Research Methods

Dr. Hurley’s talk on primary progressive aphasia reminded me of the many important aspects of producing good research in the field of behavioral cognitive neuroscience, specifically the importance of using converging operations, understanding the anatomy of the brain and how it might relate to the deficit, and finally that what we know about the brain in constantly changing. 

                When researching primary progressive aphasia, Hurley drew his knowledge from the use of a variety of different methods.  For example among a number of methods, Hurley used EEG to discover that the N400 is important in the cognitive process of predictive encoding, in the case of his study, word retrieval. He looked at lesion studies in the temporal pole to conclude that this area may be important for naming objects, PET data to confirm metabolic activity in the temporal pole. Hurley also discussed the use of DTI and ECOG to look at other possible explanations for PPA including the disconnection of tracts caused by damage to white matter.

                Dr. Hurley’s understanding of brain anatomy allowed him to further explore other explanations for primary progressive aphasia other than the CaLLs model . Hurley was able to test whether or not the integration of objects to form a word meaning takes place in the temporal pole (calls model) or with a connection between different areas of the brain through white matter tracts. Without a good understanding of brain anatomy Hurley would not have explored other possible explanations of primary progressive aphasia needed to produce good research.

                Finally, Dr. Hurley and other researchers’ flexibility to think outside the realms of the traditional understanding of language led to the discovery of another language center of the brain other than Wernicke and Broca areas, the temporal pole. Previous fmri studies suggested that there was not a significant amount of activity in the temporal pole to be considered an important spot for language. However, further exploration and the use of other methods has suggested that it is important for producing words.

                I really enjoyed Dr. Hurley’s talk because the reasoning behind his research followed a similar method to how we learn and discover the inner-workings of the brain in class. It showed me how converging operations, understanding of brain anatomy and flexibility in neuroscience should always be considered when both doing and evaluating good research.