11. Ways Of Studing The Brain AO1 Flashcards
What do techniques for investigating the brain often get used for?
Medical purposes in the diagnosis of illnesses
What is the purpose of scanning in psychological research?
Often to investigate localisation - to determine which parts of the brain do what
What are fMRI’s used for?
Highlighting active areas of the brain
What do fMRI’s do?
Detects changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur due to neural activity in specific brain areas
What happens when a brain area is more active?
It consumes more oxygen and blood flow is directed to the active area
What does an fMRI produce?
A 3D image showing which parts of the brain are active - must be involved in particular mental processes
What do EEGI’s do?
Measure electrical activity within the brain via electrodes using a skull cap
What do the scan recordings represent?
The brainwave patterns generated from millions of neurons - shows the overall brain activity
Why are EEG’s often used?
As a diagnostic tool e.g. Unusual arrhythmic patterns of brain activity may indicate abnormalities such as epilepsy, tumours or sleep disorders
What are ERP’s used for?
Relating brain waves to a particular event
What is a ERP?
What is left when all extraneous brain activity from an EEG recording is filtered out
What are ERP’s?
Types of brainwave that are triggered by particular events
What is a post-morgen examination?
A technique involving the analysis of a person’s brain following their death
What is done in a post-mortem examination?
Areas of the brain are examines to establish the likely cause of a disorder that the person suffered in life
What may also be done in a most-morgen examination?
They may involve comparisons with neurotypical brains in order to assess the extent of the difference
