PassingPsych

Brain imaging techniques are various methods used to either directly or indirectly image the structure, function and pharmacology of the nervous system. For example, Computerised Axial Tomography (CAT) scan. CAT scans look at the structure of the brain by using X-rays to provide a still image of the brain. CAT scans require patients to lay still in a cylinder, one-half of the cylinder projects X-rays across the cylinder to the other side through the brain. The other side of the cylinder has a detection unit to detect the rays. Many still images can be taken as the cylinder rotates, and all the images collected are merged to form a 3D image of the brain. In this essay, I will give a detailed account of CAT scans and the supporting study of Wei et al (2015).

Wei et al aimed to perform a systematic meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between Post-Stroke Depression (PSD) and lesion location. To investigate4 Wei et al used a quasi-experiment, looking at the brains of 5507 patients using CAT scan studies. A large-scale meta-analysis of studies has been done previously to identify if there was a positive correlation between the location of the stroke and the risk of depression. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between the right hemisphere and strokes and depression. This relationship was not apparent in the left hemisphere stroke patients.

Wei et al demonstrate the use of CAT scans of PSD patients to investigate the location of the stroke in the brain and its association with the risk of depression. For example, the scans showed there was a significant relationship between the right hemisphere and stroke depression, this is important because it allowed for the location of the stroke to be identified through the static 3D image of the brain that was produced. Therefore, a CAT scan can be used to investigate the brain and behaviour.