Starter quiz
- What type of issues relate to whether an action and its consequences are right or wrong?
- 'ethical' ✓
- What types of cells primarily make up brain tissue?
- fat
- nerve ✓
- grey
- glandular
- muscle
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- What is the process of ordinary cell division called?
- 'Mitosis' ✓
- What are stem cells?
- cells found in the stem of any plant
- cells found in the stem of a flowering plant
- cells that can differentiate into other types of cell ✓
- cells found in the stem of the brain
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- fMRI imaging uses ______ radiation to visualise brain activity.
- 'electromagnetic' ✓
- Match the disease to its symptoms.
- Parkinson's disease⇔parts of the brain become damaged, affects muscles, e.g. slow movement ✓
- Dementia⇔associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning, e.g. memory ✓
- Epilepsy⇔causes frequent seizures ✓
- Depression⇔involves having a low mood that affects day-to-day living ✓
- Stroke⇔when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off ✓
Exit quiz
- Match the type of scan to its description.
- Computerised Tomography⇔uses x-rays to scan a patient’s body showing slices of the body ✓
- Positron Emission Tomography⇔uses a radioactive substance to emit gamma rays that can be detected ✓
- When embarking on research into the human brain, what should we consider?
- effectiveness of the treatment
- safety ✓
- ethical issues ✓
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- Which of these statements is not an ethical issue involved in studying patients with brain damage caused by Parkinson's?
- The patient may not be able to consent to the research.
- The patient may not benefit from the research.
- Patient brain function may be severely limited. ✓
- The patient may be harmed from the research.
-
- True or false? Stem cells can cure brain disease.
- True
- False ✓
- Which of the following are true about how a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scanner works?
- When the radioactive glucose decays, it emits a positron (a positive electron). ✓
- The PET scanner detects glucose used in respiration.
- The PET scanner detects gamma rays released from decaying glucose molecules. ✓
- The PET scanner detects electrons released from decaying glucose molecules.
- The more active a part of the brain is, the more radioactive glucose it absorbs. ✓
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- Neurones are very complex cells and cannot undergo ______ to create new copies of themselves.
- 'mitosis' ✓
Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The importance and difficulties of investigating brain function and damage, including safety and ethical considerations.
- Use of CT and PET scanning to study the brain.
- Difficulties in treating disease and damage in the nervous system and brain (e.g. lack of mitosis in neurones).
- Potential treatments for disease and damage in the nervous system and brain (e.g. stem cells).
Common misconception
Understanding the ethics of research practices is complex and often misunderstood. The details of various brain scanning techniques are complex and also confusing.
Ethical practices are discussed with examples and changes through history to give context. Brain scanning techniques are illustrated and explained, with follow up tasks.
Keywords
Ethical - relates to whether an action and its consequences are right or wrong
Informed consent - consent obtained from a patient where they fully understand the procedure and its implications
Mitosis - a type of cell division that produces genetically identical cells
Stem cell - a cell that can differentiate into specialised cells
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