Neuroimaging techniques can see inside the brain without lesioning it. CT (computed tomography) scan examines the brain by taking x-ray photographs. MRI scans reveal enlarged fluid-filled brain areas in some patients with schizophrenia.
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In Order to Accurately Assess Mr.klein’s Brain, A Physician Can
Neuroimaging techniques can see inside the brain without lesioning it. CT (computed tomography) scan examines the brain by taking x-ray photographs. MRI scans reveal enlarged fluid-filled brain areas in some patients with schizophrenia.
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Neuroimaging techniques can see inside the brain without lesioning it. CT (computed tomography) scan examines the brain by taking x-ray photographs. MRI scans reveal enlarged fluid-filled brain areas in some patients with schizophrenia.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
equipment to find problems in the brain. Today, it is common for doctors to selectively lesion tiny clusters of the brain tissue and study it without harming its surrounding areas. An EEG can be used to record the brain’s electrical activity. AN EEG or electroencephalogram is an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain’s surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. Doctors can also use neuroimaging techniques to see inside the brain without lesioning it. For example, the CT (computed tomography) scan examines the brain by taking x-ray photographs that can reveal brain damage. Even more dramatic is the PET (position emission tomography) scan, which depicts the brain activity by showing each brain area’s consumption of its chemical fuel, the sugar glucose. Active neurons are glucose hogs. A person is given a temporarily radioactive from of glucose, and the PET scan locates and measures the radioactivity, thereby detecting where the glucose goes. By noting these “hot spots,” researchers can see which brain areas are most active as the person is doing something. Also, MRI scans can look at the living brain through atoms. In the scan, the brain is put in a strong magnetic field, which aligns the spinning atoms. Then a brief pulse of radio waves disorients the atoms momentarily. When the atoms return to their normal spin, they release detectable signals, which become computer-generated images on their concentrations. The result is a detailed picture of the brain’s soft tissue. Concerning brain disorders, MRI scans reveal enlarged fluid-filled brain areas in some patients who have schizophrenia, a disabling psychological disorder defined as a group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions. If Mr. Klein’s physician decides to label Mr. Klein’s recent symptoms to be caused by a psychologcial disorder, it will be harder to define. In general, psychological disorders are harmful dysfunctions in which behavior is judged to be atypical, disturbing, maladaptive, and unjustifiable. In psychiatry, physicians can turn to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the DSM-IV. The DSM-IV is widely used system for classifying psychological disorders. Within the manual are sublevels or neurotic or psychotic disorders. Neurotic disorders are psychological disorders that are usually distressing but allows one to think rationally and function socially whereas a psychotic disorder is a psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions. Finally the physician can use psychological therapies to help define Klein’s brain problems. Psychoanalysis is Freud’s therapeutic technique. Freud believed that patient’s free associations, resistance, dreams, and transferences – and the therapist’s interpretations of them – released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight. Freud’s aims with psychoanalysis were to help patients release energy between their inner conflicts and help them see their own problems more clearly. Within the therapy, resistance is the flocks of flow between one’s free associations; resistance hint to the therapists that on is repressing sensitive information. Interpretations are suggestions of underlying wishes, feelings, and conflicts that help provide one with insight. Transference exposes long repressed feelings and gives one a chance to work through them with an analyst. However, within the psychological therapies, the physician can also turn to humanistic therapies that include client centered therapy and active listening; behavior therapies that include counter conditioning. Exposure therapies, systematic desensitization, and aversive conditioning; and cognitive therapies that are helpful for patients suffering from depression.