Edinburgh Research Archive logo

Edinburgh Research Archive

University of Edinburgh homecrest
View Item 
  •   ERA Home
  • Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, School of
  • Psychology
  • Psychology Masters thesis collection
  • View Item
  •   ERA Home
  • Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, School of
  • Psychology
  • Psychology Masters thesis collection
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

The Impact of the fMRI Environment on Cognitive Function: A Visual Working Memory Study

View/Open
DISSERTATION.pdf (1.920Mb)
Date
04/12/2008
Item status
Restricted Access
Author
Dunbar, Jill
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
The environment within an fMRI scanner can be intimidating, featuring characteristics such as extreme noise levels, postural constraints, and claustrophobic conditions. It is likely that these external pressures can have a detrimental affect of cognition. We used a change detection task to investigate the impact that these stressors may have on Visual Working Memory (VWM) performance. 24 Participants completed the change detection task, once in a normal laboratory setting, and once in an fMRI simulator, which emulated an actual fMRI scanner in all dimensions, and played a recording of the Echo-Planar Imaging (EPI) gradient at 80db. Analysis of correct responses comparing both environments was approaching significance, and trends in the data suggest that the fMRI environment does have an impact on performance. Improvements to the fMRI process are discussed. In addition, the change detection task was designed to offer an insight into the workings of VWM, with the aim of determining whether complex objects are stored as separate features held together in working memory, or if they are stored as one bound representation. We found a significant effect of condition, indicating that complex objects are held as one bound representation in memory. Our results support the Object Unit Hypothesis (Luck and Vogel, 1997), and also suggest that high levels of attention are not necessary to hold features together in VWM, as the stressors of the fMRI environment are assumed to act as an intense external distracter.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1842/2859
Collections
  • Psychology Masters thesis collection

Library & University Collections HomeUniversity of Edinburgh Information Services Home
Privacy & Cookies | Takedown Policy | Accessibility | Contact
Privacy & Cookies
Takedown Policy
Accessibility
Contact
feed RSS Feeds

RSS Feed not available for this page

 

 

All of ERACommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsPublication TypeSponsorSupervisorsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsPublication TypeSponsorSupervisors
LoginRegister

Library & University Collections HomeUniversity of Edinburgh Information Services Home
Privacy & Cookies | Takedown Policy | Accessibility | Contact
Privacy & Cookies
Takedown Policy
Accessibility
Contact
feed RSS Feeds

RSS Feed not available for this page