Brain Stimulation

Just as psychologists can learn about brain/behavior relationships by observing the effects of injury (which typically produces a deficit or absence of a skill) they can also learn from effects of brain stimulation. The most common result of applying electrical current to the brain is to disorganize its activity or cause a seizure. However, in some cases, application of mild electrical current will stimulate an action or a mental construction. That is interesting to neuropsychologists, because it suggests that the current has activated a discrete circuit or brain system, and it gives us some insight about how the brain is organized and divided up into functional sections.

Prev page | T of C | Next page

Search the web, all of Psych Web, or search the online textbook Psychology: An Introduction below.