomography).