I’m excited to announce the publication of my book, Research Methods for Cognitive Neuroscience, by SAGE publishing. It introduces over a dozen of the most important neuroimaging and stimulation techniques available. These are used for studying relationships between the brain and human thoughts, feelings, and actions. The book is meant to be accessible by anyone with a basic science background. The primary audience is students and researchers who would like to understand the tools of cognitive neuroscience. I wrote it beacuse there was no cognitive neuroscience methods book that introduced all techniques in one place, or at a consistent, introductory level. Whether you just want to better understand how these techniques work, or you are an aspiring user of these amazing tools, this book is for you!
The tools covered include:
- EEG – electroencephalography – and ERP – event-related potentials
- MEG– magnetoencephalography
- MRI – magnetic resonance imaging, including
- fMRI – functional MRI
- sMRI – structural MRI and computational neuroanatomy
- dMRI – diffusion MRI and connectomics
- PET – positron emission tomography
- fNIRI – functional near-infrared imaging; often called fNIRS
- TMS – transcranial magnetic stimulation
- tES – transcranial electrical stimulation, including
- tDCS – transcranial direct current stimulation
- tACS – transcranial alternating current stimulation
- tRNS – transcranial random noise stimulation
The first two chapters provide basic background on how the brain works and how it is organized, as well as the fundamentals of research methods in cognitive psychology and related areas. This includes experimental design, stimulus presentation and control, behavioral methods, eye tracking, and lesion-deficit (neuropsychological) approaches. As well, sprinkled through the book are my thoughts and opinions on topics such as research ethics, neuroethics, safety, and ways of mis-using or mis-interpreting cognitive neuroscience data. These are important topics for properly understanding and using the approaches of cognitive neuroscience.
Why?
There is no other cognitive neuroscience methods book out there like this. I provide a basic introduction to the many tools available to study brain activity non-invasively in humans, at a consistent level and in a consistent style. There are numerous excellent books on individual techniques (which I highlight in my book). However, I believe it’s critical to understand all the techniques and see how they fit together—including their relative strengths and limitations.
While mastering any one technique is a significant investment of time and energy, it is critical to at least understand other techniques. They can all provide important insight into the problem you’re studying. As a researcher, you need to have a much bigger perspective that “your” technique. As a student or other curious person, you want to know what this all means. Cognitive neuroscience is inherently multidisciplinary and collaborative. So, rather than hoping to master the nuances of every technique, one should try to develop a strong fundamental understanding of all techniques. Then you can collaborate with experts in complementary techniques as needed. This field can only succeed through collaborative group efforts.
Who is this for?
I aimed to make the book accessible to people from a wide variety of backgrounds, by assuming very little about the reader’s existing knowledge and using a conversational writing style. I have talked to people from a wide range of academic backgrounds, such as psychology, linguistics, economics, or management, who see the huge potential of neuroimaging for their fields. However, the challenge of learning these techniques is significant.
The same thing that has always excited me about neuroimaging is also one of the greatest challenges of becoming a skilled practitioner: the fact that really understanding the techniques and how best to use them requires not only deep knowledge of a topic area like cognitive psychology, but also at least basic knowledge of physics, physiology, signal processing, and statistics. In my book I have made a strong effort to explain things conceptually. I avoid (for the most part) mathematical formulae in favor of explaining the ideas and relationships through words, examples, and diagrams.
This necessarily limits the depth that one can go in a particular area, but has two strengths. First of all, it keeps the chapters to reasonable lengths. Secondly, it makes these techniques accessible to a wider range of researchers than before.
What next?
After reading this book you will not be a master of any one method. Anyone who wants to actually use a technique will have to do a lot more reading, as well as gaining hands-on experience and mentorship. But my hope is that after reading this book, you will be an educated consumer of the cognitive neuroscience literature. In other words, you will be able to critically evaluate published studies that you read, and to design new experiments that take into account the strengths and limitations of a particular technique.
While all of the techniques in the book have been used for 25 years or more (nearly a century in the case of EEG), we have still barely scratched the surface in terms of being able to relate physiology to psychology, and the greatest opportunities are most certainly still in the future. I hope that this book will help empower that future.
Where can I find it?
You can check out the book’stable of contents on the official page for the book on Sage’s website, or you can order it from Amazon (and of course other fine booksellers):
