Notes: 6th & 7th Hour 9/11/12

Hi all!

Since I have to be at a meeting on the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 11, I've recorded notes & instructions for the demos and posted that here. Hope your class & quizzes go well!

Note: Yeah, I know I messed up on describing the two outcomes of the first demo. Cut me some slack, Jack. Also, there was fly in the room when I was recording that become increasingly annoying throughout the video. That should be entertaining for you.

Bonus? If you missed any of this you can go back & re-watch. Or, if you didn't quite finish before it was time for the quiz, you can watch at home. :)

Phineas Gage Lives!



Model of the path taken by the rod & its impact on white matter.

Well, sort of. Obviously this famous case study patient from the early days of brain science has been deceased for some time. However, a team of researchers recently published an article, Mapping Connectivity Damage in the Case of Phineas Gage, in PLoSONE which attempts to use modern brain imaging techniques to simulate the damage that occurred when that unlucky railroad worker had a tamping iron run through his head.

Besides reinforcing the idea that Gage was incredibly "lucky" in that this accident didn't kill him, the research also attempts to shed light on the role of white matter in shaping the behavioral changes experienced by Phineas.

The article is getting a lot of attention from Gage fans everywhere (e.g., CNN Health) and has sparked renewed interest in the story of the poor Phineas, who may not have been as permanently impaired by the injury as psychology lore would have us believe. In all, Gage's case is a great reminder of both the strengths and limitations of using case examples to learn about the brain. And these images are going straight into next year's slides for my neuroscience unit.

Reference:

Van Horn JD, Irimia A, Torgerson CM, Chambers MC, Kikinis R, et al. (2012) Mapping Connectivity Damage in the Case of Phineas Gage. PLoS ONE 7(5): e37454. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037454

Phantom Limbs

Today during our class discussions on sensation, a number of questions came up for which I had no readily available answers. The links I've put together below are an attempt to answer some of these questions.

1. Many of my students had questions about Phantom Limbs. This is a condition wherein an amputee still "feels" sensations from the missing limb (pain or otherwise). The tricky part about answering questions that relate to phantom limbs is that so much of the research is gleaned from case studies...so the question, "Would someone with a phantom limb feel ______________?" is hard to answer. It may be true of some patients, but not others. Or we might not have documentation of that specific situation within known case studies (but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist). The Psychology Department at Macalester College has a good site for further investigation. It provides a bunch of information on phantom limb patients, and examples of case studies on the phenomenon.
2. One interesting treatment for Phantom Limb Pain is the use of Mirror Boxes. Below you will find a video featuring Andrew Austin (a treatment provider from the UK) describing the use of Mirror Boxes in therapy. If you have a bit longer, you can check out a 2007 TED Talk by VS Ramachandran which describes the use of mirror boxes to successfully treat phantom pain (as well as two other types of disorders resulting from physical damage to the body).

What Would Life Be Like without a Limbic System? Ask Roger...

Recently, the blog Neuroskeptic reported on a recently released case study of a patient (called "Roger") who suffered complete destruction of his limbic system.

As we just discussed the limbic system in class, this should be perfect fodder for your musings.

Great Example of Case Study: The Woman Who Had No Sense of Personal Space

If, by now, you are into the reading for Chapter 1 (don't worry, I'll post some cool stuff for the Prologue soon), you'll have come across one particular type of research method in psych: the case study.

Though limited in the conclusions you can draw from them, case studies are a great way to study one individual, often with a weird (i.e. rare) condition, in depth.

My latest favorite case study comes to us via the blog of the British Psychological Society and involves a women, called S.M., who apparently has no sense of personal space. This is a great example of the kind of questions that can (and cannot) be answered via case studies.